Is software cooling "cheating"?

[richklein]

Hi,
I read a pretty good article about using software progies for cooling. I have some pretty high temps & was wondering if using software for either real cooling, or tricking the temp reading software, is cheating?

I ask cause I dont know how you could use software to physically cool the processor. I guess if the software lowered the speed of the cpu it could work.

Actually i dont really get it at all. Can software be used to actually cool the chip or is it just a "trick"?

Thanks,
Rich

[GoldenTiger]

All it does is make your system not heat up as much when IDLE by a slight amount. Unless your system is idle it does nothing else. The difference is negligible (0.1C), which can easily be attributed to random fluxes anyway.

[rogerdugans]

And idle temps mean nothing at all to me: my systems are NEVER idle! I keep Seti@Home running 24/7 and use 2 of the machines that way.

If it was possible to use software to cut load temps, without slowing things down I'd check into it, but...........

[richklein]

I read the article here:

http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/kt266a/

I have an asus 266 board.

[Thelemac]

To me, it's worse than useless. AMD told the motherboard manufacturers to disable that option by default for a reason.

It cools it off while it's idle, sure, but it heats up a whole lot when you use it...more than it used to. The delta there can be twenty or more degrees C. That's not good for you chip...that much of a temp diff frequently puts a lot of stress on it.

And yes, tricking the thermistor is cheating cause you aren't actually cooling the processor any more than before.

[Ozzman]

hmm ive been using rain 2.0 for about a weak or two and when idle like surfing net or whatever i have the same temp as case which is also a bit lowed.. i went from 36 idle to about 26 idle and when i go into rtcw or whatever my load temps are the same as before 42 to 43 which i think is still in range.. are u saying going from 26 temp to 43 temp can cause damage??

[Alex99]

Originally posted by Ozzman
hmm ive been using rain 2.0 for about a weak or two and when idle like surfing net or whatever i have the same temp as case which is also a bit lowed.. i went from 36 idle to about 26 idle and when i go into rtcw or whatever my load temps are the same as before 42 to 43 which i think is still in range.. are u saying going from 26 temp to 43 temp can cause damage??

I'm get exactly the same result as you using WPCREDIT. My idle temp (when surfing the web or doing moderate tasks) is around the same as mobo temp (27-29C). But when running Prime 95 , it's at 41C, which is what it was before WPCREDIT. So I don't see any adverse effect using this tweak. If you using your PC to crunch SETI or fold 24/7, then yeah I don't see any reason at all to use it. But regular use, I think it's rather beneficial. Maybe results vary from mobo to mobo?

[Yodums]

Just think for a moment why would you want to cool it when its idle?

My computer is always at full load running Seti and if your system is always idle then do something to help science ie Seti or Folding help our teams.

Yodums

[Thelemac]

Well, if you're using the insocket thermistor then our temps are probably not right. The delta *might* be accurate, but I wouldn't bet any money on it.

Personally, I wouldn't feel safe making my chip run at uneven temps...especially if I browsed a bit, then gamed a bit, then browsed a bit, then gamed a bit...you know, constantly changing the temp. Lots of stress to the cpu there, even at a fifteen degree delta or so.

Since I don't really see any benefits out of it (that little of a temp drop isn't going to extend your life any) but do see harm in it, I can not, in good conscience, recommend using that course of action. I would also like to make you aware of potential problems with it so that if you *do* choose to do so, you're aware of the possible consequences.

[The Overclocker]

my veiw is:

windows is crap, software cooling is just improving windows

[flounder43]

Are you cheating with software cooling? Yes, yourself.

What's the point? Why not just turn the computer totally off, then it will get really cool. The effectiveness of your cooling apparatus can only be truly measured by its ablility to keep you computer up and running with anything you want to throw at it.

Besides, in my case, I fold 24/7. You should too!

[Maximus Nickus]

Originally posted by Thelemac
Well, if you're using the insocket thermistor then our temps are probably not right. The delta *might* be accurate, but I wouldn't bet any money on it.

Personally, I wouldn't feel safe making my chip run at uneven temps...especially if I browsed a bit, then gamed a bit, then browsed a bit, then gamed a bit...you know, constantly changing the temp. Lots of stress to the cpu there, even at a fifteen degree delta or so.

Since I don't really see any benefits out of it (that little of a temp drop isn't going to extend your life any) but do see harm in it, I can not, in good conscience, recommend using that course of action. I would also like to make you aware of potential problems with it so that if you *do* choose to do so, you're aware of the possible consequences.

Is it a good idea to keep your PC on then?? So there's no big temp changes??


AND overclocker HOW??? If you're going to state something then state it correctly.

[Tiger]

I used the WPCREDIT/SET for a few months and while not possible to prove I think it actually reduced the stability of the machine while oc'ing. Here's the theory for this. By putting the machine into total idle the temp goes down and the difference is then 10C+. When proc starts it generally goes from 0 to 100% instantly resulting in sudden heat loads. Now as most know heat causes expansion. So what is happening is the sudden expansion causes havoc in the transistor junctions during these sporadic bursts. If the idle temp is to within a couple of degrees of the full work temp this is not going to happen.

[Jon]

Ah well, if you need software to cool your CPU when idle, you've got other problems, in my opinion. Should be cool enough if it's just sitting there doing nothing, if not, get better cooling hardware.

[flounder43]

Originally posted by Tiger
I used the WPCREDIT/SET for a few months and while not possible to prove I think it actually reduced the stability of the machine while oc'ing. Here's the theory for this. By putting the machine into total idle the temp goes down and the difference is then 10C+. When proc starts it generally goes from 0 to 100% instantly resulting in sudden heat loads. Now as most know heat causes expansion. So what is happening is the sudden expansion causes havoc in the transistor junctions during these sporadic bursts. If the idle temp is to within a couple of degrees of the full work temp this is not going to happen.

Yes, it does work, I don't think anyone doubts that, but it cripples your processor in the process...What is the point? The response might be that it only cripples the processor when at idle, but why bother? Your idle temps will be lower than full load anyway...

I don't get it. Besides, fold or run seti.

[Yodums]

nick_cw theres a big thread whether to keep it on ot leave it off in the General Hardware area.

Most people leave it on 24/7 to help invest in teh Seti or Folding or they have their computer on constantly anyways and a strong computer IMHO uses less power when its on 24/7 then turning it on and off as when you turn it on alot of things are going off like especially the HDD and it sucks alot of power on the boot.

Jon had a really good comment as where if you have problem running it idle doing nothing then your going to have real problems at it with the load temperatures.

[Alex99]

Originally posted by Thelemac


Personally, I wouldn't feel safe making my chip run at uneven temps...especially if I browsed a bit, then gamed a bit, then browsed a bit, then gamed a bit...you know, constantly changing the temp. Lots of stress to the cpu there, even at a fifteen degree delta or so.


Very good point. I had thought about that too. As matter of fact that is probably the reason that I'm gonna disable WPCREDIT on my system. I just don't think the large heat fluctuations is healthy for the hardware. You know, I used to bash people for trying to cool idle CPUs. I used to post a message saying "the best way to cool idle CPUs is simple, shut the damn PC off". Anyways, I want to run SETI for the OC team , so this stuff is useless for that.

[Ozzman]

ok here is where it comes in handy.. not for OCers but for simple email, word, and web browsing, web games and simple games...

my sis was having probs with her system it was my old celron that i gave her when i upgraded sence all she does is all the listed things above.. and im more of a heavy gamer and vid edit and what not.. where she is its really hot.. so she her system would crash.. and she alrdy hates the little noise the little fan on her system gives off.. so i gave her rain.. her system stoped crashing.. now she does not play heavy games that need full cpu support or fold or seti.. so her CPU is idle anyway and this way its much cooler... now this is the kind of people who should use this.. but after reading what all u guys said i agree and turned it off my startup...

[Arkaine23]

I may be wrong about this, but don't windoze OS's with the NT kernal have a cooler/idle built in? I get 0% CPU usage when idling in Win 2k.

[Tiger]

Some of the mobo manufacturers built it into the BIOS on the KT133a systems (I think that Abit KT7 have the reg52 set to EB) but I am not sure about the newer mobos

[lennytiger]

hmonitor www.hmonitor.com


this has cpu low power mode and idle coolers built in it works well!! ;)



the full load temp on your machine will still be the same as the software only cools when idle!! :)

[Ozzman]

yeah but is it any good thats what we are trying to figure out.. also this program gets a higher temp then the one that came with my mobo the VIA HWM

[VashTheStampede]

I used VCool there for awhile, it was nice waking up to see a T-bird 900 with a Super Mini Orb idling at 30-31 degrees, whereas it would usually idle at 36 or 37.

~Vash~

[lennytiger]

Vcool is good i also used it, i think Vcool works better but doesn't run on OS's using NT Based Kernel...

[VashTheStampede]

Originally posted by lennytiger
Vcool is good i also used it, i think Vcool works better but doesn't run on OS's using NT Based Kernel...

It works just fine in 2000 for me.

~Vash~