I have MSI GS65 laptop which is running Manjaro Linux. Setting up nvidia drivers har been historically a huge pain, and after one of the updates few months ago, one of the side effects was that any moderate CPU load would cause the fans to go full blast. Besides of reaching nearly 100 degrees Celsius, the noise was unbearable.
I tried attacking the problem several times, but to no avail. Recently, I tried one more time, and this time I managed to reduce the fan noise and the max temperature to consistent 70 degrees Celsius.
I’m not entirely sure what exact step fixed the problem, so I’ll just list all the things I’ve tried.
1. Windows, MSI Dragon Center
It was suggested multiple times to fix something called “Maximum processor state” in Windows settings.
Specifically, to limit it to something below 100%, e.g. 90%. I switched to windows and did that – miminum processor stat was set to 5%, maximum to 90%.
On top of that, in MSI Dragon Center, I changed the the CPU profile to Sport (or Turbo), I don’t remember, and battery to “Save”, which keeps the charge level at 50..60%.
2. Linux, auto-cpufreq
Install auto-cpufreq. Here’s my /etc/auto-cpufreq.conf:
[charger]
governor = powersave
scaling_min_freq = 800000
scaling_max_freq = 3000000
turbo = never
[battery]
governor = powersave
scaling_min_freq = 800000
scaling_max_freq = 2000000
turbo = never
I realize that limiting the top frequency limits the performance, but at least I don’t hear a plane taking off every other minute.
3. Linux, tlp
Uninstall tlp. I think this made the biggest difference.
For some miraculous reason, I had both tlp and auto-cpufreq installed.
I guess these are leftovers from my previous attempts to fix the problem.
4. Linux, thermald
Install thermald. I don’t know if it had any effect, but they recommend installing
it alongside with auto-cpufreq, so I did it.
auto-cpufreq output
After all these adjustments, here’s my output of auto-cpufreq --status:
Battery is: charging
Setting to use: "powersave" governor
Total CPU usage: 19.9 %
Total system load: 3.81
Average temp. of all cores: 67.00 °C
Configuration file disables turbo boost
setting turbo boost: off