PI is running my i7core 920 CPU at 86 Celcius, can I limit CPU usage?

[Rudy Pohl]

HI there:

The Image Registration process pushes my Intel i7 core 920 CPU to run exceedingly hot at 86 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes doing a 120 image set. My CPU fan and graphics card fan are cleam and dust-free so I can't get the system to run any cooler. I am very uncomfortable running my CPU at this temperature for more than a few minutes tops.

Is there any way to configure PI to use less of the CPU's available power?

Thanks,
Rudy

[pfile]

you can set the # of threads to something lower than your machine actually has - Global Preferences > Parallel Processing and Threads > untick allow using all available processors, set box to # of threads, apply global (round button at bottom of preferences screen). that might keep the temperature down a little bit.

but any application could potentially do this to your CPU so you might investigate underclocking your CPU from the bios or a better cooling solution...

rob

[OldSkyEyes]

Or maybe your CPU voltage is set higher than needed.
Buying a new faster PC is also a good option (at least 6 cores should about double your speed.)
You have an 9 year old 130W CPU.... (45 nm, They make them on 14nm now)

[pfile]

thats true, power consumption goes as v^2 and linearly with clock speed.

rob

[Rudy Pohl]

you can set the # of threads to something lower than your machine actually has - Global Preferences > Parallel Processing and Threads > untick allow using all available processors, set box to # of threads, apply global (round button at bottom of preferences screen). that might keep the temperature down a little bit.

but any application could potentially do this to your CPU so you might investigate underclocking your CPU from the bios or a better cooling solution...

rob

Thanks Rob,

That was just what I was looked for... it worked perfectly!

Best regards,
Rudy

[Rudy Pohl]

Or maybe your CPU voltage is set higher than needed.
Buying a new faster PC is also a good option (at least 6 cores should about double your speed.)
You have an 9 year old 130W CPU.... (45 nm, They make them on 14nm now)

Thanks OldSkyEyes,

My nephew is a computer guru so I'll get him to check the voltage of the CPU and to look at Rob's suggestion about uderclocking it in the bios. (All Greek to me).

Regarding getting a new machine (I wish), unfortunately that is not in the budget for the time being.... must make due with existing gear.

Best regards,
Rudy

[pscammp]

Rudy,

I have a six core (12 threads) i7 980x in my system, I always run at full pelt on all cores when doing anything, including,
anything PI can throw at it, Virtual Reality 'super sampling' at twice the resolution of the HTC Vive's native (this is more
Graphics card really), and Rendering on all cores and threads from 3D animation software.

Never does my CPU get above 75c

I would suggest you look at your cases ventilation, and, the CPU cooler, maybe the cooler is not fitted correctly or maybe
it is not man enough to cool your CPU enough. If your system is overclocked then that will always produce more heat and
more powerful cooling will have to be employed. You should never need to shut off cores for anything unless the software
does not support multi threading.

Just my two peneth

Paul