Have been working on maximizing the performance of a Lenovo 6087 desktop PC. Made the following upgrades:
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 Mhz, 1333 FSB, 6M cache.
- PCI-e Nvidia graphics card w/512 MB memory and 400Mhz processor
- Maxed memory at 8GB of DDR2 PC2 6400 800
- Updated Intel chipset and Intel Gigabyte network adapters w/most current from Intel.
- Upgraded Win XP to Win7 Home Premium 64
Machine runs pretty well. The Core 2 Duo processors still are competitive, and rank only about 7 - 12 % slower than the current i5 & i7 processors by Intel's own tests. Although some specific tests show a 20% advantage of the quad core i7 over the dual core C2D processors, in overall daily use, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between them.
One of my benchmark tests is to run a game my kids love called MineCraft. This is a Java driven heavy graphics game. The Lenovo was running at 100% load, and core temps would run up to 182* F / 84* C.
That was too hot for my liking, and I noticed the fan speed did not increase to cool the processor. So I moved the temperature sensor from its stock location and secured it behind the processor where hot air would be blown over it. Still no change in fan speed.
I checked the BIOS and found no thermal control or fan speed setting like are often found in BIOS. Found there was a BIOS update for the machine, and when I read the change list, it mentioned a "revised temperature management table". So it got installed.....
What a difference! After BIOS update, running MineCraft was quite different. As soon as the core temp started to rise to about 130 F, the fan speed started to increase. The temp maxed out at 153 F, 67 C, and the fan was humming along nicely, but still not nearly at its max RPM. It stayed that way for a full half hour of gaming.
And the real surprise is that the processor used to run at 97 - 100% the whole time. Now it runs between 65 - 85%, and both cores are often at much different load. IE one is at 45% and the other is at 90%. Before they pretty much mirrored each other. The game is actually running much smoother, so I pushed the graphics settings to their max resolution, shading, and particles. Still ran smooth without getting "glitch". Even when another player joined the game from a different PC on the network.
I also started running more apps while MineCraft was running to see just how hard I can push the processor. Started Internet Explorer 10 browser and opened 8 tabs, played Utube video while the game still ran. The memory useage climbed up from 2G to 6G, the most I ever saw it.
I am totally amazed that a BIOS upgrade could lower processing load. Some change is making the processor much more efficient, but I can only guess that it must be something related to FSB and memory utilization. Maybe before the FSB and Cache was not used properly because the 3.16 processor was not available at the time the BIOS was made. Now with a BIOS update, the processor is being handled properly. Just my guess. Never saw anything like this before.
BTW, The max safe core temp for the 3.16 processor is 212 F, 100 C. Over that, and it trips itself off. I figure if the heat sink is removed and a cup of water put in its place, tea can be made while you are working..... 