[GRLUG] does Debian run cooler than Ubuntu or am I just crazy?

[John-Thomas Richards]

On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 09:05:04AM -0400, Michael Mol wrote:
[snip]
> > Switching to Debian resulted in about a 30° drop in normal operating
> > temperature.  Blowing out dust in the fan seems to have dropped it
> > another 20° or so.  The dust makes sense; I'm still amazed at the
> > temperature difference between Debian and Ubuntu.  Now I'm considering
> > replacing Ubuntu with Debian on my wife's Aspire One.
> 
> My money is still on greater usage of the GPU. What are the
> before/after numbers for disabling Compiz on Ubuntu?

I've already wiped Ubuntu.  I didn't try disabling Compiz.  Because it
overheated so frequently with Vista and then with Ubuntu I just assumed
it was the hardware.  That's why I'm so suprised that running Debian
with Compiz is so much cooler than Ubuntu with Compiz.  Here are the
temperatures after running the past three hours or so:

jtr at rondo:~$ sensors -f
k8temp-pci-00c3
Adapter: PCI adapter
Core0 Temp: +100.4°F                                    
Core0 Temp:  +95.0°F                                    
Core1 Temp:  +96.8°F                                    
Core1 Temp:  +87.8°F 

With Ubuntu these temps would regularly be around 150°.  If I did nearly
anything with it from watching flash video or rsyncing, the temps would
shoot up to ~200°.  As I mentioned yesterday with Debian and Compiz
ripping a DVD raised the temperatures to about 135°—still well below
Ubuntu's regular temp.

> Also, with some graphical chipsets, it's possible to adjust the GPU
> clock rate. I helped a cousin overclock his laptop's GPU (at his
> insistence. And I warned him it would cause problems. He burned his
> lap anyway...), and *underclocking* is still very much an option. (I
> once had a laptop that I kept underclocked to deal with overheating
> issues.)

I believe this nVidia chip is adjustable.  According to the nVidia app
(binary driver) the chip is set for maximum performance as it was with
Ubuntu.

> Another possibility is disk heat, but that's a harder thing to do a
> good direct analysis on. My Acer laptop did overheat its hard drive
> once when I ran a disk performance tool on it, but that's as close as
> I've come to real data. An SSD *might* run cooler, but I don't know.
-- 
john-thomas
------
The man's desire is for the woman but the woman's desire is rarely other
than for the desire of the man.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet (1772-1834)