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Title: Keep your OpenBSD system cool with obsdfreqd |
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Author: Solène |
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Date: 21 March 2022 |
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Tags: openbsd power |
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Description: A new daemon to keep your system cool and improve battery |
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life |
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# Introduction |
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Last week I wrote a system daemon to manage the CPU frequency from |
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userland, entirely bypassing the kernel automatic mode. While this was |
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more of a toy at first because I only implemented the same automatic |
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mode used in the kernel but with all the variables being easily |
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changed, I found it valuable for many use case to improve battery life |
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or even temperature. |
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The coolest feature I added today is to support a maximum temperature |
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and let the program do its best to keep the CPU temperature below the |
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limit. |
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obsdfreqd project page |
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# Installation |
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- `pkg_add obsdfreqd` since OpenBSD 7.2 |
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# Results |
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A nice benchmark to run was to start the compilation of the rust |
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package with all the four cores of my T470 laptop and run obsdfreqd |
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with various temperature limits and see how it goes. The program did a |
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good job at reducing the CPU frequency to keep the temperature around |
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the threshold. |
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Diagram of benchmark results of various temperature limitation |
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# Conclusion |
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While this is ultimately not a replacement for the in-kernel frequency |
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scheduler, it can be used to keep a computer a lot cooler or make a |
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system comply with some specific requirements (performance for given |
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battery life or maximum temperature). |
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The customization is so that you can have various settings depending if |
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the system is running on battery or not, which can be tailored to suit |
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every kind of user. The defaults are made to provide good performance |
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when on AC, and provide a balanced performance/battery life mode when |
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on battery. |
