Undervolting the CPU

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1

I was unsure were to post this one…

I am getting a new laptop with comes with a desktop processor, i9-10900k. The estimated arrival of this beast is on 14.10. so I am trying to get things sorted out before that…

The CPU is known to run hot under load and undervolting is highly recommended. Of course the bios does not have any options for undervolting so the only option is through software. The laptop does come with software for undervolting but it is Windows only, naturally…

Would anyone here have any software recommendations for undervolting CPUs in Manjaro or experience in undervolting in general on linux?

2

Hello,

You most likely have to check this:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Undervolting_CPU

The package intel-undervolt is in our repository. Please make sure you read and understand what misconfiguration of CPU voltage settings might do with your hardware. Always double and triple check.

3 Likes
3

In addition to the tools mentioned in the Arch Linux wiki, there is also this one that you might want to check out.

4

Or you can do this by using the UEFI Bios.

5

You most likely have to check this:
Undervolting CPU - ArchWiki

Thanks! I figured that this might be my best option. I just wanted to see if there would be somebody on the forums with experience in undervolting Intel i9-series CPUs on linux.

I just cannot wait to get this laptop! The wait…

6

Unfortunately Dell has disabled this feature in the Bios.

7

Linux 5.9 is coming along with annoying and frustrating changes related to MSR writes, for now it’s only kernel “spam” messages, but later versions will likely contain some kind of restriction for writes to MSR, so no easy way to undervolt or overclock in userspace. For now it looks this way:

Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
Sep 29 21:14:14 kernel: msr: Write to unrecognized MSR 0x150 by intel-undervolt
                        Please report to x86@kernel.org
1 Like
8

Thanks for the heads-up!

Hopefully undervolting does not end up being disabled/unusable. I specifically went with the i9-10900k because I can definitely make use of the extra cores in my work and with a minor undervolting the thermals were kept in check. I do not even want to think about the possibility of being forced to go back to Windows.

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