Thermal Throttling And How It Can Slow Your Computer Down In The Studio
In a recent article we explained how to use a laptop in a studio without having to worry about noise. Since then we’ve been speaking to a man who has been making computer cooling his mission, SVALT founder Chad Kirkpatrick, to help understand more about the relationship between power, heat and noise and a word that’s often used in discussions… throttling.
In this article SVALT Founder Chad Kirkpatrick explains the challenges of getting more power whilst managing heat and noise. He has given us permission to re-publish his helpful primer on Throttling. We have not been paid to publish this article, however please click the links to find out more about SVALT and their range of cooling devices.
Throttling
When it comes to using your laptop, heat generation and increased performance are in a cyclical relationship that feed off of one another. Processors generate heat that can lead to throttling, which in turn slows performance. This is the basic problem all laptop users face, the more you want to do with your laptop, the harder it works, and the hotter and slower it gets. Processor = Power
Processors are the heart of a computer, responsible for the computer’s overall performance potential. Processors include multiple cores with two rated speeds, the base speed and the Turbo Boost speed. Intel multicore processors use Turbo Boost to automatically increase processor speeds under certain conditions, such as when lower temperatures allow for adequate thermal headroom.
Power = Heat
In addition to being responsible for the majority of a computer’s performance, processors are also responsible for creating the majority of heat. Processors are basically tiny heaters that generate an incredible amount of heat when running at higher power. Adding additional processor cores and running the processors at higher speeds will create the potential for more power, but more powerful processors will also increase the potential for more heat. Increasing the duration of work will also generate more heat.
Heat = Throttling
If heat is not removed from the processor, then temperatures will rise to the point of causing hardware damage and processor failure. Processor failure should not happen in a properly operating computer because the computer will automatically throttle processor speeds, and this in turn will reduce temperatures and prevent processor failure. Throttling is a basic function and can occur when the processor is running above baseline speed at Turbo Boost speeds, but it can also occur when running multiple threads at baseline speeds.
Throttling = Slow
While throttling is preferable to frying your processor and other adjacent components, throttling does have a downside, which is reduced processor speeds and slower performance. To help prevent the processor from constantly having to throttle speeds and to ensure basic computer operation, most computers include an air cooling system for heat management. However, mobility requires a more compact and size restricted form factor, which means that most laptops and desktops that use similar components, such as the Mac Mini, include cooling systems that do not have adequate cooling capacity to avoid throttling.
For instance, processors are often placed in close proximity to other heat sensitive components, resulting in heat bleed out to surrounding components. Tight construction leaves little room for open air space and restricts cooling airflow, which is especially problematic for air cooled systems. Close proximity of components combined with minimal open space makes it hard to remove heat once it has accumulated within the system. Laptops also use smaller heat sinks, heat pipes, heat radiators, cooling fans, and other cooling system components. All combined, this reduces the laptop’s total cooling capacity and means that laptops are often unable to avoid processor throttling, and therefore have slower performance.
More Cooling = More Performance
Laptop performance is fundamentally limited by the laptop’s ability to remove heat, and because laptops typically have less powerful cooling systems, then supplemental cooling is often required to reduce or eliminate throttling and regain maximum performance.
SVALT = Cool By Design
The SVALT Cooling Stand and SVALT Cooling Dock use innovative designs in which every inch and every detail has been obsessively researched, tested, engineered and designed to the extreme in order to deliver the best cooling performance. This in turn increases the laptop’s cooling capacity, helps reduce processor throttling and helps regain your computer’s peak performance potential.
Learn More
Fore more information about the test process and methods used for cooling performance testing, see Testing Guide. If you are interested in learning more about laptop cooling in general, then you can review the following Wikipedia links:
SVALT was founded by Chad Kirkpatrick as a design studio in 2011 after a 15 year architecture career focused on sustainability, passive heating/cooling, and responsive design: “My goal with SVALT is to make the best products that I can; products that are as much art as tech, and as much about about being objects of substance as being machines engineered for performance. This focus allows me to drill down into the hyper-niche where I can pursue the most extreme designs and obsessive over the smallest details to create high-end products for professionals and others that demand the most from themselves and their equipment.”