What can I do to prevent Ubuntu from overheating my Notebook?

I have an easynote tj65 (2.1 ghz dual core with Geforce GT240M) running Ubuntu 11.10 and Windows 7 in dual-boot-mode.

While Windows 7 doesn't have any comparable issues, Ubuntu is making my notebook warmer and warmer once the CPU-usage of all processes together gets higher than 50-60 percent, which happens as soon as I do anything more than simple browsing, e.g. starting and running banshee. After starting with no other processes running and (cpu-usage: ~1%) the temperature of both cores is at 61 degrees.

Once it got to 50 percent cpu usage it rises to around almost 90 for both cores (gpu rises to the same level according to psensors). Sensors tells me that 98 is the critical temperature for my cpu model and i think around 90 is far too close, especially if I'm not doing anything special. The system crashes pretty quickly once my average cpu usage gets beyond 60%.

It also seems like the fan is not as loud as at system startup as it could be in windows while playing graphic-intensive games for example.

And yes: I cleaned my fan! And no: I can't change anything in my BIOS regarding the fan or CPU.

I hope you can help me -- like this, it is impossible to use the Ubuntu notebook as a productive system.

Solution 1:

According to previous posts here, a known bug in the Linux kernel is leading to overheating issues: Heat issues on 11.10 beta?

Recent releases (11.04 also) have had a similar problem. A workaround for the Linux 3.0 kernel has been suggested:

http://www.techytalk.info/linux-kernel-2-6-38-2-6-39-power-regression-workaround/

I've heard that these issues were supposed to be fixed completely in Linux 3.1. However, Ubuntu 11.10 uses the 3.0 kernel, so the above workaround should still be relevant. According to Phoronix, the power consumption of Ubuntu 11.10 is up as much as 50%:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTg5Mg

Solution 2:

Many new fixes and power management enhancements have gone into 12.04 / 12.10 and especially the new Nvidia drivers to handle your graphics power management that little bit better as well. Also by running Xubuntu you forego the 3D desktop environment for a 2D one which also helps reduce power usage levels.