I noticed after the Java update the other day that my Air no longer revs up to 6200RPM when using MLB Gameday. The temperature now stays cool and the fans at ~2500RPM.
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Java update
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Well, indirectly, software is related. Look at Flash - the Flash video player is so bad that it eats up a lot of our resources. Have you tried going to YouTube whilst checking your Activity Monitor? Notice that there will be a spike on Safari or whatever browser you are using to view the video.
Java, specifically the browser plug-in, has a similar effect.
HOWEVER, this particular update only affects Java applications that runs outside of the browser - 64-bit apps, to be precise. Safari 3.1.1 uses 32-bit and so it uses Java 5.0 and not 6.0 (the update).
The flash issue has to do with poorly optimized encoding of the video, leading to the need for excess processor time to decode, which leads to what you see in Activity Monitor. Updates to the DEcoder, i.e. flash player, will have no effect on the ENcoding. Your analogy is poor.
That said, and back to the OP, the heat issue lies at the processor level, so without a swap there is nothing that can be done. However, Coolbook has demonstrated that if Apple were to release a fix which changed the voltage profile, the thermal problems would likely no longer exists for many users.
That said, and back to the OP, the heat issue lies at the processor level, so without a swap there is nothing that can be done. However, Coolbook has demonstrated that if Apple were to release a fix which changed the voltage profile, the thermal problems would likely no longer exists for many users.
Flash video is poor - both in encoding and decoding. How come the performance of the Flash Player plug-in improves whenever Adobe releases a new version? I doubt that YouTube RE-ENCODES all their video with every Flash Player plug-in update. Either way - the entire Flash workflow sucks!
The issue is with the software since I have read that the MBA runs fine (no shutdowns) when running XP via Bootcamp -- unless this is not true. Whilst CoolBook definitely offers a lower level solution than what Apple is providing via Mac OS X, adding load to the processor - with poorly written software - will push the processor to its limits, become hotter, revving up the fans and then allowing Mac OS X to shutdown one core.
I already said updates to flash player affect decoding. It is poorly optimized, so with revisions, they can tweak the decoding to use less processor time - and this is what I believe you're describing. This would not require any re-encoding.Coolbook is providing a solution that OS X does not have at this time. I'm also curious if you're the Coolbook developer? You must have access to it's source code to draw conclusion about it's architecture.... right? Surely you wouldn't make blind conjecture and report it as fact - that would just be plain stupid.
I was not referring to CoolBook but to applications in general, i.e., poorly written applications such as Flash Player. hehe.