I bit the bullet today and purchased CoolBook.
It's been activated but I haven't rebooted yet cause I'm still doing work.
I'll update this post when I have some results.
EDIT1:
Finally got it installed after a few hiccups. After first initial reboot, OS X said it didn't load properly for some reason. I tried loading manually with kextload, said something about permissions or ownership. Reinstall + reboot fixed that.
TAKE THESE RESULTS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. This is my first review of anything, ever. And I probably suck at benchmarking/testing, so there.
Some info:
I have a Macbook Pro Core 2 Duo 15", only upgrade is the extra 1gb stick of RAM.
I use Fan Control, Base Speed is 2000 RPM, Lower threshold: 50C, Upper: 80C. Usual idle temp is 55C. Ambient temperature is 29.5C at the moment. I use MenuTemperature to monitor CPU temperature.
At full CPU normally, fans ramp up to 6000 RPM and then temperature stays average at 73C after initial spiking up to 82C.
I realise I should have tested my MBP more thoroughly earlier but I didn't bother.
Test 1: Clock speed set to 1002mhz (1.0ghz) and voltage to 0.95v. Then I had two instances of 'yes > /dev/null' running, and the temp rose slowly to 60C, when the fans kicked in slightly, and now it's hovering at 58C.
Verdict: Undervolting and underclocking most certainly worked, with fans not breaking 3500 RPM and temp still not breaking 60C.
Test 2: (IN PROGRESS) Attempt to find ideal lowest voltage for highest frequency and see how it fares.
Started off with 2.16ghz/1.1v. When maxed out, temperature hit 67C, with fans hovering at 4400 RPM. A definite improvement already with a 6C temperature drop and 1600 less RPM for the fans.
Second try was 2.16ghz/1.05v. At max, temp was 65C, fans hovering at 4170 RPM. Another 2C off.
2.16ghz/1.00v: When putting load on the CPU, around three seconds later it crashed and rebooted.
2.16/1.025v: Temperature hit 65C, fan RPM hovering at 4150. Not much of a change, really.
2.16/1.0125v: Temp is 63C, RPM 4050. Slight drop, but then crashed after I hit 'Save' on this post.
I'd probably stay at 1.025v for stability.
Verdict: Works quite well at dropping your temperature and fan speed.
Test 3: (HALF COMPLETE) Test battery life with 1.0Ghz/0.95v.
Brightness on 1 bar, wireless, bluetooth off, connected to the internet, Firefox, Adium, iTerm, MiniBatteryLogger on and it's giving me around 3:30 at the moment. I don't have time to time it exactly how long it takes to die, so it'll have to wait.
Test 4: (NOT COMPLETE) Test battery life with 2.16Ghz/XXXv.
Test 5: XBenches.
1.0ghz/0.95v: 64.04
2.16ghz/1.1v: 108.00
More to be added later.
Comments/suggestions/ideas for more tests?
It's been activated but I haven't rebooted yet cause I'm still doing work.
I'll update this post when I have some results.
EDIT1:
Finally got it installed after a few hiccups. After first initial reboot, OS X said it didn't load properly for some reason. I tried loading manually with kextload, said something about permissions or ownership. Reinstall + reboot fixed that.
TAKE THESE RESULTS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. This is my first review of anything, ever. And I probably suck at benchmarking/testing, so there.
Some info:
I have a Macbook Pro Core 2 Duo 15", only upgrade is the extra 1gb stick of RAM.
I use Fan Control, Base Speed is 2000 RPM, Lower threshold: 50C, Upper: 80C. Usual idle temp is 55C. Ambient temperature is 29.5C at the moment. I use MenuTemperature to monitor CPU temperature.
At full CPU normally, fans ramp up to 6000 RPM and then temperature stays average at 73C after initial spiking up to 82C.
I realise I should have tested my MBP more thoroughly earlier but I didn't bother.
Test 1: Clock speed set to 1002mhz (1.0ghz) and voltage to 0.95v. Then I had two instances of 'yes > /dev/null' running, and the temp rose slowly to 60C, when the fans kicked in slightly, and now it's hovering at 58C.
Verdict: Undervolting and underclocking most certainly worked, with fans not breaking 3500 RPM and temp still not breaking 60C.
Test 2: (IN PROGRESS) Attempt to find ideal lowest voltage for highest frequency and see how it fares.
Started off with 2.16ghz/1.1v. When maxed out, temperature hit 67C, with fans hovering at 4400 RPM. A definite improvement already with a 6C temperature drop and 1600 less RPM for the fans.
Second try was 2.16ghz/1.05v. At max, temp was 65C, fans hovering at 4170 RPM. Another 2C off.
2.16ghz/1.00v: When putting load on the CPU, around three seconds later it crashed and rebooted.
2.16/1.025v: Temperature hit 65C, fan RPM hovering at 4150. Not much of a change, really.
2.16/1.0125v: Temp is 63C, RPM 4050. Slight drop, but then crashed after I hit 'Save' on this post.
I'd probably stay at 1.025v for stability.
Verdict: Works quite well at dropping your temperature and fan speed.
Test 3: (HALF COMPLETE) Test battery life with 1.0Ghz/0.95v.
Brightness on 1 bar, wireless, bluetooth off, connected to the internet, Firefox, Adium, iTerm, MiniBatteryLogger on and it's giving me around 3:30 at the moment. I don't have time to time it exactly how long it takes to die, so it'll have to wait.
Test 4: (NOT COMPLETE) Test battery life with 2.16Ghz/XXXv.
Test 5: XBenches.
1.0ghz/0.95v: 64.04
2.16ghz/1.1v: 108.00
More to be added later.
Comments/suggestions/ideas for more tests?