So I use psensor to keep track of temperature reading on the Librem 13 when I know I’m doing things that are going to be stressing the thermal management.
Here you can see that I’m using Package id 0 for my temperature graph. I imagine this is the summary of readings coming off the CPU, but am not sure. What is temp1 in this case reflecting? Is it perhaps the tempature reading in the cooling system? Which temp do I need to be paying attention to if I’m trying to prevent component burn out?
imo laptops are not great if you want to sustain a FULL LOAD for many days at a time … not related to Librem but in generall 
if it’s just for a few hours or less at a time you can use a laptop-cooler/stand to help the air from building up in key areas. the BIOS should have a temperature alert/threshold. use that to set it to something that you believe is acceptable for your use case.
in the case of the Librem 13 the problem is with the iGPU since it’s integrated on the same die as the CPU. the temp1 might the iGPU temp but i can’t say for certain since i have only used psensor with AMD desktops/dGPUs
I think you might be right. It being the gpu would make a lot of sense. It is always significantly cooler than the CPU.
Good question. I use gkrellm but the same opacity arises. What are all the no less than 10 temperature sensors that it offers me?
gkrellm gives a little more information but it still isn’t clear what exactly is being monitored. In my case, the next step may be to look into the lm-sensors package after confirming that that is where the temps are actually coming from.
One observation I’ve made on the Librem 13 is that the fans seem to hardly come on. Where as on other Linux first laptops I have/had, the fans are far more aggressive.
Is this difference simply because the Librem 13/15 have an all aluminum body, and it can be used as an extension of the heat sink? I notice the temps in my Librem tend to stay under 40C until I compile or fire up a VM.
Would a more aggressive fan curve for the Librem be a good thing? IE: would it be worth the hit on battery life, but improvement to component longevity?
If you could tweak it such that its still quiet under normal operation but kicks in sooner under heavy load, then it wouldn’t hurt. I don’t imagine you’d do a lot of heavy tasks on battery anyway.
I think the aluminum body goes a long way towards cooling, it helps prevent heat soaking because the body isn’t radiating a bunch of absorbed heat but rather transfers it outside.
I’d LOVE to be able to adjust the fan curve. I would prefer it ramp up much sooner personally, while still having a zone under 42C that the fan is not active.
well yeah … if it keeps consistently bellow 40 degree C then it should feel only slightly warm to the touch (human body is 36-37 normally - if you have bad periferic circulation then it should feel a little warmer to the touch)
generally i prefer my fans to keep running but at a minimal rotation speed when under 40 just because i don’t like the ramping up sound that fans usually make but this can be mitigated by using a good quality fan with a 3 phase motor > https://noctua.at/en/three-phase-motor
Well I’m not complaining about the fan curve as it is now, because I find it bad. On the contrary my Librem is dead silent most of the time. That’s great.
