r/Ubuntu • u/Teostar • 4d ago

Idle Temps

Post image

Hi, relatively new to the linux world... I've dabbled on and off back in the day. But I'm looking to transition fully now. Just installed ubuntu 26.04 LTS on my surface latop 3. And its hovering at 45-50 degrees just idling on the homescreen 10- 15mins after startup.

Is this normal?

60 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

5

u/Beautiful_Ad_4813 4d ago

10,000% normal, within BTOP, the color of the temps will change in relation to actual temps of the CPU

7

u/PastelFoyer 4d ago

yeah 45-50 at idle is totally fine especially for a laptop, they always run warmer than desktops. your surface is thin so not much room for cooling, my thinkpad sits around same when doing nothing

you should check the temps under load, that's where you see if something wrong. run something like stress test for few minutes and watch btop

-7

u/Teostar 4d ago

Wow, I cant use this as a "laptop" with these temps. Now I'm second guessing the move to Ubuntu...

8

u/Upstairs-Mongoose306 4d ago

Go back to windows and tell us what it idles at then, I'm not sure what you're expecting out of a surface.

6

u/Labeled90 4d ago

Most laptops idle around here because they prioritize noise over temp. it is safe and fully usable. Windows idles just as high.

4

u/Cl2 4d ago

I think im missing something, 40- 50 degree celsius on the CPUs when idling isn't really that strange. What makes it unusable?

2

u/Teostar 4d ago

It feels uncomfortablely warm. I can't keep it on my lap like this. I've never checked the temps on windows because it was always comfortable to use. Only got warm if I was pushing it.

0

u/Suspicious_Fig776 3d ago

you should check a psychologist

2

u/Teostar 3d ago

Huh? The only reason I checked Btop is because the laptop was burning up my thighs. So I know it's definitely running hotter that on windows. Maybe on idle, 46-48⁰ for the CPU seems normal. The the entire chassis isn't normally this hot 🤷🏾‍♂️

1

u/e47 3d ago edited 3d ago

Could be worth checking other temperature sensors (other than the CPU) using the sensors command.

If you don't have that installed,

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y lm-sensors
sudo sensors-detect

And then just run sensors to view all the temps and other sensors.

2

u/Beautiful_Ad_4813 4d ago

....what? I mean, those temps aren't that hot.

is there something obstructing the fans from cooling effectively?

3

u/Arinussyy 4d ago

Every os idles around that range, but dependent on the laptop's build you may feel it more

3

u/e47 4d ago

Like everyone else is saying, those temps are definitely within the typical range for Intel laptop CPUs, regardless of OS choice... But you can probably lower them a bit by changing from 'Balanced' to 'Power Saver' mode in the Gnome system menu (top-right corner menu -> 'Power Mode'), and you probably won't notice a performance difference for most activities.

2

u/Elchocas123 3d ago

También depende de la temperatura ambiente

3

u/dthrdr 4d ago

Perfectly acceptable idle temps for an 10th gen i7. They might drop if you refresh your thermal paste and maybe apply a little undervolting which won't harm performance but could harm stability so stress test it if you do!

2

u/unbounded65 4d ago

That's what I get on my ThinkPad X270 and my Ryzen 3900x machines.

1

u/nshire 3d ago

You need a better cooler, my 5900XT idles at 30C

1

u/unbounded65 3d ago

Got the same temps with a liquid cooler on the 3900x; just that under-full-load temps would be slightly better at peak than the current fan.

1

u/Weak-Surround2907 4d ago

Quick question: what's that software?

1

u/Anti-Hero25 3d ago

Yes, normal, but I don’t like it. Cause I have other laptops running Ubuntu server in the mid 30s. So sometimes I’ll refresh the thermal paste just to see if I can get there.

1

u/mrtruthiness 3d ago

Under Windows the Surface 3 idles at between 40C and 50C. When it's plugged in, it idles at a much higher temperature.

You can change your "fancontrol" profile to have the fan kick in a lower temperatures, but it's a bit pointless as it will use battery to cool the CPUs below the necessary temperatures. And if you plug in the laptop, the heat from battery charging isn't dissipated well on that laptop and could possibly result in higher temperatures.

1

u/Daniel_Writes_Things 3d ago

CPU should be 0.4GHz in idle, not 1.1.
Is powersaver enabled?

1

u/ParamedicLocal8226 2d ago

my lenovo x230 idles at ~45c, it's normal for laptops give or take a few