Systems and methods for controlling processing device power consumption

1. A method of controlling processing device power consumption in an information handling system having multiple processing devices, the method comprising:

simultaneously operating at least one first processing device and at least one second processing device of the information handling system while simultaneously cooling the first and second processing devices together using shared cooling resources of the information handling system, and with the first processing device being operated in an overclocked mode at a maximum allowable power limit value and with the second processing device being operated in a non-throttled state;

then using at least one processing device of the information handling system to decrease the maximum allowable power limit value of the first processing device to limit overclocking of the first processing device if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to a predefined upper temperature value that is a maximum non-throttled operating temperature for the second processing device; and

then operating the first processing device in a non-overclocked mode at the decreased maximum allowable power limit value while continuing to operate the second processing device in a non-throttled condition state at a temperature that is below the maximum non-throttled operating temperature for the second processing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising then using at least one processing device of the information handling system to then increase the maximum allowable power limit value of the first processing device to allow overclocking of the first processing device if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than or equal to a predefined lower temperature value that is lower than the predefined upper temperature value; and then operating the first processing device in an overclocked mode at the increased maximum allowable power limit value while continuing to operate the second processing device in a non-throttled state at a temperature that is below the maximum non-throttled operating temperature for the second processing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(a) simultaneously operating the first processing device and the second processing device of the information handling system within a chassis enclosure of the information handling system while simultaneously cooling the first and second processing devices together using shared cooling resources within the chassis enclosure, and with the first processing device being operated at a first maximum allowable power limit value;

(b) using at least one processing device of the information handling system to monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while operating and cooling the second processing device together with the first processing device while the first processing device is operating at the first maximum allowable power limit value;

(c) then using at least one processing device of the information handling system to decrease the maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to a second maximum allowable power limit value that is lower than the first power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to the predefined upper temperature value; and

(d) then simultaneously operating the first processing device and the second processing device while simultaneously cooling the first and second processing devices together using shared cooling resources of the information handling system, and with the first processing device being operated at the second maximum allowable power limit value.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

(e) using at least one processing device of the information handling system to monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while operating and cooling the second processing device together with the first processing device while the first processing device is operating at the second maximum allowable power limit value; and

(f) then using at least one processing device of the information handling system to increase the maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to a third maximum allowable power limit value that is greater than the second power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than or equal to a predefined lower temperature value; and

where the method further comprises empirically determining the predefined lower temperature value by laboratory testing the same system configuration of the information handling system under use conditions.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(a) simultaneously operating the first processing device and the second processing device of the information handling system within a chassis enclosure of the information handling system while simultaneously cooling the first and second processing devices together using shared cooling resources within the chassis enclosure, and with the first processing device being operated at a current maximum allowable power limit value;

(b) using at least one processing device of the information handling system to monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while operating and cooling the second processing device together with the first processing device while the first processing device is operating at the current maximum allowable power limit value;

(c) then using at least one processing device of the information handling system to perform each of the following steps to determine a new current maximum allowable power limit value that may or may not be the same as the previous maximum allowable power limit value:

decreasing the previous current maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to determine a new and different current maximum allowable power limit value that is lower than the previous current power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to the predefined upper temperature value; and

increasing the previous current maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to determine a new and different current maximum allowable power limit value that is greater than the previous current power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than or equal to a predefined lower temperature value; and

leaving the previous current maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device unchanged to determine a new current maximum allowable power limit that is the same as the previous current maximum allowable power limit if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than the predefined upper temperature value and greater than the predefined lower temperature value; and

(d) then iteratively repeating steps (a) through (c).

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

alternately operating the first processing device in a sustained (PL1) power consumption mode and a burst (PL2) higher power consumption mode;

using the maximum allowable power limit value to limit power consumption of the first processing device only while the first processing device is operating in the sustained (PL1) power consumption mode; and

not using the maximum allowable power limit value to limit power consumption of the first processing device while the first processing device is operating in the burst (PL2) higher power consumption mode.

7. The method of claim 6 , where the shared cooling resources of the information handling system comprise:

at least one common heat sink that is thermally and mechanically coupled to each of the first processing device and the second processing device; and

at least one cooling fan that circulates air in contact with the heat sink to transfer heat from the heat sink to the circulated cooling air.

8. The method of claim 1 , where the first processing device comprises a CPU; where the information handling system further comprises a system embedded controller communicatively coupled to the CPU and to the second processing device; and where the method further comprises:

simultaneously operating the CPU and the at least one second processing device of the information handling system while simultaneously cooling the first and second processing devices together using shared cooling resources of the information handling system, and with the first processing device being operated at a maximum allowable power limit value; and

then using the system embedded controller to decrease the maximum allowable power limit value of the CPU if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to a predefined upper temperature value.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using at least one processing device of the information handling system to allow a user to select an initial value of maximum allowable power limit value before performing the step of using at least one processing device of the information handling system to decrease the maximum allowable power limit value of the first processing device if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to a predefined upper temperature value.

10. The method of claim 1 , where the information handling system is a notebook computer having a chassis enclosure that surrounds the first processing device, second processing device, and shared cooling resources; where the first processing device is a central processing unit (CPU) and the second processing device is an internal discrete graphics processing unit (GPU); and where the sum of the cooling requirements of the first processing device operating at maximum processing capacity and the second processing device operating at maximum capacity is greater than the cooling capacity of the shared cooling resources of the information handling system.

11. An information handling system, comprising:

at least one first processing device and at least one second processing device, the first processing device being configured to operate in an overclocked mode at a maximum allowable power limit value while the second processing device being operated in a non-throttled state;

shared cooling resources configured to simultaneously cool the first and second processing devices together; and

at least one processing device communicatively coupled to the first and second processing devices, and configured to:

monitor real time operating temperature of the second processing device, and

decrease the maximum allowable power limit value of the first processing device to limit overclocking of the first processing device if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to a predefined upper temperature value that is a maximum non-throttled operating temperature for the second processing device so as to allow the second processing device to continue to operate in a non-throttled condition state and at a temperature that is below the maximum non-throttled operating temperature for the second processing device.

12. The system of claim 11 , where at least one processing device of the information handling system is further configured to then increase the maximum allowable power limit value of the first processing device to allow overclocking of the first processing device if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than or equal to a predefined lower temperature value that is lower than the predefined upper temperature value while the second processing device operates in a non-throttled state at a temperature that is below the maximum non-throttled operating temperature for the second processing device.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a chassis enclosure that contains the first and second processing devices and the shared cooling resources; and where at least one processing device of the information handling system is further configured to:

(a) monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while the second processing device is operating together with the first processing device operating at a first maximum allowable power limit value, and while the first and second processing devices are being simultaneously cooled together using the shared cooling resources within the chassis enclosure; and

(b) then decrease the maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to a second maximum allowable power limit value that is lower than the first power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to the predefined upper temperature value such that the first processing device and the second processing device simultaneously operate together while being simultaneously cooled together by the shared cooling resources of the information handling system, and with the first processing device operating at the second maximum allowable power limit value.

14. The system of claim 13 , where at least one processing device of the information handling system is further configured to:

(c) monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while the second processing device is being cooled together with the first processing device and while the first processing device is operating at the decreased second maximum allowable power limit value; and

(d) then increase the maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to a third maximum allowable power limit value that is greater than the second power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than or equal to a predefined lower temperature value after the maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device is decreased by a predefined power value increment to a second maximum allowable power limit value;

where the predefined lower temperature value is empirically determined by laboratory testing the same system configuration of the information handling system under use conditions.

15. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a chassis enclosure that contains the first and second processing devices and the shared cooling resources; and where at least one processing device of the information handling system is further configured to:

(a) monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while the second processing device is operating together with the first processing device operating at a current maximum allowable power limit value, and while the first and second processing devices are being simultaneously cooled together using the shared cooling resources within the chassis enclosure; and

(b) monitor the real time operating temperature of the second processing device while the second processing device is being simultaneously cooled together by the shared cooling resources of the information handling system and while the first processing device is operating at the current maximum allowable power limit value;

(c) then perform each of the following steps to determine a new current maximum allowable power limit value that may or may not be the same as the previous maximum allowable power limit value:

decreasing the previous current maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to determine a new and different current maximum allowable power limit value that is lower than the previous current power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to the predefined upper temperature value; and

increasing the previous current maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device by a predefined power value increment to determine a new and different current maximum allowable power limit value that is greater than the previous current power limit value if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than or equal to a predefined lower temperature value; and

leaving the previous current maximum allowable power limit value for the first processing device unchanged to determine a new current maximum allowable power limit that is the same as the previous current maximum allowable power limit if the monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is less than the predefined upper temperature value and greater than the predefined lower temperature value; and

(d) then iteratively repeating steps (a) through (c).

16. The system of claim 11 , where the first processing device is configured to alternately operate in a sustained (PL1) power consumption mode and a burst (PL2) higher power consumption mode; and where the at least one processing device communicatively coupled to the first and second processing devices is configured to:

use the maximum allowable power limit value to limit power consumption of the first processing device only while the first processing device is operating in the sustained (PL1) power consumption mode; and

not use the maximum allowable power limit value to limit power consumption of the first processing device while the first processing device is operating in the burst (PL2) higher power consumption mode.

17. The system of claim 16 , where the shared cooling resources of the information handling system comprise:

at least one common heat sink that is thermally and mechanically coupled to each of the first processing device and the second processing device; and

at least one cooling fan that circulates air in contact with the heat sink to transfer heat from the heat sink to the circulated cooling air.

18. The system of claim 11 , where the first processing device comprises a CPU; where the information handling system further comprises a system embedded controller communicatively coupled to the CPU and to the second processing device; and where the embedded controller is further configured to:

simultaneously operating the CPU and the at least one second processing device of the information handling system while simultaneously cooling the first and second processing devices together using shared cooling resources of the information handling system, and with the first processing device being operated at a maximum allowable power limit value; and

decrease the maximum allowable power limit value of the CPU if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to a predefined upper temperature value while the CPU and the at least one second processing device of the information handling system are simultaneously operating together and being simultaneously cooled together using shared cooling resources of the information handling system while the first processing device is operating at a maximum allowable power limit value.

19. The system of claim 11 , where the at least one processing device of the information handling system is configured to allow a user to select an initial value of maximum allowable power limit value before performing the step of decreasing the maximum allowable power limit value of the first processing device if a monitored real time operating temperature of the second processing device is greater than or equal to a predefined upper temperature value.

20. The system of claim 11 , where the information handling system is a notebook computer having a chassis enclosure that surrounds the first processing device, second processing device, and shared cooling resources; where the first processing device is a central processing unit (CPU) and the second processing device is an internal discrete graphics processing unit (GPU); and where the sum of the cooling requirements of the first processing device operating at maximum processing capacity and the second processing device operating at maximum capacity is greater than the cooling capacity of the shared cooling resources of the information handling system.