Any way to disable specific CPU idle (Cx) states?

Posted by Philippe on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Philippe
Published on 2010-03-19T20:00:29Z Indexed on 2011/02/03 15:28 UTC
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cpu

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noise

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intel-core-i5

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idle

I just got a new Toshiba Tecra S11 notebook, which has a Core i5 520M CPU, and it appears to suffer from a well-known problem: a high pitched noise when the CPU is idle.

Googling around revealed that this is caused by a specific power-saving mode in the CPU. In most cases, C4 mode is blamed for the noise.

So my question is: is it possible to disable C4 mode (or any other "sleep" mode) using some utility or BIOS setting? I don't mind if it hurts battery life.

I'd appreciate any advice on this matter. It's driving me crazy.

FYI: I'm running Windows 7 64-bit

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