What is an SMC? I don’t know!
The update seems to make the machine more aggressively respond to high temperatures. Using CoreDuoTemp, I am observing the use of lower frequencies to help drop the temperature. The fans also seem to run a bit more, which helps to exhaust heat. However, this only really helps the machine when it’s hot, not idle. The idle temp isn’t any lower than it was before but when I stressed the machine (by building a cross compiler) it didn’t get above 75 degrees and the fans didn’t make nearly as much noise as they used to when I stressed the machine.
On the subject of fan noise, holy crap those things are loud when the go at full tilt. The update makes them run for a few seconds which is how I know. Clearly my machine isn’t hot enough to require that during normal (and even heavy) use. It is kind of comforting to know that the system isn’t working anywhere near it’s maximum though because it means unusual thermal events shouldn’t cause a problem.
Between this update and the thermal grease mod I should end up with a cool machine. Here’s hoping…
