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I have a Dell Inspiron 17R 5721 for a year now and I mostly use ubuntu 12.04. I had heating problems sine the beginning while I was using ubuntu but by trial and error I managed to decrease it to logical levels, that is 60C when idle and sometimes even bellow that.

Lately tho, I've had REAL problems with the heat going up to 90C and more if I didn't turn off the apps/games that I used at the time. My fan has a problem and I'm waiting on Dell to fix that BUT... until that happens I'm in windows where the heat is much less in normal conditions, on computer startup is at 40-48C and If I try to do stuff (watch videos, surf on the internet) the heat is at 50-56C.

So the question is "Does Linux Cause More Heat Than Windows In General"?

I love Ubuntu but I don't want to sepnd another 1K Euros any time soon. As I said I only have this laptop for a year and I hope that it'll live longer.

Not Amused
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So the question is "Does Linux Cause More Heat Than Windows In General"?

In short your answer is Yes. Linux in general will generate more heat and give you less battery life as compared to Windows due to the face open source drivers doesn't do power management well and is by default set to run on full power all the time.

The problem is probably in some of your drivers. you have to search for your problem and try other drivers if you find the problem but mostly is your graphics.

you can read these discussions here and here.

Maythux
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  • Sorry, but my machine lasts 45 minutes longer on Ubuntu than on Windows. The prop.driver for AMD is good and does well regarding battery for me. It is more a question about what is running on that machine that is more important. – Rinzwind Mar 05 '14 at 12:42
  • I totally agree with you – Maythux Mar 05 '14 at 12:44
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    @Rinzwind On the machine mostly runs whatever runs on Startup by defualt, my browser, terminal vim, and a Second Life client Phoenix Firestorm. Same stuff that run normally in windows and the heat is fine there. I have a AMD card, with prop drivers as well. Right now I just have chromium open with 3 tabs, and the temp is at 63C+/-... in windows it would be at 50C+/-. Note that Right now I can't really do a serious comparison of heats because my fan works correctly whenever it wants. This question tho is something that I've noticed for a while now even when my fan worked fine. – Not Amused Mar 05 '14 at 13:17
  • elementary OS (based on Ubuntu) is waay cooler than Windows when web browsing (55C web browsing on elementary OS and 71C in Windows). When letting the PC idle in Windows the temperature goes upto 98C while it is 45C in Linux. The temperature readings in Windows are correct and the fan is also loud. The laptop is a HP Pavilion g7 2269wm – Suici Doga May 16 '16 at 05:31