My small form factor gaming PC, while amazing, has one glaring flaw: its cramped space. Stuffing an RTX 4090 and a Ryzen 7 7800X3D into a toaster-sized case leaves little room for proper cooling, resulting in high fan noise and worrying temperatures. I was on the edge of my seat, constantly fearing my PC would overheat. But then I stumbled upon Camomile, an app that promised a ‘one-click undervolt’ for my CPU.
I was skeptical. Outbyte, the developer, isn’t known for creating particularly useful tools. They’re famous for their PC repair and driver update utilities, which are often considered unnecessary. Windows Update already handles driver updates, and registry cleaners like CCleaner are generally discouraged by Microsoft. So, I approached Camomile with caution.
Adding to my skepticism were Outbyte’s misleading marketing claims. They boldly stated that 14th-generation Intel processors could reach 115 degrees Celsius, which is simply not true. Furthermore, some of their apps have been flagged as potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) by MalwareBytes, although I scanned my PC and found no issues with Camomile itself.
Despite all this, I decided to give Camomile a shot. It’s free, and at this point, I was desperate for a solution. To my surprise, it actually worked. Camomile is incredibly simple. It displays your CPU, GPU, and SSD temperatures, and lets you adjust a few settings. It doesn’t actually undervolt your CPU – which would be concerning – but it does something.
To gauge the impact, I ran a few tests, including Cinebench R24’s multi-core test, and played Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong. In both games, performance remained identical while temperatures dropped significantly. Cinebench, however, showed a 13% drop in score, which is a considerable reduction.
The temperature drop was much more substantial. With Camomile off, my Ryzen 7 7800X3D hovered around 90 degrees Celsius, but with Camomile on, it rarely went above 60 degrees – a 33% reduction.
That 13% performance drop for a 33% temperature reduction isn’t the most ideal outcome. However, in games, the temperature improvements were truly impressive. Cyberpunk 2077, for instance, saw temperatures drop from an average of 65-70 degrees to 50-55 degrees without any performance impact.
So, how does Camomile achieve this? It turns out it isn’t doing anything groundbreaking. It simply adjusts power settings within Windows, effectively limiting the boost characteristics of modern processors. This results in a lower clock speed, thus generating less heat. Instead of undervolting, which maintains clock speed while reducing power, Camomile essentially downclocks the CPU.
While this downclocking might sound concerning, it’s not necessarily bad, especially in games. In Cyberpunk 2077, my CPU locked in at its base clock speed of 4.2GHz with Camomile turned on. Without it, the boost clock speed fluctuated wildly, resulting in unnecessary heat generation.
Ultimately, Camomile makes my CPU cooler for free, which is a win in my book, particularly considering my thermal constraints. It’s a simple app that achieves its purpose, though it’s not for everyone. If you have a traditional desktop with ample cooling, Camomile is likely unnecessary. However, if you’re struggling with heat in a laptop or a small form factor PC, it might be worth a try.
Despite the questionable marketing and Outbyte’s past with PUPs, Camomile surprisingly delivered on its promise. It’s not the perfect solution, and I’ll likely stick to managing my power settings manually, but if you’re facing thermal issues, Camomile is an intriguing option. Just be aware of the potential downsides and exercise caution.
