Voltage based thermal control of processing device

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media;
• program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media that, when executed by a computing system, direct the computing system to at least:
• perform a voltage adjustment process comprising applying incrementally adjusted input voltages to a processing device, operating the processing device according to a functional test comprising an application or script executed in at least an operating system booted on the processing device that exercises power consumption above a threshold level for the processing device for at least a selected voltage domain along with elements of the computing assembly external to the processing device that share at least the selected voltage domain, and monitoring for operational failures of at least the processing device during application of each of the incrementally adjusted input voltages to determine at least one minimum operating voltage lower than a minimum voltage level specified by a manufacturer of the processing device;
• operate the processor device of the computing system at a selected performance level, the processor device supplied with at least one input voltage at a first voltage level;
• monitor thermal information associated with the computing system;
• when the thermal information indicates a temperature associated with the computing system exceeds a threshold temperature, adjust the at least one input voltage level supplied to the processor device to the at least one minimum operating voltage while continuing to operate the processor device at the selected performance level.

A thermal control system for a computing assembly, comprising:

• a voltage control module configured to perform a voltage adjustment process comprising applying incrementally adjusted input voltages to a processing device, operating the processing device according to a functional test comprising an application or script executed in at least an operating system booted on the processing device that exercises power consumption above a threshold level for the processing device for at least a selected voltage domain along with elements of the computing assembly external to the processing device that share at least the selected voltage domain, and monitoring for operational failures of at least the processing device during application of each of the incrementally adjusted input voltages to determine at least one minimum operating voltage lower than a minimum voltage level specified by a manufacturer of the processing device;
• the voltage control module configured to instruct a voltage regulation system of the computing assembly to provide at least one input voltage at a first voltage level to a processor device of the computing assembly while the processor device operates at a first performance level;
• a thermal monitoring module configured to monitor at least temperature information associated with the computing assembly;
• based at least on the temperature information indicating a temperature associated with the computing assembly exceeds a threshold temperature, the voltage control module configured to adjust the at least one input voltage level supplied to the processor device to the at least one minimum operating voltage while the processor device continues to operate at the first performance level.