Systems and methods for thermal throttling via processor core count reduction and thermal load line shift

A method comprising, in an information handling system comprising a processor having a plurality of cores integrated within an integrated circuit package:

• responsive to absence of a condition for operating the processor with a reduced core count, controlling the processor in accordance with a standard thermal profile defining a maximum operating temperature of the processor as a linear function of power consumed by the processor having a first slope;
• and
• responsive to presence of the condition for operating the processor with the reduced core count, controlling the processor in accordance with a modified thermal profile defining a modified maximum operating temperature of the processor as a linear function of power consumed by the processor having a second, greater slope, wherein for a given power consumption of the processor, the modified thermal profile defines a modified maximum temperature that is greater than the maximum operating temperature defined by the standard thermal profile;
• while controlling the processor in accordance with the standard thermal profile, in response to the processor having a temperature exceeding the maximum operating temperature, causing the power consumption of the processor to be throttled;
• and
• while controlling the processor in accordance with the modified thermal profile, in response to the processor having a temperature exceeding the modified maximum operating temperature, causing the power consumption of the processor to be throttled.

An article of manufacture comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• and computer-executable instructions carried on the computer-readable medium, the instructions readable by a processor, the instructions, when read and executed, for causing the processor to:
• responsive to absence of a condition for operating a processor having a plurality of cores integrated within an integrated circuit package with a reduced core count, controlling the processor in accordance with a standard thermal profile defining a maximum operating temperature of the processor as a linear function of power consumed by the processor having a first slope;
• and
• responsive to presence of the condition for operating the processor with the reduced core count, controlling the processor in accordance with a modified thermal profile defining a modified maximum operating temperature of the processor as a linear function of power consumed by the processor having a second, greater slope, wherein for a given power consumption of the processor, the modified thermal profile defines a modified maximum temperature that is greater than the maximum operating temperature defined by the standard thermal profile;
• while controlling the processor in accordance with the standard thermal profile, in response to the processor having a temperature exceeding the maximum operating temperature, causing the power consumption of the processor to be throttled;
• and
• while controlling the processor in accordance with the modified thermal profile, in response to the processor having a temperature exceeding the modified maximum operating temperature, causing the power consumption of the processor to be throttled.