[astrange]

You probably wanted a low thread priority/QoS setting. The OS knows how to run threads such that they don't heat up the CPU. Well, on modern hardware it does anyway.

[adrianN]

I’d expect any os worth it’s name to run threads in a way that minimizes total energy not fan noise.

[astrange]

People with desktop computers don't care about total energy, but they do care about fan noise for overnight maintenance tasks.

[rswail]

The OP did say this was circa 2010. So we're talking 15 years ago.