Afaik, the Gnome applet uses cpufreq-selector. I think this is the command being executed under the hood when you use the applet:
sudo cpufreq-selector --governor=performance --freq=2000
You can run the command directly and see if you see any difference in behaviour.
The cpufrequtils package provides utilities to help you manipulate the CPU scaling behaviour. Install the package and check your CPU options via cpufreq-info.
$ cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 004: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@lists.linux.org.uk, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
driver: acpi-cpufreq
CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 1.67 GHz
available frequency steps: 1.67 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz
available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, performance
current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 1.67 GHz.
The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz.
cpufreq stats: 1.67 GHz:0.00%, 1.33 GHz:0.00%, 1000 MHz:0.01% (3526)
analyzing CPU 1:
driver: acpi-cpufreq
CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 1
hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 1.67 GHz
available frequency steps: 1.67 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz
available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, performance
current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 1.67 GHz.
The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz.
cpufreq stats: 1.67 GHz:0.00%, 1.33 GHz:0.00%, 1000 MHz:0.01% (3737)
Next, try to set the minimum frequency a governor can use with the cpufreq-set command. This will hopefully stick better than the cpufreq-selector command.
NAME
cpufreq-set - A small tool which allows to modify cpufreq settings.
SYNTAX
cpufreq-set [options]
DESCRIPTION
cpufreq-set allows you to modify cpufreq settings without having to type e.g.
"/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_set_speed" all the time.
OPTIONS
-c --cpu <CPU>
number of CPU where cpufreq settings shall be modified.
-d --min <FREQ>
new minimum CPU frequency the governor may select.
-u --max <FREQ>
new maximum CPU frequency the governor may select.
-g --governor <GOV>
new cpufreq governor.
-f --freq <FREQ>
specific frequency to be set. Requires userspace governor to be available and
loaded.
Note that I have no idea of the downsides of doing this. You may well be shortening your CPU life dramatically by having it constantly operate at the max frequency.
