Control CPU Turbo Boost and Energy Performance on Linux

Boost Changer is a lightweight Electron-based desktop application that provides an intuitive GUI for managing CPU turbo boost settings and energy performance preferences on Linux systems. It supports both Intel and AMD processors, allowing you to optimize your system for performance or battery life with a single click.

• Turbo Boost Control: Toggle CPU turbo boost on/off instantly
• Energy Performance Modes: Choose between Power Save, Balance, Performance, and Ultra modes
• System Dashboard: View detailed system information (OS, CPU, memory, disk, battery)
• Real-time Monitoring: Live CPU frequency and temperature monitoring
• Tray Quick-Actions: Control turbo boost and performance mode directly from the system tray
• Dark Mode: Toggle between light and dark themes, persisted across sessions
• Intel & AMD Support: Works with both Intel P-State and AMD CPUFreq drivers
• Lightweight: Minimal resource footprint with modern UI
• Auto-Updates: Built-in update mechanism for non-Arch Linux distributions

• Intel: Modern processors with Intel P-State driver (Sandy Bridge and newer)
• AMD: Processors with CPUFreq driver support

Boost Changer requires root privileges only when modifying CPU settings. The app uses pkexec to securely elevate privileges for specific operations:

• /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo - Turbo boost on/off
• /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/max_perf_pct - Performance percentage (30%, 50%, 70%, 100%)

• /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/boost - Turbo boost on/off
• /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor - Governor settings (conservative, powersave, performance, schedutil)

A system authentication dialog will appear when you change settings. The app itself runs as a regular user and only elevates privileges for specific file writes.

• Physical Hardware Only: This app will not work in virtual machines (VM detection is built-in)
• Not a Replacement: Boost Changer is not meant to replace power management tools like TLP or powertop. It provides quick GUI access to sysfs settings and can run alongside these tools.

Distribution	Installation Method
Arch Linux	AUR Package yay -S boostchanger-git
Snap Store
Universal	AppImage (works on all distros)

# Download the latest release
wget https://github.com/nbebaw/boostchanger/releases/latest/download/boostchanger-5.2.0.AppImage

# Make it executable
chmod +x boostchanger-5.2.0.AppImage

# Run the application
./boostchanger-5.2.0.AppImage

Download from Releases:

• Debian/Ubuntu: .deb package
• Fedora/RHEL: Use AppImage
• openSUSE: Use AppImage
• Arch Linux: AUR package (recommended)

Want to contribute? Here's how to set up the development environment:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/nbebaw/boostchanger.git
cd boostchanger

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm start

# Build for Linux
npm run build

# Check for outdated dependencies
npm run check

# Update all dependencies
npm run updateAll

boostchanger/
├── src/
│   ├── main.js           # Electron main process
│   ├── preload.js        # Preload script
│   ├── constants.js      # Configuration constants
│   ├── dashboard.js      # System info dashboard
│   ├── cpu_settings.js   # CPU settings page
│   ├── error.js          # Error handling
│   ├── updater.js        # Auto-update mechanism
│   ├── mainMenu.js       # Application menu
│   └── lib/
│       └── boostchanger.js  # Core CPU control library
├── public/
│   ├── index.html        # Dashboard HTML
│   ├── cpu_settings.html # Settings HTML
│   └── CSS/
│       └── style.css     # Styles
└── build/                # Build resources

• Electron: v40.8.0
• Node.js: CommonJS modules
• UI: Vanilla JavaScript, CSS Grid/Flexbox
• System Info: systeminformation package
• Updates: electron-updater

The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly...

Solution: Run with --no-sandbox flag or see Issue #1 for permanent fix.

./boostchanger-5.2.0.AppImage --no-sandbox

This app requires physical hardware access to CPU control files. It will not work in virtual machines (VirtualBox, VMware, QEMU, etc.).

If you have an Intel CPU older than Sandy Bridge (2011), it may not support Intel P-State driver. Check if the following file exists:

ls /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo

If not present, your CPU may be too old or using the legacy ACPI driver.

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Test your changes on real hardware (not VM)
4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
6. Open a Pull Request

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

• Built with Electron
• System information provided by systeminformation
• Icons and UI inspired by modern Linux desktop environments

Made with ❤️ for the Linux community