I really miss the old BOINC days: on my Linux (64 Bit) computer, several BOINC versions earlier, BOINC always let my CPU in the lowest powersaving mode (1 GHz). I have "On demand" enabled, so when applications need CPU power, the AMD Cool&Quiet feature speeds up to 2,5 GHz - just to drop down to 1 GHz, wenn there is no need anymore. With older BOINC versions always running in the background and with using 100% CPU, my CPU stayed in the lowest Cool&Quiet mode at 1 GHz. But since several versions of BOINC, it never drops below the maximum 2,5 GHz. (Of course, I can set CPU usage in BOINC to e.g. 50% but this results just in 50% time with no cpu usage and 50% time in full 2,5 GHz usage.)

Is there a way to get back the old behaviour so that a 100% CPU BOINC keeps calm and lets Cool&Quiet work? Just like in the good old BOINC days?

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BOINC 7.2.42 (x86_64) on Linux Ubuntu 16.04 (64 Bit), AMD APU 7850K 3.7 GHz, 32 GB RAM.

Do you use the GPU for CUDA calculations?
Which projects are you attached to?

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If you use the GPU for calculations, then that's the cause. GPU applications run at normal priority to keep the GPU fed.

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Nope, no GPU calculations. My current projects are SETI@home (Enhanced 5.28), Spinhenge@home (Monte Carlo Metropolis 3.12).

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BOINC 7.2.42 (x86_64) on Linux Ubuntu 16.04 (64 Bit), AMD APU 7850K 3.7 GHz, 32 GB RAM.

The change of behaviour you describe is not because of newer versions of BOINC, it's because of newer versions of your operating system (based on your signature).

With the "on demand" profile, older Ubuntu versions (I think up until 8.10) used to run BOINC applications without maximising the CPU frequency as default behaviour. This was changed on newer Ubuntu versions and now the OS will change to max CPU frequency when a BOINC app. is running.

Add this to /etc/rc.local:

echo 1 >/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/ondemand/ignore_nice_load

Add this to /etc/rc.local:

echo 1 >/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/ondemand/ignore_nice_load

Works for Ubuntu 11.04!