An optimized temperature-driven device cooling mechanism factors in power consumption of thermal management components, as well as processing components. A decision engine consults a knowledge base comprising information regarding power consumption and thermal impact of cooling components and processing components. The decision engine can delay additional cooling if the power consumption of cooling components is greater than the increase in power consumption of processing components due to increases in ambient temperature. The knowledge base is populated by published specifications and by empirically derived data that can be based on tests performed on components. Thermal management strategies can be user selected and can include strategies that avoid controlling certain components such as, for example, processing components, instead focusing only on cooling and other components. Cooling includes heat distribution, such as by transferring processing from one processing component to another.