R2 - Recent CPU upgrade to i7-920xm runnning super hot, throttling.

Hello,
m17xR2 - Recently upgraded CPU from i7-720qm to i7-920xm. It's running super hot past 95 degrees somewhere around 60% usage, throttling down the frequency. Not overclocked.
When not actively using the CPU, (office work time) its sitting around 70 deg... (15% usage)

When I switched the CPU I repasted with Artic silver 5, Used alot the first time (bit too much) -- Repasted upon realizing temps were so hot, this time I used the business card spread method. Still overly hot.

Cleaned the fans and heatsinks all out, were not that dusty since their last clean.

Laptop sits on hard table, vents all clear. No added cooling pad or anything, looking into this as solution. --> Seems like an added step, when I beleive the stock cooling should be sufficient...?


Looking for tips or advice to get this sorted out. Ideally stock cooling.

Is it possibley an issue with my bios cooling settings? Can anyone confirm where they should be set?
---> Am using the unlocked A10 bios, but overclocking has been turned off since I realised this temp issue.



The CPU came with little rectangular thermal pastes, arctic silver 5 should be better then these, correct?


Help!

 

Forgot:

m17xr2
2X4870's


500gb (SSD) hdd01
500gb (HDD) hdd02

(2X8) 16GB ram

 

Use the ricegrain size dot of cooling paste, not spread methode.
Check with HWinfo, see if all cores get hot at the same time. If some get faster hot, you need to repaste again due to airbubles. Polish the surface on heatsink.
All at the same time, swap to another paste or check your pipes for leaks on heatsink.

 

Will repaste in a couple days,

I thought the blob method caused corners to be missed?
--> If too much paste is used, will this cause an issue, or is the past just squished out anyways?

Not sure what you mean by:

Can you clarify this? Its the first I've heard of it..

 

Corners dont have processors.
The paste should be extreemely thin, only filling gaps in uneven sufaces. Copper is way better to lead heat than any paste.
To much paste can either be to thick (not leading heat well) or be messy on the outside.
Use Youtube to see someone pasting their CPU.
There are lots of good videos.

Check first if all core get hot at the same time. Then start to look at how to fix it.

The pipes on the heatsink between the CPU plate to the radiator is gas filled. A leak can cause them to not lead heat well.
But you just start on the first things first. Get HWinfo/Realtemp etc and check all cores for temperature.

 

Gas filled? How do you tell if they are leaking?

 

Cool stuff,

Hwinfo shows all four cores are equally hot (+/- a couple deg)

Will submerge the pipes to check for leaks (bubbles)

Any other thoughts now that we know they're all about the same?

 

have u tried putting in the old cpu and see if you are having the same issues?

 

If you find the bubbles, what do you do scrap the heatsink?

 

Old i7-720qm when stress testing (prime95) gets as hot as 85 deg. Idles around 60 deg.
--> This is a little hot too i guess, but these numbers were taken with A10 bios CPU overclock at 5% +75mw..


Agreed though, if my pipes are leaking, is there any solution? Or just get new ones..?

 

Just a thought,

Why are the pipes filled with gas? Isn't gas always a poor conductor of heat?
--> With leaky pipes, wouldn't it make sense to fill the pipes with electricians solder? --> The stuff only melts at like 400 degrees, and is basically solid lead/tin.

just a discussion thought.

 

If they are leaking you should buy another probably.

But first check your way of applying.
AND do any of the cores get really hot really fast and the others follow in a while, or all very hot at once or is it just increasing slowly over lets say minutes?

airbubbles in paste = some cores could go superfast to throttle level.

I dont use Artic silver 5, there are better ones out there i think.
I use one of them.

 

For temp climb rates see:
This is the i7-720qm, my 920xm has been taken out at the moment for testing.

2013-11-04_1450 - JoshuaWest's library

 

Those 720QM temps are waaay too hot. My 920XM didn't get that hot. Sounds like a bad heatsink to me.

 

You sure your fans run at 100% during this?
Your computer has good free airways to breathe?
You cant have anything on the table besides the computer next to the outlets or it will suck back in the hot air.
You could as others have mentioned have something to elevate the back of the computer (bottlecaps?) or a cooling tray.

Just trying to give you pointers to be sure before you go buy another heatsink.
Are there others out there using arctic silver 5 for their CPU?

How did you paste your 720, repasted or just put back in? One of the cores sees about 8 deg cooler then the hottest one.
(The 720 is not as hung up in paste quality as the 920 btw)


Stress testing will make it hot btw. Idling and normal use temperatures are the most important i guess to see if you can live with that temp.

 

i think you wanted to say line method, rice grain size will not cover the whole DIE, in fact, it never will because DIE is a wide rectangle

 

It isn't actually normal gas, it's a phase change liquid that turns into gas when heated and its extremely effective.

A simple test is placing the CPU contact end of the heatsink into a bowl of extremely hot water. The opposite end of the heatsink/heatpipe should almost immediately become hot. If it takes some time to heat up the liquid/gas has evaporated and you need a new heatsink.

@flingin is right the rice grain method is meant for desktop CPU's with a square heatspreader.

 

Use the line method on cpu and get a new Heatsink. Also use icd7 one application seal it up and never look back.
Good luck

 

Is their any articles showing what the best thermal paste application methods are. And each of their benefits etc etc.

 

Here you go
Application

 

Youtube search.
Search for application of heatpaste coolingpaste etc etc and GPU/CPU.

Look for the plexy glas ones. It will show.

What is best paste? Search google, best paste 2013.
Think you will find what i found.

 

Exactly what I needed, PERFECT.

 

just a replacement, there is no fix for that because it would cost 10x more than new part....i suppose...

 

To check if the heatsink is working properly, get a glass with hot water, almost Boiling point. Submerge the die size only of the heatsink in the hot water. If it works, the fins areas and above water heatpipes will become immediately hot. (heat transfer). For information sake the heat pipes are filled with a liquid, which evaporate upon contact with the hot cpu/Gpu die thus removing heat. The vapor phase is then cooled down, the heat is dispersed over the fins, then removed with the fan and the liwuid condensate again, and the circle repeat

 

Hey Everyone, Thanks for all the input, sorry for the delay in my response, have been on the road.


You sure your fans run at 100% during this?
--> Yes, Hwinfo fans set to manual to 100%
Your computer has good free airways to breathe?
--> Yep -- Actually, got a new cooling pad, temps are down to 73C on the 720qm (prime95) So thats good. Awaiting free time to put the 920xm in. Fingers crossed, but is this still too hot?

How did you paste your 720, repasted or just put back in?
Repasted twice, on both CPUs, didnt seem to help much using diff methods.

i think you wanted to say line method, rice grain size will not cover the whole DIE, in fact, it never will because DIE is a wide rectangle
---> Gotcha, will stick to line.



A simple test is placing the CPU contact end of the heatsink into a bowl of extremely hot water. The opposite end of the heatsink/heatpipe should almost immediately become hot. If it takes some time to heat up the liquid/gas has evaporated and you need a new heatsink.
--> Will try this shortly.




Question: The heatsink screws, can they be "Too tight" or do you just bottom them out?
--> Seems like a newb question, but I want to cover all my based before dropping more money on parts

Thanks again everyone!

 

If you haven't done any mods to the heatsink and the screws (c-clip mod) then you can tighten till they stop turning. In order to get the best results turn each screw about 2.5 turns each following the numbers on the heatsink for each turn. Then reassemble leaving the keyboard and the power/media button panel connected but not installed. This allows you access to the CPU heatsink screws.

Then boot up and run ThrottleStops built in TS Bench benchmark, the 1024M test, and monitor the temps while tightening the screws further. Tighten and or loosen each screw till you have the optimal temp reading with the least difference between cores.

 

Any tips on which #screw associated to which cpu core?

 

I cant remember as its been a while since I've repasted but I do know its not an exact science, you have to play around with the screws until you're happy with the temps. It wont be perfect and you will still see a temp difference between cores but its better than just simply screwing the heatsink down according to the marked numbers.

One screw could affect 3 cores... it all depends on how your heatsink is sitting on the CPU.

 

I used a lot of thermal paste. But the best is the Pro LIQUID.
Tests after 6 months of use.

 

New update,
i7-920xm running in computer now,

Had some initial issues with windows not recognizing the new cpu, restarting four times solved that.....

Here's a screen capture while running prime95, showing a previously taken passmark performance test (not with prime95 running)
2013-11-15_1524 - JoshuaWest's library


The stutters you see in the temp graph were while the passmark cpu benchmark was running, after it quite I turned on prime95 to test temps etc.


Question:
Why does PerformanceTest show "i7 920 @ 2.67GHz" ?
---> Additionally, why is it scored higher then my 920xm?


I should mention that I am running with the modified a10 bios, +75mw and +5%OC....


Here is Task Manager while running Prime95: 2013-11-15_1531 - JoshuaWest's library
--> I'm running at 2.20GHz, which makes sense to me (2.0 X1.05 OC =2.20)

Does this mean the performance test "i7 920 @ 2.67GHz" is just even further OC'd?


Looking for any insights anyone can provide!

 

You need a throttlestop and increase watt tdp and tdc

 

Did you use liquid pro in your iFanta?

Hopefully not since you used a lot?

 

The Core i7-920 @ 2.67GHz is the desktop processor.

ARK | Intel® Core

I would not use the +75mw bios setting and I would run the BCLK at 133 MHz. Your main problem is that your CPU is running too hot. Adding extra voltage results in more heat and a bigger problem.

For overclocking, run Prime 95 and adjust the TDP / TDC settings higher in ThrottleStop. That's the key to the 920XM CPUs. Keep a close eye on the multiplier and your core temperature in ThrottleStop while playing with these settings. You will start to learn how more power going to your CPU equals more MHz.

 

--> D'Oh

--> You recommend against the 5% increase?

Awesome, Ultimately I am limited by my cooling capabilities, likely more than stability, correct?
What would you say is the highest tempurature I should be hitting under full load after OC?