High temps

Hi guys can anyone give me some tips on keeping temp down. I just installed new footie mgr and playing it on recommended high settings. When watching match engine it didn't feel to me it was running as smooth as it should. I ran some temp reading software and my gpu is hitting 84!!! It's not even a demanding game but I have turned the settings down. I have cleaned out in past and did not too long ago as well, but I have never went further than that . Laptop is 6yrs old plus so thinking maybe heatsink paste needing redone. Is it easy to do or should I take it in somewhere?

 

Paste can harden over time and lose efficiency so I'd say definitely apply some fresh thermal paste. You can easily do this yourself.

Here's a vid that should help (you don't need to remove the CPU and GPU, just remove the heatsinks):


To apply the paste, my best results have always been applying a small amount of paste (around the size of a grain of rice) in the middle of the GPU/CPU die and attaching the heatsink. The pressure of the mounted heatsink should spread the paste evenly over the die. Some dies are bigger than others so more or less paste may be needed, but it's always best not to apply too much. To confirm how much you need, just remove the heatsink, make sure a nice thin layer has spread over the entire die, re-clean, and re-paste accordingly.

 

Thanks,, is there any particular paste you recommend?

 

I am using Gelid GC Extreme currently and I am very happy with it. I also really like Arctic MX-4. Gelid has an edge over MX-4 but only by a degree or two from my experience.

 

Cheers mate,, I will look into it.

 

Does the surface you are playing on make that much of a difference or does new thermal paste take a day or so to set and take full effect?

The reason I ask is ,, I opened up and cleaned the laptop out,, taking the fans and everything out, using pressurised air and cleaning it completely. I then applied new thermal paste to the heat sinks on the CPU and GPU.

Last night when I took the laptop in to work for the quiet hours of the nightshift I was playing footie mgr on the table in the office,, the table has a soft plastic covering on it,, I have also changed to the 6 cell battery so it wasn't propped up at one end like before.

After playing just one game on the match engine I was getting a temp of 83!

I am now sat in the house with the laptop sat on its usual laptop table ,, and even after having played 2 or 3 games on the match engine and after even turning up the graphics settings its not going over 65 !!

Quite a difference,,, can the playing surface make that much a difference, or is just the thermal paste is now set or something? The laptop has never been so clean inside out lol,, so just wondering where to go next.

I still have the damaged power adapter tho,, it has a little break / tear in the cord so perhaps I am not getting the full amount of juice from the power supply. Will buy a new one I think at the end of the month just to be sure.

 

Maybe the ambient temps in the two locations are playing a role here? I doubt the surface matters as long as it's solid. Ambient room temps however can play a huge role as can lifting the laptop so that air can flow easier.

 

Repaste, undervolt GPU if possible, and raise the back of the laptop. That usually goes a long way to reduce temps. We need stronger fans and a better heatsink to move heat out, M15x was not designed to handle high TDP components.

 

I have installed this fan as GPU fan in my M15x - it moves a lot more air, but also noisier. I found it on ebay some years ago.



- And its NOT plug'n'play. You need to do some surgery, to make it fit. Also you have to rewire. But it does improve airflow a lot.

 

i played it again last night on same table,, only difference this time i used these laptop feet i got on ebay to raise the back end,,, played the same game everything and it never went over 68. Got me well confused now. If I am having an issue with the power adapter I wonder if that could be causing heat issues by perhaps putting the hardware under more stress as it makes up for it? its only a small tear in the cord that might explain why its happening some times instead of all the time. The game at times looked jittery as well as if there was a problem with the frame rate,, but now I know as the temp was low it wasn't the GPU causing that.

The fans came on and off as normal but I monitored the temps constantly the whole night and like I said this time they seemed to be fine

 

If you have ever pulled the power cord out whilst in mid game then you will know what I mean about the stuttering or frame rate. It never looked as bad as having no mains power supply,, but just for a sec here and there it would stutter and slow down. I definitely think the power adaptor may be part to blame ,,in any case need new one anyway.

Thanks for the advice and have a nice xmas everyone

 

Yeah mate, could be. If the adapter is getting unplugged or making flimsy contact and the battery is only providing power, then framerates can surely drop especially on higher power cards because the battery will not be able to provide enough power.

 

Sounds most like throttling. If thats the case, this thread has some info: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/gpu-downclocking-itself.797046/