G50vt overheating. Can underclocking help?

I got a refurbished G50vt-A1 from Asus as a replacement for a G1S that had a bad GPU (as so many did) back in 11/2009. It's worked quite well until about the past month, and now I'm having overheating issues. Of course, a Google search for g50vt overheating returns thousands of results, and I've waded thru much of it to no avail.

I used this machine to run numerous games at high settings with no problem until recently. Now, even if I cut the settings down to minimum in a game like Heroes of Newerth I usually experience throttling within 30 mins of gaming. If you aren't familiar with this particular card ( 9800m GS), that means the GPU core hits 110°c and proceeds to shut itself off completely until it can cool down to about 100°c again, then does the same thing over and over. This results in unplayable slowdown in-game...think 1-2fps at most, even on bare minimum settings. Even as I type this, with a bag of frozen veggies nestled under my elevated laptop, a fan blowing behind it, and no 3d apps running, I'm idling at 69°c.

I have pried this baby open several times. I've cleaned everything I could. Since the 3 month refurb warranty is long-expired, I've dug deeper than most. I've re-applied thermal paste to the GPU and CPU cores. I didn't mess with the pads on the memory sinks though, and wonder if anything should be done about those. I've blown out the vents, heatsink, and fan module with compressed air and swabbed them with q-tips. As far as I can tell, there is no dust buildup contributing to this problem.

I did flash the BIOS to accommodate Windows 7 a couple weeks before this issue arose and wonder if that could have done anything. But I'm really curious about undervolting/underclocking and how those options could help. But do I need to flash the BIOS again for that? Then will I need to reinstall my OS? Where do I get a BIOS vers for underclocking? I invite the wisdom of anyone with experience in these realms.

 

I think yours must be faulty. My Asus G50VT ran very cool for a gaming laptop. I could play CoD MW2 on the highest settings, and it only got 86C. The max my CPU got was 79C overclocked. There is no bios for underclocking. How hot does your CPU get?

 

Try updating your video card drivers. Try several and see which runs coolest. Oh and mine was refurbished too. Also set your power plan on Quiet Office plan.

Here's a link to someone selling an Asus G50vt 9800m on the forum: http://forum.notebookreview.com/computer-components/495027-fs-asus-9800m-gs-512mb-reverse-mxm.html

 

HWMonitor is reporting a max CPU temp of 70 c, but with a 3d app running right now it's only at 60 c. Not sure if this is part of my problem or not.

I've updated GPU drivers to the most recent available from nVidia, but I might look around at alternatives.

The replacement card might be a good idea, but there's no way I'm dropping anything near $200 on a POSSIBLE fix. It looks like the seller replaced his with a gtx 260m; I wonder if I could do that?

 

Ok, does your GPU only go over 100C on a certain program?

2nd You can put a GTX 260m in it, but it will get even hotter. I'd stick with a 9800m GS. If I where you thats what I would buy. I'm about 99+/-% sure that its the GPU.

j0KER