My G51 is a hot potato,Help!

I just bought this G51vt x2a from newegg, not to talk about they cut the price by $50 the followin morning after i made my payment, it is a great laptop, it's fast as hell n i love it. I found this website being very helpful along my way of choosing my machine so I followed the Opmiz Guide for G51, I left the HWmonitor on when i went into NFS 9 MW only to be shocked to see my GPU had hit 96 during the game, HOLY COW! I talked to myself to make myself believe this GPU,GTX 260m is built to run in high temp but after runnin FurMark I cant lie to myself anymore, 102 max is unacceptable. so Im desperate to know if there's any way to solve this high temp problem if not then how to deal this with newegg since this is my first time purchased a computer online ,how to get it changed?

 

Did you overclock your CPU or GPU?

Open up your G51 and replace the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU.

 

NO NO AND NO!

Only put AS5 on the CPU. DO NOT touch the GPU at all! Unless you have some spare thermal pads that can transfer heat better. Trust me putting AS5 on the GPU and taking the thermal pad off will result in a higher temp. I had to take back my notebook because the GPU was sitting at 100C doing nothing. Other notebooks can do this but are GPU has a Shim around it so it will no longer make direct contact to the heat-pipe.

 

The GPU in the G51 uses thermal pads on the memory modules, but the GPU core itself is already using thermal paste. Replacing the stock thermal paste with AS5 would be okay.

 

Get used to the hot potato..sadly..alot of us on the forum have this problem including me...Being you have one from newegg at least helps us clear out that all the models heat up..not just the BB ones.

A small part of the problem is that the fans do not kick in untill the gpu hits high temps, around 70C..We are in dire need of an updated BIOS release from Asus.

Apply AS5 on the cpu and gpu core and patiently wait about a week to 2 weeks for the paste to break in and then your temps should drop a few degrees.

 

On a side note, if anyone is considering replacing the stock thermal paste, I'd highly recommend IC Diamond 7 over any other thermal paste/compound. It's slightly more expensive compared to AS5, but ICD7 has a much better thermal conductivity rating and does not electrically conduct like AS5.

 

yeah but replacing the thermal paste voids your warranty right?

 

The 102C from Furmark is fine since GPU stress programs like that stress it way beyond what your GPU would be subject to under even heavy maxed out Crysis gaming sessions.

That most wanted temp seems a bit high. I'd recommend running through Crysis a little bit or some other relatively graphics intensive game and then look at the temps. I have the feeling that the NFS temp was just an anomaly.

 

Thanks for everyone responded my thread. I didn't do any overclockin at all, I'm downloadin Left 4 dead to further test my GPU, dont hav Crysis at hand, maybe later. looks like we r all havin this problem. To be honest, I dont give a damn how high it goes up to as long as it functions n lasts for 2-3 years, is there any proof that this high temp doesnt affect its lifetime significantly? if so then things are not too bad.

 

Yes, IT DOES; you have to break a warranty seal to pull the heatsink off.

There have been a lot of threads and discussions like this about the G51 in recent weeks. I wish folks would include this little detail in their offhand, instant recommendations telling people to start pulling heatsinks etc off to "fix" temp issues that they feel are problems, but which Asus' engineers designed as ok.

The reason I think that is important is because veterans of the forum here know the warranty restrictions implicitly, but newer members who haven't been around as long might not realize what's going to happen. This thread and question was OP's initial post.....

 

The seal is on one part of the cpu heatsink screw..You do have to lift this up to get the gpu up also but if you are delicate enough, you can lift up half of the seal without ripping it then gently place it back down after the heatsink is back on the cpu..I did this the first time but the second time I accidentally ripped it.

 

This.

Some unlucky soul on these forums tried new thermal paste on his GPU; he did something wrong and the temperatures went higher. I don't know what happened to him (can't remember his name or the topic title), but I'm pretty sure he had to send his back.

If you're worried about the 102C temps on the GPU, you're probably better of taking your chances and sending it back to ASUS than you are trying to fix it yourself.

I will say this though, the G51 mine was replaced with is doing far better temperature wise than my old one.

 

Yep....if you put too much or too little paste, you can screw up the temps even more.....

 

At least application of paste is able to be corrected. If I got abnormally high temperatures I'd try reapplying the paste first.

Speaking of which, I should get around to doing that for the GPU.

 

I noticed if i had 2x AA on it hits 96-97max but without AA, its only 92, was I just expectin too much from this GPU?

 

In NFS MW, forgot to mention

 

You say you read the forums before you bought it? The G51's heat issues are no secret.

It's under warranty, so I'd just ignore the heat until it dies. The safety range is set for something like 102 celcius.

 

Hi, sorry to use this thread but due to heat problems im my G50 i cleaned it up and since i voided the that thermal stone over the cpu and gpu i artic-silvered the entire GPU, CPU and Chipset, the temperatures are in fact much lower than before, about 30 degrees (yes, it's true) but i can't monitor the temps in the GPU memory chips and it's kinda worrying me... my g50 isn't overclocked and probably never will be, no firmware hacks either, do i really have to worry about?

 

Wrong. The GPU is using a thermal pad as do the ram modules. Seriously Ive torn apart 10 of these notebooks.

 

Odd.

Some pictures that Skyhawk took seem to contradict that.

Maybe some of the G51 GPUs have different heating interfaces.

 

I don't know what you have been tearing apart but the G50s, G51s, and G71s all have thermal pads on the memorys and thermal compound on the core..

 

Interesting indeed!

Thanks for posting that. Everyone that i've torn apart has had the same Purple thermalpad over the core. Want to know something even more weird now that i think about it. All ten include then 2 that i got so technically 8 that ive worked on were all from the same bestbuy. So it very well could have been a "first lot" thing.

 

Ive been tearing apart G51s. Thanks asshat.

 

Chill dude.

 

I'll pop open my GPU and take a look in a bit. I want to do a good application of AS5 anyway.

 

Please keep personal insults to a minimum.

G8GT594, if you have a chance, please post a picture of the G51's thermal assembly. I find it odd that Asus would choose to use a thermal pad on the GPU die. A thermal pad on the GPU die is extremely rare, especially for such a powerful GPU like the GTX 260M. I've see entry-level GPUs with thermal pads, but never on a gaming laptop. If Asus did indeed use a thermal pad, this would be a VERY poor engineering decision.

 

Not necessary dudeman. and asshat...really rofl -_-..

The first batch could have had thermal pads on the core...could be why they had the most problems with heating..That or geek squad decided to change it up, which I doubt lol.

 

I'll confirm that that my G51, at last, has paste spread over the the GPU core. Thermal pads are on the various RAM modules and stuff.

The problem is, after I cleaned if off and did some AS5, my GPU shot to 106C after the fist 3DMark graphics test. (Not the whole test, the first trial). I shut it off before the Firefly Forest test even loaded.

Going to have to see what I did wrong. Unless I'm expecting a 15+ drop in temperature as it cures... which I doubt.

 

Did you apply a thin thin layer with a credit card type object? My temps as you know right after I applyd AS5 hit about 102C and now, 4 days later, the highest temp on 3dmark is 91C and dropping. GTA4 doesn't go over 91-92, basically it does not go over 91C but I also do have the cut out on th bottom panel bellow the fan which helps alot.

 

Haha, what is this the stone age? Buy some MX-2 or ICD7 as David suggested. You'll be doing yourself and your G51 a favor.

 

Apparently, what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander. A near-transparent layer is perfect for the CPU, but I needed a significantly thicker layer for the GPU. When I pulled up the heatsink I noticed only two corners--say about fifteen or twenty percent of the total GPU die area--had made a paste-mark against the interface. Put in a little more, and now there was a core-sized paste imprint on the copper.

Temperatures are still a lot higher than usual--I hit 96C after the first two GPU tests--but I'll wait and see how the curing will affect it. I noticed the stock paste was practically caked on, and it took several go-throughs with the AS cleaners to get off.


Or it looks like a copper mod since the heatsink doesn't sit perfectly flush.

I'm thinking about it.

I've been looking around, though, and support doesn't seem as good as AS5. I'm looking for the "real" application and cleaning process for Diamond 7. Is it really just a squeeze and smoosh method?

 

"Due to the unique shape and sizes of the particles in Arctic Silver 5
conductive matrix, it will take a up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles to
achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink
to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in
a system without a fan on the heatsink or with a low speed fan on the
heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the
CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop 2C to 5C over
this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the
computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the
interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is
complete, the computer can be left on if desired."

 

Munchkin, was that 10+ drop before or after that mod you did to the cover?

Also, when you applied the paste, was your interface sitting flush? Like I said with mine, a super-thing layer did not give me sufficient coverage.

 

1. Before the mod, The temps, in say Gta4 as an example, dropped from 100C highest load when I first applied as5 to 92-94C 4 days later. The mod keeps it at 90C highest.

2. I pushed a small dot on the gpu core, about the size of 3 bottom panel screw heads when put in a triangle. I took a credit card and spread it evenly then pushed the heatsink on and screwed it in. I also pushed the heatsink down all over the memory and core so that it is as low as can be.

 

You have Left 4 Dead by any chance? I played a campaign at native res, no AA, and I hit about 95.

And the amount you put seems about what I did for mine. I had put a very tiny amount--only a little bit more for me X9100 CPU core--and my GPU idled at about 67. Idling much better now, but temperatures are much higher than what I usually expect.

Well, I hope my cure is as good as yours.

 

I have L4D but I can only tell you the temps I get with the mod since I just played it again. Highest peak is 90C after playing for a good 15 minutes.

How are your cpu temps?
Mine idles 29- 32C.
Highest load I got so far was 67C. These are before the mod.

 

With my (cured) stock paste, I got 88 while on a Zalman NC2000.

Highest load was 82. Seriously. After than I switched back to Dox drivers.

Then, highest in any non-benchmark application was about 67.

With STEAM and Left 4 Dead idling in the background I'm at 40/39 for the CPU.

 

God I wish I never touched my gpu thermal paste First thing I did when I got my laptop was install windows 7 and before running anything, put the x9100 in and apply as5 to the cpu and gpu.

 

The first thing I did with my current laptop was dismantle it piece by piece.

 

I have hit 90+ on Left 4 Dead before, but only after three or four hours of continuous play.

 

on the CPU or GPU??

 

Pitching in: I have three best-buy G51s, running 7 RTM, Vista SP2 and XPSP3/Vista dual boot, and they run GPU intensive code (GL3/CUDA) almost all the time they're on, and they average in the 80s. All three purchased from Best Buy in Bangor, Maine.

 

GPU.

I'd panic and would not turn on my laptop if my CPU ever hit that.


EDIT: Gathered up the stones to brave a full 3DMark06 test. Setup was identical to the one with stock thermal paste.

In my stock trial, temperatures maxed out at 91C during the Canyon Flight test.

With the test using freshly-applied AS5, it maxed 94 at about the same spot.


If my curing process is about the same as Munchkin's, I'm doing pretty well. For the moment I'll hold off on other thermal pastes until we get some comprehensive reviews of MX-3.

 

MX-3 is really expensive compared to it's predecessor. But that won't stop me from picking one up after I run out of MX-2, which only has ~2mm left in the tube.

 

I can't seem to find MX-3 for sale. I've seen prices on the Arctic Cooling site, but I'm looking for a place to buy it.

Price really isn't a concern for me, though, since MX-2 looks like it does better than AS5, and MX-3 should be superior to MX-2. Does look a bit harder to spread, but from that I gather it shouldn't be spread, but smooshed.


My three-quarters full tube of AS5 might weep, but I can always, I don't know, give it away.

 

I'd consider the IC Diamond 7, as well

 

Petra's Tech Shop sells them. It's on their front page. http://www.petrastechshop.com/arcomxthco4.html

They have USPS FCM as a shipping option for small items so that makes them very competitive compared to other stores such as Newegg.

I personally never tried MX-3 before or know anybody around me that uses MX-3, but from my observation after reading several comparison reviews, it is roughly 1-2*C better than MX-2.

ICD7 in my opinion is the best performance wise. However, the difference gap is very small compared to competing pastes such as MX-2. If ICD7 wasn't such a b*tch to properly apply and remove, it would be my primary thermal paste. I can't justify sacrificing application difficulty, which increases the chance for user error during application, for performance over an easy to apply paste that is just as good under the heatsink.

 

Which is itself 1-2C cooler than AS5. I'll order some MX-3. ICD7 looks like a lot of trouble, though I would love to see a comparison between it and MX-3

I'll have to bone up on application and cleaning procedures, though. I wonder if the ArtiClean cleansers will work. Should. Hmm.


And it still boggles my mind how you find this stuff where googling fails me. Thanks.

 

I think Coollaboratory - Liquid Pro actually performs the best (better than IC Dimaond 7), but its dangerous and cannot be used with aluminum radiators, so its very risky in laprops.

Yeh the IC Diamond is a little pain to apply, but it reaches its full perforamnce after 2 hours not 200 like the Arctic cooling. IMO its worth the small trouble it causes.

 

One set of Arcticlean lasts you a very, very, very long time, Forge. The set of Arcticlean that I bought a year ago is only halfway gone, and I still have another set unopened, haha. Arcticlean by far beats 91% alcohol and citrus based cleaners in terms of effectiveness. Unlike alcohol, it does not leave a thin film behind that can subtly affect the performance of thermal paste.

That stuff is conductive and is even more of a pain to apply and remove than ICD7. Only use Coollaboratory Liquid Pro for very long term or one-time applications.