Beta EC MSI GT60-0NE heating problems (680m0

So in the beginning, I had CPU throttling problems. I solved that with the beta EC Firmware update provided on the forums. However a new problem arose; I don't get any more throttling, but my GPU temps have skyrocketed.

I don't know if it's a fan issue or what, but suddenly I'm reaching 87 degrees with turbo and fan on. Without fan and just turbo, I reach 93 degrees. I suspect it has something to do with the beta EC Firmware (as they stated on the forums, it may increase heat) but the problem is past 90 degrees my GPU starts to throttle (which is good because it prevents it from getting eaten alive.)

I'm not really good at tinkering inside my laptop, and I think it might be a fan issue (the fan seems a bit weaker and the vents don't push out as much air from what I can tell, but I can't really say with certainty.) Does anyone have a solution for me? OCing is out of the question atm because I can't even keep the regular turbo speeds in check.

Edit: That's a typo in the title, it's GTX 680M

Complete specs:
Laptop: MSI GT60 0NE (Shipped with Windows 8 64-bit)
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. E16F3IMS.70N, 9/28/2012 (UEFI)
EC Version: http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=162629.0 (I can't remember the EC version, but here's the link to the beta EC)
CPU: i7-3630QM
RAM: 32GB Ram
GPU: GeForce GTX 680M (4MB DDR5 RAM)

 

I've yet to see fan causing heating issues unless the bearing on the fan is damaged, it's always the contact between the heatsink, thermal paste and the dusts.

I would check the thermal past and dusts on the vents and try tighten the screws on the heatsink of the GPU.

 

Well I decided to try it and opened my laptop up (voiding the warranty as well since I had to break through the warranty sticker to get to a screw) and did a basic dust cleaning and tightened the heatsink a bit. It was relatively clean inside (since I only had the laptop for 5 months). I didn't want to go beyond tightening the heatsink and dusting since I've never opened a laptop before nor do I have any thermal paste on hand.

The temps went down by about 2 degrees (93 > 91) but then again I didn't play very long, so it might have gone higher. Do you think this is a thermal paste issue? Should I go out and buy some thermal paste and try to reapply it? I read that some people barely break 80 degrees even when extreme OCing, so I'd like to get this temp issue sorted out, even if it means learning to DIY it (gotta learn at some point right?)

 

Next logical troubleshooting would be to repaste it. Although with your warranty being killed, just take all necessary precautions if you decide to go for it. IC Diamond is generally preferred.

 

Repaste is advised. Do it at your own pace and it will be okay. It's one of the easier procedures to do. Temps should be, at most, on the 80s range for the most demanding games. 90 is definitely too much.

As mentioned by both Gentech and Prostar, try to get a hold on some IC Diamond, remove paste, clean area, apply new paste (just enough, not much) then straighten and make sure all pads and everything is aligned. Close and try again!

I also had temps of 90 initially with furmark, but in gaming, after repasting, I am usualy around 72C and only Crysis 2 reaches to 80 degrees or so.

 

Ok so I went out and bought some IC Diamond paste, did all the procedures to clean off old paste and applied it on the GPU. I'm pretty sure I did it right, but the temps went down only by 1 degree. I'm stll hitting 89-90 degrees when using turbo mode without turbo fan on.

Since I already opened up my computer, repasted, dusted, and the temps are still this high, I really think it has to do with the beta EC. I still haven't gotten a response from the thread on the MSI forums though. What do you guys think? Do you think I did a bad job of pasting? I did the spot method by the way (seemed the most beginner friendly.)

By the way it was my first time reapplying thermal paste and the game that I'm playing that makes it hit 90 degrees is PlanetSide 2. Also my idle temperatures when the GPU is switched on is about 49 degrees (no turbo or turbo cooler).

 

Some pastes have a slight break in period before the best temps are reached. Though it might only make a 1-2C difference after break in is complete. You can cycle the GPU with load, running games or maybe running 3dmark software. This will heat up the paste, and allow it to cure and also spread under pressure from the heatsink to get most even coverage.

I usually do a line method for pasting, and then allow the heatsink pressure to spread the paste. Has worked great for me so far.

Graphics Card Thermal Paste Application Guide - YouTube -- Pretty useful video that demonstrates that method being applied to a laptop 7970m video card.

Also I would invest in a good laptop cooler. Are you getting these temps with the laptop on a flat surface or on your laptop in bed? That could make a huge difference as well.

Edit: I looked through the MSI posts and it looks like another user reported higher temps than usual but smoother game play. It sounds like this beta EC is allowing the GPU to not throttle itself when it higher a lower temp threshold and they have set it to a higher threshold and now you're GPU is climbing to those higher temps as the games are demanding the power.

 

The video TalonUIUC provided is good. I haven't heard of issues with the EC firmware and too high temps because of it. You can definitely try again and invest in a cooler, as well. Also keep your fan and vents well cleaned to avoid dust build up.

 

Well the thing is getting a cooler is a roundabout way of solving the problem, but I did get one anyway just to temporarily alleviate the issue (and to not have to clean the inside as much.)

Anyways as suggested, I repasted (although sadly when I opened my laptop again I realized the first time I applied the IC Diamond TIM it was perfect; as in convered the whole die and no overspill... I was pretty happy to know I put it perfectly but also sad that I had to redo it again not knowing if I could apply it perfectly again...) I also replaced some of the thermal pads.

I booted up my computer again and it made no difference; it still climbs to 90 within 6 or so minutes of running Afterburner's Kombustor. I then decided that it was probably because the fan didn't kick in until it did reach 90, so I decided to test turning the fan too 100% power. It went down back to about 80 while on Kombustor. However I don't think Kombustor is a really good test; the last time I tested the temps with 100% fan speed enabled was while playing PlanetSide 2 with the original thermal paste (no repaste yet) and it reached 91 degrees. I'll try again with both the cooler and the 100% fan speed for 10 mins and see if temps stay somewhere acceptable (I will hopefully stay under 85...)

 

Do remember that kombuster is designed to be more taxing than any game.

 

I thought that was the case until someone pointed out to me that it doesn't tax the GPU when using stock vBIOS. I haven't changed my vBIOS so I'm still using the original one it shipped with (locked clock to +135).

I also tested this because gaming (PlanetSide 2) seemed to tax my GPU more than Kombustor.

 

Did you check that all the thermal pads are perfectly flat and not overlapping?

 

Yeah nothing was overlapping, and to make sure I replaced some of the thermal pads that I thought were "worn out". I cut them perfectly according to the size as well.

I'm running cooler now, but that's because I have 100% fan speed and I also have the laptop on top of a laptop cooler. I still haven't figured out why it's hitting 90 so easily.

 

what pads did you use?

 

Forget about Kombustor, what are the temps in some real games? (BF3, Crysis..)

 

I just used the ones available at my local store (only 1 available but it looked good.) I'm fairly confident that the issue doesn't lie with the thermal pads though.

Well here's a quick rundown of what has been happening so far;

1. Factory shipped default thermal paste/EC firmware: Turbo mode + (no Turbo cool)= 83 degrees max

2. Factory shipped default thermal paste + beta EC firmware: Turbo mode + turbo cool enabled = 93 degrees max

3. IC Diamond thermal paste + beta EC firmware: Turbo mode (no Turbo cool) = 90 degrees max

4. IC Diamond thermal paste + beta EC firmware: Turbo mode + Turbo cool + laptop cooler = 80 degrees max (not sure, tested for about 10 minutes)


So all in all the problem's been alleviated but using a notebook cooler. The last test I did before putting the laptop on the cooler was with Kombustor, which got the temps up to 90 in about 6 minutes; after that the fan sped up a little, and slowly lowered the temps to 87. I then decided to use the turbo cool button (puts the fan speeds to 100%) and it went down to 80. I then tested in-game after putting the laptop on top of the cooler and after 10 minutes it maxed out at 80 degrees. If we take into account that the laptop cooler could reduce the temps by a generous amount of 5 degrees, I guess it games at about 85 degrees now. I'll try to push the machine longer today (I have a day off to play) so I'll try gaming with turbo + fan + laptop cooler + max stock OC (+135/700) for about 30 mins to an hour and see what temps I get.

Before the laptop cooler I was playing on my desk (flat polished wood surface) so it shouldn't have been that hot. I still don't know what caused the temps to go out of hand in the first place, but I suspect that it has something to do with the beta EC not kicking the fan into high gear until it hits 90 (throttle temps).

Update: So I played for about 45 minutes of PlanetSide 2 and with Turbo + 100% fan speed + laptop cooler @ max stock locked vBIOS OC(+135/700) = 81 degrees. I also tried same setup without laptop cooler and it went to 83, so I guess I've cooled it down significantly. A bit high for my taste but can't really do anything about it since it's the coolest I think I'll get it naturally. It's just I try to compare it to those who say they don't even break high 70's when on full load.