Very high GPU temps

I recently started playing the Aion beta (anyone else playing? :]), and I've had 2 blackouts so far on my laptop. I'm pretty sure it's because my GPU overheated; when I turned on my laptop and checked the temps, it was at 70 degrees Celsius - meaning it must have been higher before I restarted. How can I keep my temperatures lower? I'm going to open up my laptop and give it a full cleaning, and maybe look into buying a notebook fan.

 

You just answered your own question, my friend.

 

If it is only new, I suggest you maybe send it back for a replacement.

Otherwise it may just be very dusty.. Give it a good clean.

 

He bought his 8800M GTX equipped M570RU over a year ago. It's definately time for a cleaning.

 

Yeah, I was very surprised when I saw the sheer amount of dust in my heatsinks when I opened up my D901C for the first time! The tiny powerplug for the GPU fan also fell out once, causing the notebook to blackout all the time, so be sure not to accidently make it fall out when messing around inside your notebook.

 

I had the same problem with the same nb. Just clean it, and even you will be amazed to see the drop in temps.

 

Okay good. I've actually cleaned out my computer once before, but it wasn't thorough - all I did was use one of those Air Canister things and blow out most of the dust. When I get home today (I'm in class =P), I'm going to carefully unseat most of the parts and give it a good cleaning.

By the way, what are critical temperatures for the GPU? Or for my card specifically anyway?

 

The maximum tolerable temperature for the 8800M GTX core is 90*C. Try to stay under 80*C and you'll be fine. You will still have leeway up to 85*C before you need to worry.

 

I'm wondering what temperature my GPU went to before my screen blacked. I'll be home in about an hour to clean my computer. While I am at it, I'm wondering if I can clean the space under my keys as well. Is there a safe procedure to remove the keys from it's harness?

By the way, are there any parts in the notebook that I should really give a good scrub; also, are there any parts that I should actually clean (ie. with water)?

 

Okay guys, I have some bad news.

So I cleaned my computer, there was a lot of dust any stuff. And then I turned on my computer and went to start up my game. I loaded up HWMonitor to make sure my GPU temps were stable. I put all the settings down to the minimum to make sure I start out slow. After only a few minutes of playing, I noticed that my GPU Core's temp went up to a max of 103 degrees Celcius. I closed my game immediately, and the temp went back down to 55 degrees. What's going on here? Why is this game owning my card? I can play any other game (Warhammer, WC3, Counter-Strike) and it'll be fine. Can my GPU be broken?

In case you're wondering, both the fans are working, and I turned them up to max when I opened the game.

I'll be very disappointed if I can't even play Aion on this system that I just bought a year ago. Sigh. And I really like the game too.

 

If the GPU core shot up to 103*C instantly, that means that the heatsink is not making direct contact with the GPU die. Open her up again and reseat the GPU heatsink. Put a little pressure on the heatsink over the die when you screw it back in.

 

It could also be a problem with the thermal grease / pads.

 

Did you re apply thermal? If not get some ASAP or your going to burn out your GPU.

 

Did I what? What is "thermal"? You mean the blue stuff? Where do I order it from?

EDIT:

Something like this?

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=26895&vpn=MX-2T&manufacture=Arctic Cooling

 

Again, that's what I get for assuming you replaced the thermal paste.

Once every season, or whenever you remove your heatsink, you need to replace the thermal paste. There are a bunch of them to choose out there so I'll just wait for the fan boys to come in here and sell you their endoresed brand.

Or, you can take a look at this thread. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=394027

 

Yes, MX-2 is good.

 

Um...Crap.

That means I went for like a couple months without replacing my thermal paste. Errr......is my GPU like half-broken now?

How much should I buy? I could get a couple of tubes of this:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=10715#CustomerReviews

which is near me.

EDIT:

What are thermal pads? Should I get some? What is that blue stuff that I see when I remove the heat sink connected to my GPU; is it thermal paste?

 

Two months without replacing the thermal paste isn't a long time. When you start to get close to a year, then it's a long time. The GPU won't suffer from damage unless you frequently operate it at red flag temperatures.

I'm still on my first tube of MX-2 ever since I bought my M570TU, and I've changed the thermal paste on my CPU and GPU dozens of times. One tube will last you a very long time.

 

What's better, the MX-2 or Arctic Silver 5?

And from what I read, I want a non-conductive paste? But then someone else said conductivity isn't really a issue if the paste is applied properly. I'm going to purchase some ASAP.

I searched how to apply thermal paste on the Sager forums and couldn't find anything that's specific to my model. But from what I have found so far:

-Apply the thinnest layer possible
-The layer should be as even as possible
-The paste should cover as much of the contact points as possible

Now a few questions, what should I use to apply it? A piece of metal?

I'm going to take apart my whole computer and take pictures of all of the paste and I'm wondering if you can give me a quick guide on the how-to's and some tips?

EDIT: Before I apply the paste, I should clean up the old one right? With what? Alchohol?

Double EDIT: I think I'll write up a process of reapplying Thermal Paste on my model after I do it.

 

There are two ways to apply thermal paste: evenly spread it over the surface of the die, or apply a drop at the center of the die and let it squeeze evenly from pressure from the heatsink.

I made a little picture guide on how to apply thermal paste here. This is the old school method that a few of us still hold. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5027711&postcount=520

I usually use old gift cards to spread the paste, but anything flat will do.

AS5 is not conductive, rather it is capacitive. It is fine to use on the CPU, but make sure you apply it properly on the GPU. AS5 can pack quite a wallop if some of the paste gets on the electrical nodes and resistors under the protective black plastic around the GPU die.

MX-2 yields better performance, is easier to apply and remove, and is not conductive nor capacitive. The only drawback is it is more expensive.

Here's a bonus question for you, vinceh. If you can guess the make and specific model camera I used to take those pictures, I will ship you a free tube of Arctic Alumina. You have one guess.

 

Really? The following are the two pastes at the retailer near me:

MX-2:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26895&vpn=MX-2T&manufacture=Arctic Cooling

AS5:

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=10715&vpn=AS5-3.5&manufacture=ARCTIC SILVER

MX-2 is cheaper. I guess it's win-win for me.

Where do I buy Alchohol? Do I just clean with a bit of water on a cloth or something? Sorry for all the questions.

EDIT: The MX-2 is only 4 gram there. Should I buy the 30 gram one?

 

Unless you plan to replace the thermal paste every week for a whole year, then buy the 30g tube. Like I said, 4g is plenty enough for you. I can bet you $10 that you aren't going to be touching that tube very often.

I guess NCIX does sell AS5 for more. Lucky for you. Buy the MX-2.

You can buy rubbing alcohol at your local drug store or pharmacy. I used Arcticlean and an old tshirt to clean the GPU die and heatsink.

 

Cool, thanks a lot Soviet. I'll head over to NCIX and grab a 4 gram tube tomorrow. I'll post some before-after pictures of the GPU.

 

Update!

To make a long story short, I did in fact get the MX-2 and applied it to my laptop, and now it's definitely running a lot cooler.

Here are 2 of the before pics of the GPU. But I have some questions.



What's the blue stuff? Are those thermal pads?



I tried cleaning it up as best as I could, but I couldn't get the paste off the stuff on the sides.



I think I did a pretty good job of applying the paste. I made it as even as possible.

By the way, isn't there some program can allows you to really stress the GPU to get it to the max temp (not 3dmark06)?

And also, Soviet, I don't know much about cameras. But my wild guess is a Cannon EOS 5D Mark II.

Haha.

 

Jesus, vinceh. That is way too much paste. Even my rush jobs are better than your application.

You can download Furmark or OCCT to stress the GPU. Either one will stress your GPU to it's knees. When running the GPU test, do not allow your 8800M GTX to surpass 88*C unless you want your card to cry. Terminate the program if you pass 88*C.

The aspect ratio of my camera is a dead giveaway. Because my camera shot in 4:3, there is no way it can be a DLSR like the EOS. Nice try though.

 

Is it really? Ugh. I thought I had actually used LESS than you did in your photos...

 

I lol'd @ this thread.... sorry i had to post here some time ...

Just put about 1 pea sized drop in the middle and put it back together

 

Vinceh, I hope you haven't removed those blue thermo pads for memory chips.
Without them you memory chips won't make good contact with your heatsink.

That's a neat butterbread you made with your thremo paste om nom nom.

 

No I definitely haven't removed those pads. I'm wondering if I ever need to replace it, since it's not really the same as the paste, right?

Haha, butterbread...

 

No, don't replace the pads (in fact you could have bought a thin pad for the gpu instead of using thermal paste). You only have to replace the thermal paste if what you have is cracked/old, you're upgrading to better paste or have removed your heatsink and want to replace it to decrease temperatures. Replacing thermal paste on your gpu/cpu isn't a standard thing to do to keep your notebook clean (which is sort of what this thread seems to imply/read like).

Anyway, yeah a small pea sized amount in the middle, ideally spread it around (they make small spreaders or you can use a small piece of cardboard). Adding too much paste is bad for your chip, as it'll leak over the sides, decrease thermal transfer, etc. Clean that off asap and retry or remove half of it and make sure it's not everywhere (just the chip).

Make sure you've vacuumed and/or used compressed air to clean out the entire chassis of your notebook, taken the fan apart, cleaned it with a q-tip and alcohol, etc. It's summer so any room temperature higher than say 80-82F will increase internal temperatures on all notebooks. Get a good notebook cooler (Zalman, etc) and run it on max during hot days. Your gpu temps should be under 70-75C ideally; sure it can TAKE more but that doesn't exactly mean that such temps are good for your chip (cpu should be 65C or less HDD 55C or less).