m860tu (x9100, 9800m GTS) heat problem

Hi!When I have problems with my computer I always find a solution in this fantastic forum, and I have lerned to respect and appreciate the stunning competence of the members. I hope you will be able to help me in this case

Here's my problem:
I'm a proud owner of a m860tu with 9800m GTS and Intel x9100, running (a bit less proudly ) under Vista 64.

BUT

In the last week the 9800m GTS gets EXTREMELY hot under stress.
This is the speedfan graph showing that in about 4 minutes it gets from 58 to 95 C (the application is Demigod, but I tried also with Dawn of War 2 and 3dmark, and the results are more or less the same) :

It gets about 8 minutes to return to "normal" temps.

I already tried to change the GPU drivers, but nothing changed.

I thank you in advance for any help you will give me,
TheGabbo

 

How long have you had your notebook, and have you cleaned out the vents at all in that time?

 

I have it since october 22 2008...a bit less than 6 months.
I opened the case one week ago (oh cavolo, coincidence?? ) to clean the vents, but there was no dust...

 

Do you hear the fan "spinning up" when it's under stress?

 

Yes, the notebook fan becomes extremely loud.
I also feel air coming out from the fan, but I don't know if it's the normal intensity, as I've never tried before...
Btw, even the idle temps don't seem right to me...or are they?

 

I'm not sure if this will help, but try something else other than Speedfan to monitor your temps. I read somewhere that there has been issues with Speedfan displaying higher temperatures that what they really are.

When I play a game (on an old Asus with a x700), speedfan has reported temperatures of up to 120 degrees C for my video card! 2.5 years after that, my video card is still running strong.

Just try using a different temperature monitoring program and see what that gives you.

Take a look from my screenshot of my video card temp readings (remote2)

 

Thank you for your advice, but I've already verified the temps with CPUID.
Also, while playing I can see when the temp gets over 95 C because of the evident lag caused by the automatic downclock of the GPU...

 

Do you guys think it has anything to do with the thermal grease?

 

use another program other than SpeedFan... which sucks for notebooks usually.

check out these programs:
Monitoring Notebook Temps: nVidia & ATI, CPU, HDD

you can double check if the heatsinks are securely on the CPU and GPU, as well as re-applying thermal compound if you want.... which could give vast improvements.

 

I concur with LaptopNut in suspecting that the gpu heatsink with associated grease or thermal pad could be the issue. (Possibly when you opened the laptop, you disturbed it.) I would buy some Arctic Silver or some other recommended paste, clean the residue off the gpu and heatsink with rubbing alcohol, apply the AS using directions that can be found on AS manufacturer's website.

 

Thank you very very much for the fast and useful answers ;-)
Tomorrow I'll go buy some OCZ Freezer (I've heard it's better than AC), and will let you know...
Thank you again,
TG

 

I don't wanna sound pessimist or anything, but isn't this notebook suppose to work even if it doesn't have any thermal paste and a notebook cooler? By work I mean the gpu not having to downclock while reaching too high temps.

 

Lol, why have no thermal paste on a gaminglaptop?

It doesnt need a laptop cooler, but it is advised because it benefits the laptop to lower the temperature. And the lower temperature, the better.

 

Do you even know what thermal paste it? It is the heat conductor between the GPU chip and its heatsink. No modern computer can operate without some kind of thermal interface material between the chip and the heatsink...

 

Sorry about that, so when I order a lappy without getting the option Artic Silver 5, there is still some thermal paste in there? Or am I mixing things up?

 

There is still thermal paste on the gpu and cpu, but its only the paste originally included with the components.

Artic Silver is just an "add-on" which is supposed to work better than the paste included by the cpu and gpu.

 

Yesssss!Thank you all: problem solved
Temps after playing demigod for more than an hour:


Thank you, thank you again

 

There's currently a thread on Demigod in the gaming section...maybe you could give us a mini/initial review =)

 

I'm glad that worked out for you. Reapplying thermal paste is necessary from time to time.

Request seconded.

 

Good to hear that the problem is now solved.

 

Hello,

First of all, excuse me for my english, it's not perfect.
I've been looking for such thread for weeks : i have the exact same problem when i'm playing any game (Demigod/DoW2/etc) and the only solution i had till now was to switch to silent mode (95C drops to 80C but performances too). But still, i was afraid that switching on silent mode would just damage my computer.

Hurrah should i say, seems that thermal paste solves the problem but i totally don't know how to put thermal paste and where. Anyone have a walkthrough (with some photos) on putting thermal paste on the gpu (location, quantity)?
And how often do you have to re-put thermal paste?

I gratefully thank you for this thread

 

True story:

When i just got my m860tu the temps went off the roof. Games would get choppy 3 min into play.
I didn't realize at first why they got choppy (new machine), then monitored temps and found out it was caused by automatic downclock of GPU once you are over 92 or 97C, don't rememer. Maxed GPU reached 103C! at one point.

OK, I thought, suckers forgot to put thermopaste or put porrdge instead. So I pulled my Silver out and applied, all tip top, ran games - same crap happening.
I reassembled everything, reapplied everyting, no change. FFFF, I thought, must be a broken GPU, sent everything back.

Turned out it wasn't a GPU but the heatsink itself was diffected. Not sure what it was, heat pipes or ribs themselves but once I ot a new heatsink everything was good since then.

Not sure if relevant but for the record I'll just leave it here.

 

How can i know if anything is working wrong without returnng it to the support? Because i'd have to wait 3 weeks until they tell me what's wrong... I'm counting on thermopaste, ordered some arctic cooling mx2..

 

Commet, there are plenty of instructional videos dealing with the subject (applying thermal compound) posted on the Internet. Try to search here http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=applying+thermal+compound&rlz=1W1SNYJ_en&aq=0&oq=applying+thermal+&aqi=g10

 

Thanks @RYS, i'm looking many guides on how-to without damaging the computer.

By the way, my problem is "almost solved", indeed i updated the graphic drivers as told and the temp during 15hours in-game never went over 85°. Before it would easily reach 95°C (then downclock) in only 10min in-game.

In idle state, it is around 40-50°C, i guess it's ok but i think i'll still put some thermopaste to lower the temp in-game (hope to max heat to 70°C maybe).

I'll receive the Arctic MX Cooling 2 at the end of week, supposed tp be better than AS5 or OCZ. Will give report later.

 

Hi,

here the news : i applied the Arctic Cooling MX2 thermal paste and HURRAH : max temp after 4hours of gaming : 75°C!!!

Historic :
-Newly bought : up to 95°C --> downclock, impossible to play.
-Drivers updated : after hours of games, max temp reached was 75-85°C, no more downclocks
-Thermal paste applied : depends of the game, 65-75°C. Nothing more to say!!!!!!

Thanks everyone!

 

Comett - I would also recommend undervolting the X9100 to further lower those temperatures. If you're unsure how to do this you can read Flipfire's advice here, which is a brilliant starter's guide.

I have the both the X9100 and the 9800M GTS (Though the 9800M should be leaving soon enough) and having undervolted allowed me to just gain temps into the high 30's, as below. I'm sure I could knock a few more off of that still.

 

I had the X9100 but combined to 9800MGTX it's a too devastative heat issue. I changed for the T9600 and added a better HD. As i'm writing this message, my temps are 39C and 37C for both cpu, 42C for GPU and 35C for HD. I hope it will remains like that for the next 6 months at least!

For what will you change your 9800MGTS?

 

@ Comett how about your 9800M GTX temp under full load like Furmark?

 

A GTX 280M with any luck. I'm just hoping Kobalt is willing to sell me one @ a good price. Thanks to a good current situation, I should be putting my order in soon. I'm sticking with the M860TU as I would rather have higher stock clocks than more cores.

As for temps, I'm sure the machine can stand the increase. That test shows the highest extremes it's ever reached so I have every confidence that the operation will be a success.

 

With default options, i scored 2746 on furmark 1.6.5 but i don't get it, it recognizes my gfx card as a 9800MGT and not as a 9800MGTX.
Another trouble: the temp reached 88°C at the end of the bench
Guess the games i'm playing do not require a good config :/

 

Bad news :
playing WoW, temp reached 90°C today, ambient temp was 25°C.

I must not have correctly put the thermal paste or something else is wrong. I have low temp on games like prototype and ghostbusters.

Usually i have very low temp on WoW, something is wrong but i don't know what yet.

 

Hey Comett, what is your CPU temp when the GPU reaches around 88C? I just want to see how much heat bleeding do you have from your gpu to cpu.

Also do you use a notebook cooler or raising the back of the laptop to increase ventilation?

I reach up to 86C in some games too. Normaly around 81C though. I do not use a cooler but do raise the back of my lappy by half inch.

 

I do use a notebook cooler but a cheap one (Aeolus 10€ , i dont think it's mean to fit the M860TU.

When GPU at 90C, CPU 61C (Cores 1&2 : 57C/55C), HD at 55C.

I'm afraid that this heat issue will definitely shorter its "life", will seek for more tweaks but seems it's a lost cause :/

Playing WoW : 90C,
Playing Prototype/Left4Dead/GhostButers : 65-70C.
What could be the problem about WoW ?

 

Well, from my google searches this thread seems to be the best discussion on a similar issue to what I am having.

Hello everybody by the way.

I bought a gateway 7805u and it has a 9800m gts. While playing games (Elder Scrolls IV mostly) the GPU temps will get extremely hot. Today was the highest of 102 C. My CPU temps are just fine however <45 C. The GPU idle temps are fine <45 C. The issue for me appears to be that the GPU fan is not coming on when it should. Sometime it will come on just fine and temps won't get above 80 C. Many times though it won't come on until the temps are up in the 90's. Today it didn't even come on when the temp was above 100, but then it came on when the temp was back down in the 70s.

Surprisingly there have not been any graphical glitches or crashes, but these temps don't seem healthy to me at all. I know there is no way to control the fan manually (wouldn't that make a ton of sense). I run a vantec lapcool pad with it, however without the gpu fan turning on it doesn't help the temps. Any insight on why the fan might be behaving like this would be appreciated.