The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    High Temps - Already repasted 3x - AW 15R3

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by lokoroxbr, Sep 15, 2018.

  1. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Hi guys

    So today i've just downloaded the Cod Black Ops 4 BETA, to test it out. Before i did the BIOS update as we talked about in topic, so i flashed the 1.3.0 version (last one).

    Also updated the nvidia drivers + activated the CPU performance mode in BIOS.

    I've noticed computer is faster.

    But when i joined game, i got this extreme high temps. Just to remember, i did a repaste a while ago, less than 6 months, and still getting these temps.

    I have the Alienware 15R3 with i7 6820HK + GTX 1070 and 16gb ram + SSD 960 EVO 1tb.

    I already repasted around 2 or 3 times with thermal grizzly. Since i travel a lot and are always carrying my laptop, i didnt use the liquid metal. The last repaste was in less then 6 months.

    Anyone know what else can i do? Maybe inser a water cooling system? I really dont know anymore.
    I live in Brazil, so i dont know if all the good components are easy to find here :)

    Thanks guys. Here is a little screenshot of high temps:
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Onetwo345

    Onetwo345 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    26
    CPU performance mode always makes your CPU run hot? I don't use it, if I want to overclock I just use Intel xtu, where I can control voltages etc too.

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
     
  3. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    well i'll try to disable it. But even if im not ingame, only watching videos, im getting 60c temps. I've only did repaste, never replaced other stuff (since im newbie at this things, i prefered not to mess with it)
     
  4. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    19
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    26
    You have a 14C spread between the coldest and hottest cores. Your heatsink is unbalanced, meaning it has uneven pressure onto the CPU die. Try twisting the heatsink a little so the GPU screws are helping with the pressure on the CPU "hinges side". There is plenty of information about this on the forums. Look it up.

    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
    hmscott likes this.
  5. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    ill look into that. What about lowering the temps? What should i do, because just the repaste isnt working i guess....or the paste im using isng good enoought. Maybe IDC7 paste ?
     
    hmscott likes this.
  6. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    19
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    26
    Balancing the heatsink will effectively lower your temperatures A LOT! right now you have almost a gap on one side, once balanced you'll see sognificantly lower temps across the board.

    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
    Vasudev, lokoroxbr and hmscott like this.
  7. Danishblunt

    Danishblunt Guest

    Reputations:
    0
    pretty much, generally ICD is much better than thermal grizzly due to the heatsink being meh on the newer AW's.
     
    lokoroxbr likes this.
  8. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    60c on idle in a hot country like Brasil isnt that strange. Mine are 45c in the cold netherlands

    But your temps show a large core temp difference. But you also have to balance the heatsink to make the core temps more even.
     
    Vasudev and lokoroxbr like this.
  9. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    ill open today and see that. Since im very newbie, how can i find the gap and how can i fix the balance? Just tight right the screws??

    thanks will try to find this on Brazil :/

    thanks @rinneh . Can you give me some tips or a step-guide on how to balance my heatsink do fix core temps? I mean, it is only to tight the screws? I really dont know how to look to the parts and see if the heatsink is balanced or not :/

    That would be really great @rinneh . And big thanks for your time and all of you guys
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2018
    Vasudev likes this.
  10. Danishblunt

    Danishblunt Guest

    Reputations:
    0
    Tk3 is also pretty good.
     
  11. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    will look that. Hope @rinneh can give me some tips or a step-guide on how to balance my heatsink do fix core temps...
     
    samaelestevez likes this.
  12. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    19
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    26
    Since you are on Brazil and buying and shipping stuff to you is a little harder than if you were in, say USA, I'll suggest you try balancing out heatsink with whatever thermal paste you have and see where temperatures stay with that. Then after your core temperatures are even then you might want to try other thermal pastes. Gains from thermal paste will be marginal compared to having proper contact between the die and the heatsink.

    Normally with alienwares the issue is that the side of the CPU that is held by only one screw is usually the weak side. As an experiment turn on your laptop without the bottom cover and apply some pressure with your fingers on that side of the heatsink and run some stress test to see if core temperatures differential improves a little, it they do then you will know what you have to do.

    The way I fixed mine was twisting the heatsink just a little so that side of the heatsink touches first that way not much force is required from the single screw. Then installing as always and it worked fine for me.

    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
    c69k and lokoroxbr like this.
  13. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    You need to have a full set of thermal pads ready for use (preferably gelids or other soft pads). Remove the old heatsink and check with the current pads which pads have deep compressions and which do not. If the compression is really deep on some pads you can try using a thinner pads there, especially if you see poor contact on a pads near that location. This part is trial and error. In the end all pads need to make decent contact. Use cheap paste during every test mounting to see how good it spreads, preferably with not much paste to check the pressure. If a drop doesnt spread well it could be still too thick pads.

    For screwing down, if you dont remove the motherboard, just keep pressure with your thumb on the middle of the heatsink while screwing down in small increments per screw. Go from 1 till three in circles till all screws are tightly screwed down.
     
    0lok, Vasudev, c69k and 2 others like this.
  14. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    19
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    26
    What he said is also true. It helps as well.
    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
    Vasudev and lokoroxbr like this.
  15. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Much appreciate for the help of you too. I'll try all the tips after eat something. If i remain with questions, i come back here. Big thanks guys
     
    Vasudev, c69k, rinneh and 1 other person like this.
  16. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    12,050
    Messages:
    11,278
    Likes Received:
    8,815
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Keep us updated!
     
  17. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    So guys i've just repasted. And i've noticed something strage:

    im With the COD BO4 open, and when notebook is UNPLUGGED (using battery), the core temps keeps at 60c, which is great.

    Everytime i PLUG the charger, the cores goes up to 90c !!! 80-90c ! Anyone knows what is that and how can i keep the 60c everytime?

    @Vasudev @rinneh @samaelestevez


    EDITT: it is INSTANTLY. when i plug charger, the cores temp increases almost 30C !!!
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2018
  18. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    That is because on battery the laptop will not use full power.

    What are your ambient temps? And what hapoens if you raise the back of the laptop a bit? Because the intake on the bottom is quite close to rhe surface it might not be optimal if your surface isnt perfectly flat. Especially when your ambient temperatures are high.
     
  19. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    today my ambient temp is 20c (celsius). We are in winter here in Brazil.

    How can i set the laptop to maintin same settings as if it was UNPLUGGED? Im asking because the battery settings were enought to play black ops 4 in ultra settings, and maintain the 60C.

    If i could set the same settings in battery mode to plugged mode, so i maitain the 60c, would be perfect to me. Because i went from 80% to 6% in 30 minutes....

    Do you know how can i do that @rinneh ?

    i already changed settings at ALIENFX and set same setting to plugged/unplugged, but that didnt work
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2018
  20. shashank066

    shashank066 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    16
    You can disable turbo with Throttlestop software which will reduce cpu temps considerably. At resolutions such as 1080p, I get average fps 102fps with turbo enabled vs 85fps with turbo disabled in Farcry 5. At 1440p, 76fps with turbo enabled and 73 with turbo disabled.

    Not that I recommend disabling turbo as a proper solution. It is a temporary solution like I am running turbo disabled until Gelid thermal pads get delivered from Ali express.
     
    Vasudev likes this.
  21. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    what about what i said.....i can play normally, with 60c, without disabling anything, when i use the laptop in battery. only when i plug the charger that temps goes to 80-90c

    how can i set settings to fix that...i mean, is there a solution for it
     
  22. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    19
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    26
    Basically, his suggestion to use throttlestop is pretty much the same it does when it uses battery. Alternatively, you can limit your CPU limit in the power settings to achieve a similar result.

    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2018
    lokoroxbr likes this.
  23. shashank066

    shashank066 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Your laptop would hardly turbo boost on battery anyway. It's power limited on battery.

    https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

    Download Throttlestop. Check disable turbo and click save.
     
  24. lokoroxbr

    lokoroxbr Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    how can i access the power settings....do you mean settings in bios or alienfx
    sorry for the lack of knowledge of my part...

    im asking cause, as you said, while in battery i can easily play the games and the temps stays on 60c....only when i plug ther charger that it goes up to 85c.
     
  25. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    19
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    33
    Trophy Points:
    26
    Power setting pops up when you right click the battery icon in the notification area (bottom right corner)
    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
  26. 0lok

    0lok Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    469
    Messages:
    857
    Likes Received:
    544
    Trophy Points:
    106
    If you play on battery your laptop wont run to its max performace due to power level.. You should notice difference fps or performance between using the charger and using the battery.. If you are using the charger and your temps are around 80 plus that is acceptable.. but ideal 60 plus or 70 plus is better.. Also it is not ideal to play games or running it in max performace using the battery as it will create more heat with the battery and reduce lifetime..
    Edit:
    Basically you need test your laptop using the charger and running max performance to know if your repaste is good or bad.. The main issue with the tripod heatsink as of tge moment is the pressure when screwing down is not even plus the thermal pads thickness is not even.. this has been stated by @rinneh alot..
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2018
    Vasudev likes this.
  27. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    12,050
    Messages:
    11,278
    Likes Received:
    8,815
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Never game on batteries in a gaming BGA. They're very bad and degrade battery cells very quickly.
     
  28. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Doesnt matter if it is a BGA ofcourse, never game on batteries period.
     
    0lok and Vasudev like this.
  29. Pete Light

    Pete Light Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    172
    Messages:
    1,052
    Likes Received:
    643
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Why are we all advising this guy to game on battery or with reduced voltage or limited clocks (same thing really). that's ridiculous. His temps are way too high and he needs to fix the problem not work around it.
    The only way to fix this problem is to properly rebalance, repaste and repad the heatsink. If he's not done this before much and is doing it properly it will probably take around 8 hours to complete. Anything significantly less than that and it's not been done properly.

    Op; you can search my previous posts on this and check my Sig for advice. It's not easy and will take you several times to get right on first go. My advice is strip it bare, take off all pads and paste and place heatsink flat on CPU and GPU. If it rocks, you know it's unbalanced, then sort pads next. Do the minimum, follow iunlocks guide, screw back together (worth buying spare m2 screws as they're ****) and check for gaps with tweezers and torches before repeating. DON'T over do it with pads, too much and it'll push the heatsink away from the dies. Also use a heat gun if you're doing any bending to soften metal first. There's loads more advice, it's a BIG job and you should read information on these forums carefully for a few weeks first before doing it and potentially bricking your laptop for good. It's not easy...

    Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
     
  30. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    12,050
    Messages:
    11,278
    Likes Received:
    8,815
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I helped him up, looks he was using the laptop on table causing reduction in fresh airflow. I asked him to use some bottle caps as an alternative until new cooling pad or a stand comes up. 89C on table with air vents blocked running at 4.1GHz with -50mV is good. He really got a golden chip. It consumes very low voltage to run stock clocks. 0.6-.8V w/o undervolt to run at 36x on all cores.
    EDIT: Papusan some sentences were castrated.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2018
  31. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    You can select a lower max multiplier at TS for the CPU and underclock the GPU but I think thats not the way to solve it. ALso if you can keep the temps in the low 80s you are more than fine. 85c is still good. 90c is a tad hot.

    BUt on battery your laptop is pretty much running at half speed.