Gigabyte Aero 15x v8 Temps (Advice Needed)

Hi I own this laptop. Just bought it a couple days ago: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233237 .

Overall I am very impressed with this laptop but have a couple questions about it.

I can live with the backlighting issue. All IPS have backlighting issues and mine is manageable but not the best. I am a little concerned about temps though.

Running Overwatch for around 45 minutes (on Ultra not Epic) my GPU reached a max of 89 C and my processor package reached a max of 94 C. They both ran around the high 80s, very low 90s regular when I was playing. Can I live with these temps? I would hate to return this thing as I love it already.

It was on a flat table surface with nothing around it clogging it up. No major background processes were running. I used HWmonitor to check the temps.

Advice on this from other owners would be great or advice from laptop enthusiasts in general. I will mainly be using this laptop for strategy games but want it to last a good 3-4 years.

Thank you

 

undervolt + repaste.

 

And find a way to raise the back a bit when gaming.

Maybe with a cooling base, although I get people that don't like them.

I have one of these always in my backpack and they are quite useful:


It's an Everki Chill Pill. But anything will work, like two bottle caps under the rear feet, for example. That should help a lot with air-flow

 

I do not know how to do either of those and am very wary of messing up my new laptop. Can it run like it is?

 

I'll be back with a couple of things that have worked for me.

As an aside I'm wary of the temp reporting in this machine, not sure if its a HWmonitor issue or hardware. I can sit and watch HWmonitor while the laptop is under a small load (premiere pro open - not rendering, some web browsers open) and the cpu will sit around 50C but randomly spike up to 70C for a second and drop down again. Seriously doubt the CPU jumps up 20degrees for a second and drops back down to 50C - weird.

 

Well those are pretty neat, I always just use my power brick, but those things get so hot its not always a good idea.

Definitely at least do an undervolt, its easy enough and doesn't require you to do open the machine. If you use XTU, worst case scenario is your computer crashes, and XTU reverts to default on reboot. Not a big deal.

 

Is undervolting going in and changing the maximum processor output from 100% to like 80%?

 

Is this a common thermal distribution for this laptop?

 

Hi Dave,

So undervolting is changing the maximum voltage that the CPU can draw, effectively asking it to do the same job with less voltage. This reduces heat and most CPU's have some headroom in this regard. I have the exact same laptop as you and I have undervolted to -.120v with no problems.

An easy place to start is downloading Intel's own tuning software called Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU). Use this guide https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-XTU-Undervolting-Guide.272120.0.html

Have a play with undervolting and do a couple of stress tests within XTU to make sure its stable.

To my understanding the problem with this laptop is not really heat transfer from the CPU to the Heatsink but rather heat transfer from the Heatsink to the outside world (I.e. the fans just cant pull the heat out of the heatsink past a certain point). You will get some gains from a repaste, but start with an undervolt. With a repaste we're really talking 5 degrees drop MAX. The reason this laptop seems to overheat is that the combination of CPU+GPU load is just too much for the fans, the best we can hope for is to keep the max load temps around the mid 80's and avoid thermal throttling from the CPU.

If you're not too concerned about fan noise then set up a custom fan curve as well, my fans kick in quite heavily once the temp creeps over 60C because I want to try and stop or at least delay the CPU getting to that 90C plus 'point of no return' by really cramming that cooler air into the heatsink early.

Past that you can undervolt the GPU with MSI Afterburner, there are various guides in this forum and that will give you potentially a couple more degrees of cooling. Raising the back of the laptop will help as well, this laptop doesn't have fantastic airflow, I've read that it draws some air through the keyboard and most through the underside of the laptop, expelling it through the back. I think those chill pills look awesome and I'm going to order them, they will also help in keeping the cooling system clean by keeping the fan intakes away from any dust that's sitting on the desk.

 

Is undervolting like that in anyway dangerous to the laptop? Thank you for all your detailed responses

 

Absolutely not, the worst that would happen is the CPU would become unstable causing the computer to crash and XTU would restore the settings to default. In fact when undervolting some people will decrease the voltage in increments until the computer crashes and then increase a few points to get the maximum undervolt possible.

Each CPU will have a slightly different maximum tolerance hence why some people strive to find the point that is unique to their CPU, I personally took an average of what most people are saying they are undervolting at and have had no problems. -.100mv is a safe place to start for a i7-8750H chip.

 

Not to sound stupid but would it just be better to use it like it came stock or undervolt. I don't need any improvements in performance just hopefully need to know the temperatures are okay to live with for 3-4 years. Also does yours have any back light bleed. Mine has some on the edges, but I heard this is unavoidable on IPS displays

 

Its not about getting more performance, its about maximizing efficiency. There is a manufacturing spec for your processor. It governs how much performance the chip is supposed to get given some power spec. But the manufacturing process isn't perfect. Chips that don't hit that performance target are thrown out, or sold as lower end chip. But in most cases, a chip that hits the target can actually perform the same with even less power than the original spec. So by undervolting, you are getting the same performance for less power draw. Less power is less heat, but it performs the same. We can't just tell you to undervolt to -0.XXXv because your chip is different from ours. Everybody is different, and you have to explore the tune yourself to find the best voltage for your chip.

Your CPU throttles itself to stay safe, you aren't going to destroy it with the heat unless your system begins shutting down to avoid damage. You're only going to see that if you physically cover the vents. So your GPU/CPU will be ok for 3-4 years. You also wont even get that hot unless gaming, or some other load that requires both the GPU and CPU at full power.

 

Thank you for all your responses. Can anyone recommend a second SSD hard drive and RAM for this computer. I have almost filled up the 512 and probably need to expand both hard drive and RAM at some point so might as well do it now.

Thank you!

 

goo.gl/gN4hCG

You can see this video..he did it on Aero 15...but process is same for Aero 15X....I also got same SSD works fine..FYI it is WD Blue SATA 1Tb M.2

I also did a undervolt of -0.100 mv & did a 30 min stress test in XTU it dropped the temps by almost 10C

 

Thank you, I plan on undervolting tonight using the guide you guys have given me. I will use XTU even though I am a little wary that I will not understand the software and mess something up.

Do you guys think the new Zephyrus laptop will top this one? I like that this laptop has two hard drive slots. I don't think the zephyrus has that.

 

Does XTU automatically start the PC undervolted or do I have to turn it on everytime I boot up?

 

It will do everything automatically, just make sure that you don't uninstall it!

 

what happens if I need to do a fresh wipe of the PC and have to uninstall it, thank you for the feedback

 

Just reinstall it and apply the undervolt you had before.

 

Asus Zephyrus uses an M.2 & a standard 2.5 inch mechanical drive...the new one i think will offer same option because the battery capacity is low....

Aero 15 on the other hand has gotten rid of the mechanical drive & used that space for extra battery hence the 94 watt hour battery which is almost near the legal limit...

 

So is the Aero 15x v8 the best thin gaming laptop on the market????

Also I installed XTU and undervolted the CPU package down by .100 . My question about this program is does it need to be running to keep this undervolt active or when I close the program does the undervolt stay active.

Thank you for all your responses-

 

i say the aorus x7 dt v8 is.

 

I'd say it's the laptop with the least compromise......

 

XTU runs in background...so no need to restart it...

 

I had UV -0.100 mv ..post that stress test showed temps drop by almost 8-9C (Did 30 min stress test in XTU) ...however, when I played For Honor today...temps again reached 90C :-( ..I had fans running at maximum...& the laptop on a cooler pad...

I have this cooler pad..
https://amzn.to/2wg8Uj5

This thing used to work wonders on my previous laptop which was Alienware 15R2 .... But on Aero 15X it's useless....

Just wanted to know if anyone had any success with using a cooling pad...if yes, which one do you use?

 

I agree with @JCordero31 ... in the Gigabyte / Aorus lineup, it is the Aorus X7 DT v8-CL4D

 

I also after undervolting at -.100 am still hitting the low 90s. Never go above 91C but hover at the 88-91C mark in games like overwatch.

 

Did you create a custom fan profile so that max fan kicks in. Will be loud, but should help with temps.

 

So I guess for anyone about to buy this laptop, I will give my major Pro's and Con's.

Pros
-I think this laptop has great build quality and love that it does not have your typical "gaming" laptop look

-Fast, and I mean really fast

-GPU plus CPU make it perfect for gaming

-Network port included so no wifi if I want to plug in

-Battery Life

-144hz screen is awesome(has a downside though)

-Looking at new cards coming out, I think the 1070 in this machine should hold up for awhile, plus a cutting edge CPU.

-2 Hard drive slots. This is huge for me and I think it is often overlooked when reviewing this laptop

Cons
-Thermals are manageable but in the low 90s even after undervolting for me(this is kind of expected on a Laptop that is so thin and packs so many brand new components(1070, 6 core CPU) from what I am learning.)

-I have some screen bleed on my laptop but am willing to live with it on my monitor as it is not as bad as some others I have seen. It is definitely noticeable on a black background though

-All the bloatware that comes on it is useless

Would I buy again, yes. It checks all my boxes that I require which is thin, not gaming looking, powerful and 144hz screen. Does it have downsides, yes(everything does). They are compromises I can live with though.

Would love to hear other owners opinions on this laptop.

 

About the same. Except I'll counter the bloatware negative. The bloat I got rid of was part of the Windows standard install. There may be a few support apps I've forgotten about, but the primary ones: Smart Manager, Smart Update, and Fusion are all functional and useful. Manager is a bit visually loud with xxgamerxx visuals, but does a good job giving me access to information and tuning, especially display adjustment. Update is a very good cross-check system for figuring out what you want to do with versions (even including "this is where we are; this is where the device manufacturer is" comparisons which I love because it respects my intelligence and judgment). Fusion is fun for RGB silliness. I've settled down to static colors that match my current desktop background. Quite nice.

 

Awesome makes me happy I went with this instead of the MSI gs65 or Razer Blade 15