15.6 Optimus V overheating

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damole

Silver Level Poster
My 15.6 Optimus V has been overheating for some time and it's in its 3rd year of warranty.

I don't play that many different games on it, I have a desktop for that but the two main ones I play are Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 and Dirt Rally.

If I start Dirt Rally, even during the loading screens the temps can reach 90 and within a minute of starting racing the temps climb to 98/99. As soon as I quite the game they are back down to the 50s, on PES the temps only reach 90 and again drop when I quit the game. I have turned the fan to max with Fn 1.

I have had machines cleaned and the CPU and GPU repasted twice last year and it hasn't made any difference.

If I wanted to make a more scientific investigation into both the CPU and GPU temps what would people recommend I do?

I've been using the Remote System Monitor to monitor the CPU temps. For some reason it doesn't recognize my GPU temp sensor.

Is it possible the sensors are mis-reading?
 
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Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Did you clean and repast yourself or get it done by someone else, if so who. There are a few quite bad computer "repair" places about and it could be something as simple as a poor paste job, although I think it unlikely it is worth a look if you have not already. If there is another sensor it would be worth trying, unfortunately I do not know of any good free Windows ones as am a Linux user.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
I'm with Stephen M, if you've had it 'cleaned and repasted' by a third party you may have been had. Did you take any measures (like marking screws etc.) to confirm that the CPU and GPU had in fact been repasted (they might not). If you've never opened it up yourself you don't even know how well it's been cleaned.

Incidentally, if you have had it repaired by a third party you may have already voided any warranty you have, see https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/terms/ item 7.8.

I would suggest that you take the back off the laptop yourself and have a look inside to see how clean it is. If you've had it cleaned it should be spotless inside. In particular the fan(s) and the finned heat exchanger(s) right next to them (where the copper heat pipes go) should be completely clean and show no signs of dust or fluff. A good airflow through these heat exchanges is essential for good cooling and they're not that easy to clean, a third party company may well not take the time to clean these properly.

If it needs cleaning and you don't feel confident of doing it yourself, then call PCS and get a price for them to clean and repaste it properly. It will be money well spent.
 
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damole

Silver Level Poster
I have used HWMonitor but I like the fact that remote system monitor lets me see the temps on my phone whilst I am actually playing the game.

I had the re-pasting done in a little repair shop in India where I live part of the time, no doubt it actaully got done but no knowing how well it was done. Now I'm in Thailand my other home and I'm tempted to have it done here one more time, I would have some choice of paste here.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
damole said:
I have used HWMonitor but I like the fact that remote system monitor lets me see the temps on my phone whilst I am actually playing the game.

I had the re-pasting done in a little repair shop in India where I live part of the time, no doubt it actaully got done but no knowing how well it was done. Now I'm in Thailand my other home and I'm tempted to have it done here one more time, I would have some choice of paste here.
Click to expand...

Give Stephen M's advice some thought. It's scary the first time you do it but it ain't rocket science, and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing it's been done. Do watch a few YouTube videos and the tubes of paste you get are large enough that you can have a couple of practice goes; so repaste, put the heatsink back at the normal tightness and then remove it again so that you can see how well (or how badly!) your paste was spread and whether it covered all the surface with no bubbles (important) or whether you used too much and it was too thick. Once you're happy that you have a good technique repaste for real.

Note that completely cleaning both surfaces of old paste is equally important. :)
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
Having just repasted my own CPU and GPU I can tell you that it's really not difficult.

I noticed mine has numbers on the screws holding the heatsinks in place - that suggested they needed to be undone and fastened in a specific order. No biggy and nothing harmed if not.

Just don't apply too much. That's one mistake a lot of places make and it can actually hamper the thermal properties on it. Of course, don't put too little on either.

As others have said, check out a few videos if you need to.
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
There are a couple of ways to apply it, either spreading or putting a pea sized dollop (technical term :)) in the middle of the CPU and using the pressure on the heatsink plate to spread it, I find the latter the best. It can seem a worry at first but I only started three and a bit years ago and now do cleaning and repast job for friends. A can or air is worth getting to clear the dust from the fans and grids.
 
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damole

Silver Level Poster
I have done a few desktop PC builds and replaced the cooling solution on a VGA card before so I have some experience but just not with laptops with all the fiddly screws. I will take the back off today and see if I can see how easy the pipes are to remove and replace.
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
damole said:
I have done a few desktop PC builds and replaced the cooling solution on a VGA card before so I have some experience but just not with laptops with all the fiddly screws. I will take the back off today and see if I can see how easy the pipes are to remove and replace.
Click to expand...


One tip when you take the case screws out - lay them down in the shape and order you remove them. I have no idea if the Optimus is the same as my Defiant II, but mine had uneven length screws. You do NOT want them in the wrong holes.
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Good reminder, I do as well not sure why i did not mention it in my previous post. Following on from your post about the screws, I do something similar and keep a collection of paper cake cases (the sort used for small cup cakes) in my tool kit, the very small ones do not take up much space but do offer somewhere for the screws were they cannot roll away.
 
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damole

Silver Level Poster
I finally bought some Coolermaster IC Value V1 thermal paste yesterday and today repasted the CPU and GPU. It's actually really easy to remove the heatsink pipe assembly, the instructions in the service manual are very clear. Now the temps have dropped 5 or 6 degs but still seem quite high. It would be nice to know what the average normal temps are for this model.
 
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damole

Silver Level Poster
Temps are back in the 90s. Any suggestions? I won't be back in the UK until June at the earliest.
 
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damole

Silver Level Poster
I'm back in India so back gaming on my laptop instead of my gaming desktop.

I installed the latest version of Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. Here is a screenshot of the opening menu screen of Dirt Rally a couple of minutes after starting the game in Window mode. You can see the CPU temp at the bottom right, the CPU doesn't seem to be working that hard.

OptimusV_DirtRally_CPU.png

I've also got MSI Afterburner with remote server running so I can see the temps in real time playing full screen.
 
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damole

Silver Level Poster
I send my laptop back to PCS last summer, they replaced the heatsink assembly and fan. My laptop is still reaching over 90 degs within a minutes of playing GRiD Autosport or Dirt 4. It was like this when it was returned from them. They seem to think this is normal.

I know this is an old thread and this coming summer I expect to upgrade but I don't want to kill my laptop before then.

OptimusV_GridA_Temps.jpg
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Is that pic saying 93 degrees C on the GPU at 11% load?! And 98 degrees C on the CPU with 49% load...
 
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