Fans constantly running and GPU is constantly at 50°C.

[Sense]

Hello all. I'm not sure what's going on with my laptop. I bought it back in 2020 and it's been great since then but over the last few months I've been having an issue that, as soon as the machine does any form of task, the fans instantly start spinning up to full speed. This only usually happens when plugged in. I've tried using GamingCenterU to quiet it down but the options seem to be mostly ignored, other than enabling "Boost".

After taking this screnshot the temp jumped to nearly 70°C for a few seconds before dropping again.
I'm not sure how taking a screenshot can cause a sudden 10°C temp change along with random spikes that can last for a few minutes when idle.

I've already taken it apart, made sure the fans are clean and repasted the CPU and GPU but that didn't seem to make a difference.

Does anyone have suggestions for what I could try to cool and quieten it?

My specs:
Chassis & Display
Vyper Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10875H (2.3GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Vyper Series Integrated 91WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 3 PORT + 3 x USB 3.1 PORTS
Keyboard Language
VYPER 17 SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM

 

[Scott]

Can you post your entire spec from your orders page please? Be sure to omit the Windows license if it's in there.

My immediate suggestion would be to clean out the laptop and replace the paste.

Did you clean it off using alcohol to ensure proper surface was maintained? What paste did you use? How confident are you that it's all been done correctly? Other than this area I'm at a loss with what else it could be.

50C on the GPU isn't crazy for a laptop, even at idle they do tend to run a lot warmer than a desktop. 60C seems pretty high for an idle to me though, I wouldn't expect that to be over the mid 30s.

 

[DarkPaladin]

You can check a few couple of software/OS configurations before opening up the laptop:

1. Is your battery plan listed as high performance/prefer maximum performance? This can make your components run at their maximum clock speed, and (assuming your laptop has a shared heatsink) the hotter CPU may share the heat with the GPU

If that doesn't solve it, you may have to either invest in a good laptop cooling pad (IETS GT500 is highly recommended by laptop gaming enthusiasts), re-paste your GPU/CPU, or clean out your laptop fans. It's also possible your heatsink may not be properly contacting the components if re-installed incorrectly (most heatsinks nowadays have numbers between 1-9 for installing them for optimal contact and thermal paste spread).

 

[SpyderTracks]

You could check your NVIDIA Control Panel to see if your 3D settings are Global > Prefer Maximum Performance. If your Global settings are set up this way, your GPU clock will be at 100% during idle (which isn't necessary). You

That's not quite correct, the gpu load would still only be using whatever is being requested, it's just that it defaults to using the dgpu for all programs rather than auto switching and unlocks power limits. I've always used my laptop with dgpu only when at home, it's only when I travel I'd set hybrid gpu.

 

[DarkPaladin]

That's not quite correct, the gpu load would still only be using whatever is being requested, it's just that it defaults to using the dgpu for all programs rather than auto switching and unlocks power limits. I've always used my laptop with dgpu only when at home, it's only when I travel I'd set hybrid gpu.

You're right. I believe prefer maximum performance will increase GPU clock during games/apps only, not idle. I'll correct that.

 

[Sense]

Can you post your entire spec from your orders page please? Be sure to omit the Windows license if it's in there.

My immediate suggestion would be to clean out the laptop and replace the paste.

Did you clean it off using alcohol to ensure proper surface was maintained? What paste did you use? How confident are you that it's all been done correctly? Other than this area I'm at a loss with what else it could be.

50C on the GPU isn't crazy for a laptop, even at idle they do tend to run a lot warmer than a desktop. 60C seems pretty high for an idle to me though, I wouldn't expect that to be over the mid 30s.

Thanks for your reply. I've updated my original post with the specs. It's strange as it never used to get this hot while idle with these random spikes. I've mainly been noticing it since upgrading to Windows 11 so I'm curious if some of the drivers that are provided by PCSpecialist are playing up. The only drivers I have on my account are listed under Windows 10.

I did clean it out correctly as I've been building my own desktops for years so I'm confident I've done things correctly. I did clean it with cleaning alcohol and I used Arctic MX-4 for paste. I will have to have a look to see if I can get a more effective thermal paste but I doubt it'll make too much of a difference.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for your reply. I've updated my original post with the specs. It's strange as it never used to get this hot while idle with these random spikes. I've mainly been noticing it since upgrading to Windows 11 so I'm curious if some of the drivers that are provided by PCSpecialist are playing up. The only drivers I have on my account are listed under Windows 10.

I did clean it out correctly as I've been building my own desktops for years so I'm confident I've done things correctly. I did clean it with cleaning alcohol and I used Arctic MX-4 for paste. I will have to have a look to see if I can get a more effective thermal paste but I doubt it'll make too much of a difference.

I believe Gaming Center U may need updating to a windows 11 compatible version. Gaming Center is what manages the cooling, it may also mess around your Power Limits on the CPU, but PCS will be able to advise you if that's the case. I would give them a call and see if there's an update available.

 

[Scott]

Thanks for your reply. I've updated my original post with the specs. It's strange as it never used to get this hot while idle with these random spikes. I've mainly been noticing it since upgrading to Windows 11 so I'm curious if some of the drivers that are provided by PCSpecialist are playing up. The only drivers I have on my account are listed under Windows 10.

I did clean it out correctly as I've been building my own desktops for years so I'm confident I've done things correctly. I did clean it with cleaning alcohol and I used Arctic MX-4 for paste. I will have to have a look to see if I can get a more effective thermal paste but I doubt it'll make too much of a difference.

That all sounds fine to me. Arctic MX-4 should do fine, it's not going to be the top of the tree but it wouldn't account for the temps and experience you are having.

It does sound power/driver related so definitely worthwhile ensuring Gaming Centre is up to date and working as above