How to reduce the temperature of my CPU?

Yeldo

Active member
So I have this new gaming laptop these are my specs

Intel Core I7-10875H @2.30GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super
32 GB Ram 2666Mhz
SSD 970 Evo Plus 1 TB

It's only 2 weeks old, but some games for example Lost Ark or Assasin Screed Vallhala the settings are all maxed up and the Laptop runs them fine but I can see that my CPU is hitting the 92-94 range of temperature and GPU 82 degrees, that's quite bad isnt it?

I have a cooler underneath the laptop hopefully its helping but what else can I do to reduce the temperatures? I have tried to reduce a bit the graphics but temperature didnt drop.. is there a way to reduce the "power" of the CPU so it doesnt push itself so much?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
So I have this new gaming laptop these are my specs

Intel Core I7-10875H @2.30GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super
32 GB Ram 2666Mhz
SSD 970 Evo Plus 1 TB

It's only 2 weeks old, but some games for example Lost Ark or Assasin Screed Vallhala the settings are all maxed up and the Laptop runs them fine but I can see that my CPU is hitting the 92-94 range of temperature and GPU 82 degrees, that's quite bad isnt it?

I have a cooler underneath the laptop hopefully its helping but what else can I do to reduce the temperatures? I have tried to reduce a bit the graphics but temperature didnt drop.. is there a way to reduce the "power" of the CPU so it doesnt push itself so much?
Is this a PCS system? Can you post the full specs from the order page?
 

Yeldo

Active member
Is this a PCS system? Can you post the full specs from the order page?
Chassis & DisplayProteus Series: 15.6" 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)32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 SUPER - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive500GB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card ReaderIntegrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor1 x Proteus Series 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
BatteryProteus VII Series Integrated Lithium Ion Battery, 47WH
Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound CardIntel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & WirelessGIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 3.1 Type C PORT AS STANDARD
Keyboard LanguagePROTEUS SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-VirusBullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
TBH, those temps when under severe load are going to be about right.

Intel chips run extremely hot, they use an awful lot more power than AMD chips for less performance.

An AMD chip will be in mid 80's, an Intel equivalent will run in low to mid 90's.

If you want to try to get the CPU down a bit (I wouldn't worry about the GPU, that's fine), then you can try an undervolt, but it's not entirely straightforward on 10th Gen chips.
 
I don't know about Intel but my Ryzen 7 4800H had the same overheating problem. Was at 40% load according to GamingCenter and was hitting 80-90 degrees to the point where the overheat protection would kick in and turn off my laptop.
Thankfully I've just found a video that shows you a way to reduce your temps massively. Apparently your CPU is set to 'Aggressively' boost to its max at all times to the point where it overheats. This video shows you how to turn that off without a noticable drop in performance.
I'm now running my CPU at 50-60 degrees playing GTA V as before it was 80-90+ and shutting itself down.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I don't know about Intel but my Ryzen 7 4800H had the same overheating problem. Was at 40% load according to GamingCenter and was hitting 80-90 degrees to the point where the overheat protection would kick in and turn off my laptop.
Thankfully I've just found a video that shows you a way to reduce your temps massively. Apparently your CPU is set to 'Aggressively' boost to its max at all times to the point where it overheats. This video shows you how to turn that off without a noticable drop in performance.
I'm now running my CPU at 50-60 degrees playing GTA V as before it was 80-90+ and shutting itself down.
To be fair, if it was shutting down then there was an issue with the cooling solution, that needed to be addressed first before nerfing the processor.

Any voltage optimisation or clock limitation should only ever be performed on a properly cooled system, otherwise it's like applying a bandage to a broken leg. You're not treating the root cause, but the symptoms.
 
Last edited:

Grumpywurzel

Bright Spark
Which cooler have you got underneath, I bought the Coolermaster one from PCS and tbh it's pretty useless, as it has one fan thats borderline asthmatic.

Would suggest you try to google "Best laptop coolers" but tbh the Intels do run fairly hot and there isnt a great deal you can do.
 
To be fair, if it was shutting down then there was an issue with the cooling solution, that needed to be addressed first before nerfing the processor.

Any voltage optimisation or clock limitation should only ever be performed on a properly cooled system, otherwise it's like applying a bandage to a broken leg. You're not treating the root cause, but the symptoms.
If that's the case then there was something wrong with it right out of the box, I've only had my laptop for about 4 months and it shut itself down on the first day. Which is a shame cause I paid for it to have good thermal paste applied.
 
If that's the case then there was something wrong with it right out of the box, I've only had my laptop for about 4 months and it shut itself down on the first day. Which is a shame cause I paid for it to have good thermal paste applied.
Also it is literally just the CPU overheating, my cpu would reach 90 degrees and shut off whereas my GPU would only be at 50 at the time.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
If that's the case then there was something wrong with it right out of the box, I've only had my laptop for about 4 months and it shut itself down on the first day. Which is a shame cause I paid for it to have good thermal paste applied.
Yes, likely a paste issue. Happens all the time.
 

FerrariVie

Super Star
Also it is literally just the CPU overheating, my cpu would reach 90 degrees and shut off whereas my GPU would only be at 50 at the time.
And the system should not be shutting down with 90 degrees, since it's thermal limit is usually around 95, and even when reaching those temps it will cause the CPU to throttle the clocks down, not shut off.
 

DarkPaladin

Enthusiast
My advice would be to fully clean the insides of your laptop. I had an issue lately that involved my laptop either overheating too fast or having its performance tank due to thermal/power throttling under load.
  1. Purchase either Arctic MX-4, Grizzly Kyronaut, or CoolerMaster High Performance Paste
  2. Purchase a can of compressed air with an attachable nozzle
  3. Purchase thermal paste remover + purifier
  4. Clean out the dust in the fans carefully with short bursts of compressed air, ideally using an attachable nozzle
  5. Take off the screws for your GPU + CPU and apply the thermal paste remover to both of them and the heatstinks, wait 30 seconds
  6. Remove the paste and then apply the thermal paste purifier, then wipe it all clean
  7. Apply the new paste using the cross/X method
  8. Place the heatsink on top, inserting the screws in the order specified on the label
  9. Wait a few mins before using your laptop
  10. Stress test both components
That's what solved my overheating + throttling issues. My laptop is performing incredibly well now and the only time my CPU temps hover around the 80-85 degree mark is when playing Cyberpunk.

If that still doesn't solve your heating, it might be worth undervolting your CPU slightly. Following Spydertracks past recommendations, you could incrementally decrease the core voltage offset by -0.005 in Intel XTU (mine is currently at -0.070V).

If that doesn't help, it might be worth calling PCSpecialist and seeing what they can do for you.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
My advice would be to fully clean the insides of your laptop. I had an issue lately that involved my laptop either overheating too fast or having its performance tank due to thermal/power throttling under load.
  1. Purchase either Arctic MX-4, Grizzly Kyronaut, or CoolerMaster High Performance Paste
  2. Purchase a can of compressed air with an attachable nozzle
  3. Purchase thermal paste remover + purifier
  4. Clean out the dust in the fans carefully with short bursts of compressed air, ideally using an attachable nozzle
  5. Take off the screws for your GPU + CPU and apply the thermal paste remover to both of them and the heatstinks, wait 30 seconds
  6. Remove the paste and then apply the thermal paste purifier, then wipe it all clean
  7. Apply the new paste using the cross/X method
  8. Place the heatsink on top, inserting the screws in the order specified on the label
  9. Wait a few mins before using your laptop
  10. Stress test both components
That's what solved my overheating + throttling issues. My laptop is performing incredibly well now and the only time my CPU temps hover around the 80-85 degree mark is when playing Cyberpunk.

If that still doesn't solve your heating, it might be worth undervolting your CPU slightly. Following Spydertracks past recommendations, you could incrementally decrease the core voltage offset by -0.005 in Intel XTU (mine is currently at -0.070V).

If that doesn't help, it might be worth calling PCSpecialist and seeing what they can do for you.
Agreed. When you're cleaning the fans pay particular attention to the finned heat exchangers right next to the fans. These are where ALL of the cooling is done and you need a good airflow through these heat exchangers. They are however dust and fluff magnets and are easily blocked, when they get blocked the cooling becomes compromised.
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Agreed. When you're cleaning the fans pay particular attention to the finned heat exchangers right next to the fans. These are where ALL of the cooling is done and you need a good airflow through these heat exchangers. They are however dust and fluff magnets and are easily blocked, when they get blocked the cooling becomes compromised.
Yep, when my dad asked me to give his laptop a good clean out there was so much fluff in those that I thought a muppet had crawled in there and died.
 

Adrian L

New member
I don't know about Intel but my Ryzen 7 4800H had the same overheating problem. Was at 40% load according to GamingCenter and was hitting 80-90 degrees to the point where the overheat protection would kick in and turn off my laptop.
Thankfully I've just found a video that shows you a way to reduce your temps massively. Apparently your CPU is set to 'Aggressively' boost to its max at all times to the point where it overheats. This video shows you how to turn that off without a noticable drop in performance.
I'm now running my CPU at 50-60 degrees playing GTA V as before it was 80-90+ and shutting itself down.
I know it was a while ago you posted this but I wanted to comment that I tried this with my Intel i7-13700H and saw big improvements to CPU temps (especially IA core temps which were the issue) and minimal affect on performance. I'll try attach a screenshot. Thanks for the info!

Screenshot (548) WITH NOTES-min.png


This is while running Red Dead Redemption 2 (1440p, 50-60fps, max settings). Fan speed also went down from 100% to 80%. In this game, its very GPU bottlenecked as you can see, and I could only detect about 1fps performance impact from this change (so nothing basically).

I also tested in another game which was neither CPU nor GPU bottlenecked (fps capped at 60) and this one went from about 60fps to 53fps. I lowered settings a tad to bring it back up to 60. Definitely worth it for the far lower temps!
 
Top