Laptop Possible Temperature Fixes

[ITechnologyman]

My laptop runs an Intel i7-2670QM and shares the same Heatsink with a GT540M. When running games my laptop just goes over the thermal throttling margin would it be worth it to open it up and replace thermal paste which has not been replaced in over 6 years? Also, would an Opolar Lc05 provide any benefit to the temps?

[DrMacintosh]

8 minutes ago, ITechnologyman said:

Opolar Lc05

Those are garbage. 

 

Replacing the thermal paste can help a lot if the current paste has dried up and no longer transfers heat. You could try liquid metal but there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong and it really depends on your CPU coolers materials. 

 

What kind of temps are you getting? Can you give us some numbers? You can download a program called HW monitor which will report temps for you. 

[ITechnologyman]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Those are garbage. 

 

Replacing the thermal paste can help a lot if the current paste has dried up and no longer transfers heat. You could try liquid metal but there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong and it really depends on your CPU coolers materials. 

 

What kind of temps are you getting? Can you give us some numbers? You can download a program called HW monitor which will report temps for you. 

1

I have used Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to stress test my CPU and the temps got up to 87 degrees Celsius then it started to thermal throttle.

[DrMacintosh]

2 minutes ago, ITechnologyman said:

I have used Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to stress test my CPU and the temps got up to 87 degrees Celsius then it started to thermal throttle.

In laptops, thermal throttling is almost inevitable. What is important is that the laptop does not shut off because things are getting so hot. 

 

New thermal paste might help, but if the cooler doesn't have the surface area to cool those parts, no amount of paste or fan speed will stop it from thermal throttling. 

 

Has this machine always ran like this? Or has it steadily gotten worse? 

[ITechnologyman]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

In laptops, thermal throttling is almost inevitable. What is important is that the laptop does not shut off because things are getting so hot. 

 

New thermal paste might help, but if the cooler doesn't have the surface area to cool those parts, no amount of paste or fan speed will stop it from thermal throttling. 

 

Has this machine always ran like this? Or has it steadily gotten worse? 

Over the years it had become a potato, I have taped the intake to a hair dryer before and gotten improved results so maybe some extra pull from an external fan may help?

[PineyCreek]

I'd replace the thermal paste, yeah.  Check for lint build-up at the vents too and gently clean the fan blades when you open everything up.  Thermal throttling could still be a problem in a perfectly clean system though.

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, ITechnologyman said:

Over the years it had become a potato, I have taped the intake to a hair dryer before and gotten improved results so maybe some extra pull from an external fan may help?

Those fans external fans don't help, you need air blowing through the machine, not being sucked out of it. 

 

Open it up, get a can of compressed air and clean out the heat sync and the fans/vents/Intakes. Replace the thermal paste on the cooler as well and you should se some improvement. 

[HelloJack5]

Its probably dusty so you should clean it. And replace the thermal paste.

[matus177]

I would try undervolting it with xtu software. Try -25 stress test and then repeat lowering by 25 until it crashes. I did it with 5th gen laptop i7 and with 6th gen i7 and you can get pretty great results. Undervolting i7-6700hq lowered cpu temps during stress test by 10-15 degrees  and power consumption went down from oike 40W to 25W

[Cbfbrolol]

As thermal paste is used not to promote heat transfer between the cpu and heatsink but eliminate microscopic air patches between the heatsink and cpu, although temperatures may improve slightly, and I mean a few degreese, your temperatures will probably benefit more from making sure the internals are free from dust and or debris to allow cleanairflow than just from replacing the paste.