Laptop High Temperatures Monitoring

[Mr_Lemons]

Hi all

I have been going on a bit of a journey with my Recoil laptop, and have noted that my 3070 has been hitting 86dC whilst playing graphics heavy games, with the 'hotspot' temp hitting 104.5dC.

I had emailed the PCS support team and they've confirmed that whilst these temps are still within spec, they are a bit high. I wanted to get some advice on whether there is any recommended software that will log the temperature and clock speeds of the GPU and CPU over time (HWMonitor only shows me the max and instant temps), so that I can try and get an understanding of how long it is spending at these temperatures, or whether it is just hitting occasional peaks, and whether it is thermal throttling.

Is the best way to test this by playing games and logging/monitoring, or should I be running one of the stress test softwares instead? I am just thinking that a stress test programme may not give me a 'real world' indication of how the laptop is performing.

Any tips / advice appreciated.




Laptop specs below:

Chassis & Display	Recoil Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)	16GB Corsair 3200MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader	Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor	1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery	Recoil Series Integrated 94WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste	ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card	2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless	GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options	1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language	PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System	Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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	Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse	INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam	INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty	3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee	1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery	STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time	Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Welcome Book	PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

 

[SpyderTracks]

Best way is a stress test with Cinebench R24 for CPU loads, run for 10 minutes, have HWMonitor open throughout and take a screenshot of HWMonitor at the end of the test while the test is still running

Cinebench 2024 Downloads

Maxon tools include C4D for 3D modeling, simulation and animation, ZBrush and Forger for 3D modeling, Red Giant tools for editing, motion design and filmmaking, and fast Redshift rendering.

www.maxon.net

HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID

HWMonitor for Windows® x86/x64 is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, powers, currents, fans speed, utilizations, clock speeds ... The program handles : CPU and GPU-level hardware monitoring...

www.cpuid.com

Then do the same with Furmark for the GPU: https://geeks3d.com/furmark/downloads/

 

[Mr_Lemons]

OK will do - just to confirm, should I set the control centre profile to 'game' or 'turbo'?

 

[SpyderTracks]

OK will do - just to confirm, should I set the control centre profile to 'game' or 'turbo'?

Try it first on Game

 

[Mr_Lemons]

Ok so I have to say I am a little bit perplexed.

I gave the laptop a quick air spray earlier today (just through the vents- it did not look dusty at all) and I also just updated to the Nvidia drivers that came out yesterday. The temps are hitting nowhere near where they've been for the last couple months. Max GPU is now sitting at 74dC. Clearly something has changed here though because as I said I have consistently been hitting 86dC on the GPU. This feels like when you take something to the repair shop and it just magically works again...

 

[Adrian_Kain]

Ok so I have to say I am a little bit perplexed.

I gave the laptop a quick air spray earlier today (just through the vents- it did not look dusty at all) and I also just updated to the Nvidia drivers that came out yesterday. The temps are hitting nowhere near where they've been for the last couple months. Max GPU is now sitting at 74dC. Clearly something has changed here though because as I said I have consistently been hitting 86dC on the GPU. This feels like when you take something to the repair shop and it just magically works again...

A couple of very dumb questions, possibly. Howl old is the laptop and have you done a CPU/GPU repasting since you got it, if the laptop is more than one year old? On my Ol`bess here (2019 Octane VI i990k/RTX2080) I do a repasting/cleaning at least 1 a year most of the times twice a year. Also, do you have a decent to good cooling pad underneath it? Mine for example is a KLIM Mistral 4500RPM

With repasting/cleaning, and the cooling pad running, the highest temps i got were 86 - 92ish on the CPU under heavy load (I mean AC Mirage at max details heavy load/and other new games like that) but it averaged around 82-86C

Depending on what you game, those temps tend to be on the high end for the latest titles, especially on High or Ultra Settings. Hell, one session of AC Mirage and i had a spike of temp on the CPU of 100 for a few minutes before stabilizing at 85c

 

[Mr_Lemons]

Hi

I do have a cooling pad, which is a Klym one, not sure what the model is which I use when gaming and also when I experienced the 86dC temps on the GPU as mentioned above. For the Furmark and Cinebench tests above I purposely did not have the cooling pad - I simply slightly elevated the back of the laptop to allow a bit more airflow as i wanted an accurate test of the laptop cooling on its own.

Laptop was purchased in Feb 2022, so it is about 18 months old and no, I have never done a re-paste, although the thought crossed my mind! I am just about to go into Starfield for a while and will be curious to see what the temps do this time around. I find it bizarre that a spray of air and a driver update reduced them by 10+ dC.

 

[Mr_Lemons]

So this is the temp after 1 hour of playing starfield - as before. hit peaks of 87dC on the GPU this time. Any thoughts?

 

[Mr_Lemons]

I have just run the Furmark test again out of curiosity, and again GPU temp settles around 76dC...just wondering, as the CPU and GPU are effectively sharing a cooling system, could it be the CPU temp (90+ dC) that is actually causing the GPU to get hotter than it would normally when playing an intensive game like Starfield?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Laptop was purchased in Feb 2022, so it is about 18 months old and no, I have never done a re-paste, although the thought crossed my mind! I am just about to go into Starfield for a while and will be curious to see what the temps do this time around. I find it bizarre that a spray of air and a driver update reduced them by 10+ dC.

This is likely the issue, needs repasting about once a year to maintain temps.

But there's a new product out which makes repasting redundant, get a few of these to cover the GPU and CPU and you're golden for the lifetime of the laptop

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermal-Grizzly-Conductivity-Alternative-Performance/dp/B0C61QGH5Z

 

[Adrian_Kain]

Hi

I do have a cooling pad, which is a Klym one, not sure what the model is which I use when gaming and also when I experienced the 86dC temps on the GPU as mentioned above. For the Furmark and Cinebench tests above I purposely did not have the cooling pad - I simply slightly elevated the back of the laptop to allow a bit more airflow as i wanted an accurate test of the laptop cooling on its own.

Laptop was purchased in Feb 2022, so it is about 18 months old and no, I have never done a re-paste, although the thought crossed my mind! I am just about to go into Starfield for a while and will be curious to see what the temps do this time around. I find it bizarre that a spray of air and a driver update reduced them by 10+ dC.

I can only speak for myself but a CPU/GPU repasting at least once a year with a good thermal paste and then cleaning the fan blades with an air duster would do good. Same with a cooler. I do it twice a year because not only do I use the living bejeesus out of it, but also my i9900k runs pretty hot even with a cooling pad (I play all my games at high to Ultra high settings)

Now, attached you can see the temps for me during a Furmark test done a few days ago. My GPU did not exceed 62 and when I let heaven Benchmark 4.0 loose for about 30 minutes on Extreme settings, my GPU temps were around 72-76. Also, I have manually tweaked my Clevo Control Centre so the fans are working at 70% when the temps hit 70 and 95% when the temps reach 85. How did you config your fans to run?

For me, as an average user with limited knowledge, those temps look a bit worrying, especially the 103 hotspot. I assume you had your cooling pad blowing while gaming and would suggest to go down the repasting route

PS: Just did a GPU stress test. The second screenshot is after 5 minutes. As you can see GPU temp was 83 with a peak of 90ish

I have just run the Furmark test again out of curiosity, and again GPU temp settles around 76dC...just wondering, as the CPU and GPU are effectively sharing a cooling system, could it be the CPU temp (90+ dC) that is actually causing the GPU to get hotter than it would normally when playing an intensive game like Starfield?

CPU and GPU have separate fans and heatsinks..i think.

 

[Adrian_Kain]

This is likely the issue, needs repasting about once a year to maintain temps.

But there's a new product out which makes repasting redundant, get a few of these to cover the GPU and CPU and you're golden for the lifetime of the laptop

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermal-Grizzly-Conductivity-Alternative-Performance/dp/B0C61QGH5Z

That is a good link Spyder....i will try it when i do the next cleanup cycle. I know the 9900K is 37.5mm x 37.5mm,and i think the GPU is 23mm x 23mm

 

[Martinr36]

This is likely the issue, needs repasting about once a year to maintain temps.

But there's a new product out which makes repasting redundant, get a few of these to cover the GPU and CPU and you're golden for the lifetime of the laptop

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermal-Grizzly-Conductivity-Alternative-Performance/dp/B0C61QGH5Z

If you get one of the sheets that normally does a desktop CPU, you should get enough for both CPU & GPU in a laptop

 

[Mr_Lemons]

Ok thanks all, will order and sounds like a weekend job!

Just to confirm then I can buy the larger one and just cut it to size for the dies on the GPU and CPU, correct? Noting from the description that it is conductive so presumably need to be extra careful when putting it in...

 

[Martinr36]

Ok thanks all, will order and sounds like a weekend job!

Just to confirm then I can buy the larger one and just cut it to size for the dies on the GPU and CPU, correct? Noting from the description that it is conductive so presumably need to be extra careful when putting it in...

don't have to many draugths around when you do it........

 

[Mr_Lemons]

FYI thermal grizzly have a size guide for the sheets:

https://www.thermal-grizzly.com/images/downloads/SizeGuide_Kryosheet_TGU20231005.pdf

 

[Mr_Lemons]

Hi all

I have finally managed to get some time this weekend to install the kryosheets.

Firstly, as someone who has never done anything beyond taking off the back plate and dusting the laptop, I was absolutely kacking myself. I started by unplugging the two cables connected to the battery, and pressing the power button a few times to release any capacitance. Then I went about unscrewing the spring screws in reverse order to the numbering shown on the parts. Then realised there were a few more screws and that I also needed to unplug the fans.

Lifting the cooling assembly was a little bit nerve wracking as I didnt want to force it but at the same time it was a little bit stuck in place. You will see from the photos below what it looked like, to me the paste over the GPU looks a bit thin?

Anyway, the Thermal Grizzly Kryosheet things are an absolute faff to cut to size. It is super delicate and I ended up using a steel ruler and a razor blade, as they tear so easily when cutting with the grain. I managed to get them to the correct size, I have shown photos below.

I then gingerly put it all back together being extra careful not to shift the kryosheets out of position, as they are conductive.

When I turned the laptop on, I was half expecting sparks, but was surprised to find a bitlocker key was needed...I assume because I unplugged the battery? Again this was new to me but luckily it is easy to find online in the microsoft account.

In terms of the results....I am super impressed. Whereas I was consistently thermal throttling before, after playing 4 hours of Baldurs Gate 3 i used to hit 87dC max temp and 104dC on the hotspot. Now it is max temping at about 74dC and hot spot at 82dC. It is not thermal throttling at all anymore - the same is the case with Starfield.

Honestly I am sold on these things, especially if they never degrade! Very happy that my laptop didnt explode either.

Cheers.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi all

I have finally managed to get some time this weekend to install the kryosheets.

Firstly, as someone who has never done anything beyond taking off the back plate and dusting the laptop, I was absolutely kacking myself. I started by unplugging the two cables connected to the battery, and pressing the power button a few times to release any capacitance. Then I went about unscrewing the spring screws in reverse order to the numbering shown on the parts. Then realised there were a few more screws and that I also needed to unplug the fans.

Lifting the cooling assembly was a little bit nerve wracking as I didnt want to force it but at the same time it was a little bit stuck in place. You will see from the photos below what it looked like, to me the paste over the GPU looks a bit thin?

Anyway, the Thermal Grizzly Kryosheet things are an absolute faff to cut to size. It is super delicate and I ended up using a steel ruler and a razor blade, as they tear so easily when cutting with the grain. I managed to get them to the correct size, I have shown photos below.

I then gingerly put it all back together being extra careful not to shift the kryosheets out of position, as they are conductive.

When I turned the laptop on, I was half expecting sparks, but was surprised to find a bitlocker key was needed...I assume because I unplugged the battery? Again this was new to me but luckily it is easy to find online in the microsoft account.

In terms of the results....I am super impressed. Whereas I was consistently thermal throttling before, after playing 4 hours of Baldurs Gate 3 i used to hit 87dC max temp and 104dC on the hotspot. Now it is max temping at about 74dC and hot spot at 82dC. It is not thermal throttling at all anymore - the same is the case with Starfield.

Honestly I am sold on these things, especially if they never degrade! Very happy that my laptop didnt explode either.

Cheers.

That's so great, all the reviews I've seen of these they tend to be between a high end thermal paste and Liquid Metal, which is quite incredible really.

The great thing is that now you won't have to worry about your thermals, it's worth still monitoring them just as best practice should anything fail like a fan, but with regards to having to repaste, it's not something you have to worry about for the lifetime of the laptop.

You can even carry those wafers across to your next device, although the size may be different, but they do last a lifetime quite literally, aside from being rather fragile.

 

[DarkPaladin]

Just chiming in to say that if you really want to further reduce laptop temperatures, the IETS GT500 is a very good laptop cooling pad. It's noisy as hell but it reduces temperatures quite a bit.

 

[Mr_Lemons]

Just chiming in to say that if you really want to further reduce laptop temperatures, the IETS GT500 is a very good laptop cooling pad. It's noisy as hell but it reduces temperatures quite a bit.

Thanks - I have to say since swapping the thermal paste for the kryosheets, even under heavy strain my laptop doesn't even come near the previous temperatures. I don't even fully turn up the cooling pad, opting to only run half the fans (nearest the air intakes).