Optimus Series overheating

[Jameseth]

I have a laptop from 2018 that is overheating when gaming.

The laptop:

• Chassis & Display: Optimus Series 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen(1920x1080)
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
• RAM: 16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
• GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
• HD: 250GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND M.2 SSD (up to 550MB/sR | 525MB/sW)
• Battery: Optimus IX Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• Thermal Paste: COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND

I've installed HWMonitor and it's the CPU that is overheating, getting up to 95 degrees, and sometimes beyond and shutting down. Initially I thought it could be thermal paste as it's 2 years old but when the CPU temp goes into the 60/70 degrees area I put my hand on the vent for the CPU fan and nothing is there, as if the CPU fan is not running. Which surely at that temp I should definitely feel air, quite a bit?

Also I installed Speedfan software and it says my CPU fan RPM is 50,000 (no typo, 50K). Which is wrong surely?


Questions:

1. So my suspicion is either the CPU fan is broken, or the software which controls/monitors it is not working or corrupted, does this sound right?
2. I want to replace the fans while I'm in the case etc, can someone confirm what decent after market fans I can buy for this case please?

(I tried calling tech support twice in 2 days and each time I was caller 20+ for over an hour, and emailing them takes 2-3 days for a response)

Thanks

 

[ubuysa]

Have you cleaned it recently? The finned heat exchanger next to the fan is where all the cooling is done, if that is blocked it will overheat - and you'll feel no air coming out either.

 

[Jameseth]

I've cleaned as far as I can without removing the fans. And it wasn't too bad. I was waiting to just replace the fans rather than clean them tbh, just wondered if there's something else I should be doing as a matter of course, like just do the CPU thermal paste while I'm in there.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I've cleaned as far as I can without removing the fans. And it wasn't too bad. I was waiting to just replace the fans rather than clean them tbh, just wondered if there's something else I should be doing as a matter of course, like just do the CPU thermal paste while I'm in there.

You need to do a full clean and repaste about once a year on any performance laptop to keep thermals in check.

 

[Jameseth]

ok thanks. I'll replace the cheap looking China fans and redo the paste, and dust out the fan areas and copper tubing too. Thanks for the advice.

Any advice on decent aftermarket fans? Or are the basic ones ok? Not even sure what fan dimensions/speed etc I need.

 

[ubuysa]

ok thanks. I'll replace the cheap looking China fans and redo the paste, and dust out the fan areas and copper tubing too. Thanks for the advice.

Any advice on decent aftermarket fans? Or are the basic ones ok? Not even sure what fan dimensions/speed etc I need.

Pay particular attention to the finned heat exchanger right next to the fan output, that's where ALL the cooling is done. You need a good airflow through there but it's a dust and fluff magnet.

 

[SpyderTracks]

ok thanks. I'll replace the cheap looking China fans and redo the paste, and dust out the fan areas and copper tubing too. Thanks for the advice.

Any advice on decent aftermarket fans? Or are the basic ones ok? Not even sure what fan dimensions/speed etc I need.

There are no such thing as aftermarket fans on a laptop, it's specific to the chassis.

You don't need to replace any fans. Just needs regular cleaning and repasting.

 

[Jameseth]

Thanks both for the answers. I'll just deep clean then and new thermal pate.
I struggled to get the fan separated from the gold/copper heat exchange things last time I had it open, but hopefully it'll be ok this time.

 

[Jameseth]

Does anyone know what screws I need for screwing down the fan and heat exchange assembly on the motherboard near the CPU? There are 2 silver screws (one was threaded slightly removing it as it was incredibly tight). I need to order one/some.

There are similar silver screws around the motherboard but the two on the heat exchange are a little fatter thread. I have some spares that the head is the same but again the bolt part with the thread is fatter.