[GL702VM & similar] Solution to Performance issues / Overheating / Throttling / Whine

[onjax]

Hi guys, I bought GL702VM and was upset with its ability to handle games and high load. I had immediate temperature jump to over 85 jump and throttling / frame drops in games. So I decided to understand how to improve things, even though, I already lost my warranty due to my experiments, but at least I can answer for everyone, that:
- the main problem of this notebook is inefficient, insufficient cooling system with too thin fans, too small heatsinks, vent holes in a wrong places (aside, not above the fans).

To prove this, I first changed the thermal interface to liquid metal. That doesn't solve the issue. This proves, the thermal contact is ok, but heat dissipation is bad. Second, I ran stress tests with back cover removed - helped a lot, about 15-20 degrees off. The proves that air intake is wrong in this system.

I also removed an antidust tape with holes covering all the intake holes. That helped by around 5 degrees and also brought down air noise.

Then I came to idea of downvolting CPU and GPU, thanks to devs of ThrottleStop and MSI Afterburner, we can do this with relative ease.

The result: Fan noise reduced by half. Temp drop is huge. More speed due to ability of CPU/GPU to properly boost to max speed.

For your information - CPU is responsible for about 30% of heat, GPU - for 70%. So best idea is to undervolt the GPU, but for best results go for both.

THE GUIDE - CPU
Variant A - Install Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility

• Go to Advanced Tuning tab and Change Dynamic CPU Voltage Offset to negative value (move slider to the left). -100mV is a good starting point. Leave Mode to Adaptive.
  
• Apply changes.
  

My CPU holds -150mV well.

Variant B - Install Throttle Stop 8.3 or above

• On main window click FIVR button
  
• Under CPU Core Voltage move Offset Voltage slider to the left. -100mV is a good starting point. The lower value the less heat.
  
• Click Apply. On the same window you can save settings to make them apply every time you start the app.
  

THE GUIDE - GPU

• Download and Install MSI Afterburner 4.3 or above
  
• In settings turn on Unlock voltage control and Unlock voltage monitoring
  
• Close MSI Afterburner
  
• Download my Voltage Profile for GTX 1060
  
• Extract profile to some folder and then copy file to "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles". Click continue as Administrator when Windows asks permission to write.
  
• Run MSI Afterburner, click on profile 1 (out of 5). Then press Ctrl+F. (1 - least heat, but may be unstable for some... 2, bit more voltage etc till 5.)
  
• You will see my Voltage Curve (screenshot). What you'll see that it's flat until 1050mv. that means. 1050 will never be used, so will never be used any voltage except 831mV @ 1860 MHz and below.
  
• Click apply to test this curve
  
• If this curve is not stable for you - edit it to your taste: Click on 831mV dot and move it lower, so that lower freq will be used for that voltage, and for 1860 freq next available voltage will be used. Etc. Work with leftmost voltage dots to make everything stable.
  

This curve drops heat of GPU by at least 30%, which is huge.

THE GUIDE - COIL WHINE
Workaround described here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/975530

Perform only these steps as Administrator:
1. At a command prompt, run the following command:
reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Processor /v Capabilities /t REG_DWORD /d 0x0007e066
2. Restart the computer.
3. Run ThrottleStop v8.3 or above and uncheck C1E. Click save.

In theory, it will make CPU a bit hotter while system is idle, because it disables some advanced C-states, but i didn't notice that in monitoring app.
That solved like 99.9% of the noise, and in addition, disabling C1E in ThrottleStop solved noise issue completely.

[EpicMomo]

I did everything on this forum except removing dust tape but i dont want to because that means my laptop will get dusty quickly. I undervolted several times my gpu and literally did no change i tried every profile even made my own currently my laptop always sits around 63c just from normal stuff like watching videos and listening to music and when i play for 1 hours it reaches 86c. Ive just tried to play less intense gaming sessions and tried to live with it, but it will always be in the back of my mind and worry.

[Zandor84]

I have also done everything mentioned in this thread, but nothing helped enough. I sent my gl702vm to ASUS service and they have changed the motherboard twice and all is still the same.

Then I contacted ASUS online support and they clearly refused to take note of the issue, (just repeating "take it to a service center, here is the address) no matter how many times I have supplied them with all the details of attempted repairs and screenshots and directed their attention to this or other threads detailing the problem.

They just keep sending me the same bull**** email saying sorry and that I should take it to a service center again and again and again. This is very annoying... like talking to a freaking parrot. They refuse reimbursement, or exchange of their faulty product and the service center says that they can not do anything more after changing MB twice and still getting the same temps...

This whole thing has made me very upset and angry at how ASUS treats their high paying customers... VIP service my **s.

The most annoying part is that clearly all they should do is to re-design the bottom cover to let the fans suck in more air and send it out to their service centers as spare parts and this easy and cheap step would make this laptop perform perfectly. And make their customers happy.

I am frustraited beyond belief and have no idea what to do next...

[Zandor84]

I can't believe it, i have finally done it!
The secret recepie for me was:

- Onjax's afterburner profile 1 tweaked a tiny bit. 🙂
- Intel extreme tuning util core voltage offset by 150mv, turbo boost max 40W, short power max 45W, Core ICC max 65W
- and the new ingredient is notebook fanControl 1.5, GL702VM config file, all fans to 100% before starting to play straining games.
https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc/releases/tag/1.5.0
https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc/blob/5beee4cfe3e4034911d415805c654868d306b8bf/Configs/Asus%20ROG%...

(Copy & paste the xml text into notepad and save in program files NBFC config folder as 702vm.xml)

This last bit had to be done cause it is the GPU that heats everything else up due to the common heatsink and the other 2 fans don't spin on max as they are not at the 100% threshold at that point.

So it isn't just bad physical thermal design on ASUS' part but bad thermal policy too.

But whoever didn't succeed after trying everything else in this thread now can have new hope!

Still very angry at ASUS that they didn't care enough to do anything about this before putting this notebook on the market and they are unwilling to do anything about it even now.
However all this laptop would really need is a redesigned bottom cover (a few dollar piece of plastic) with wider air intakes. Like the new AW R15 and 17 with the rear third of the bottom, all the way from left to right being a mesh for extra airflow.

Edit: This forum is magic !!! I am now in talks with someone that might be able to help all of us.

[willygermo]

Zandor84 wrote:
I can't believe it, i have finally done it!
The secret recepie for me was:

- Onjax's afterburner profile 1 tweaked a tiny bit. 🙂
- Intel extreme tuning util core voltage offset by 150mv, turbo boost max 40W, short power max 45W, Core ICC max 65W
- and the new ingredient is notebook fanControl 1.5, GL702VM config file, all fans to 100% before starting to play straining games.
https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc/releases/tag/1.5.0
https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc/blob/5beee4cfe3e4034911d415805c654868d306b8bf/Configs/Asus%20ROG%...

(Copy & paste the xml text into notepad and save in program files NBFC config folder as 702vm.xml)

This last bit had to be done cause it is the GPU that heats everything else up due to the common heatsink and the other 2 fans don't spin on max as they are not at the 100% threshold at that point.

So it isn't just bad physical thermal design on ASUS' part but bad thermal policy too.

But whoever didn't succeed after trying everything else in this thread now can have new hope!

Still very angry at ASUS that they didn't care enough to do anything about this before putting this notebook on the market and they are unwilling to do anything about it even now.
However all this laptop would really need is a redesigned bottom cover (a few dollar piece of plastic) with wider air intakes. Like the new AW R15 and 17 with the rear third of the bottom, all the way from left to right being a mesh for extra airflow.

Thaks! another change in notebook fan control?, fan control service status on read-only or enabled? all fun and GUP and GPU controlls on auto? When we start a game, we have to start msi burner, intel extreme tuning utility and notebook fan control? sorry, my English is bad.

Edit: sorry, I read now that whe´ve to fix fan controlls on 100%, manually always?

[willygermo]

I´ve 10 degrees less with dirt Benchmark , you configuration works!

[Zandor84]

willygermo wrote:
Thaks! another change in notebook fan control?, fan control service status on read-only or enabled? all fun and GUP and GPU controlls on auto? When we start a game, we have to start msi burner, intel extreme tuning utility and notebook fan control? sorry, my English is bad.

Edit: sorry, I read now that whe´ve to fix fan controlls on 100%, manually always?

MSI Afterburner should start up in the background with your last activated profile when Windows starts. XTU just save new profile then set and forget. So nothing to do there.

NBFC should start with windows if you tick the option from the cog window on the main screen and set to close to system tray. You should have a new system tray icon displaying CPU temp you can open the program from there. Set to enable and all to 100% before starting a game.

I have in the meantime made a fan curve profile for all 3 fans that I will upload when I get home from work. It should keep your idle temps around 40°C instead of 50 with pretty much no extra noise and all fans should automatically spin up to a 100% and stay there whilst playing. So you wouldn't need to touch anything before starting a game. Just let MSI AB and NBFC automatically start with windows boot.

Or you can set it yourself if you click on the edit button in the "select config" window after choosing GL702VM from dropdown menu. On the "Fan configuration" (second tab) double click the fan you want to adjust, then click on "temperature thresholds" (second tab), double click the temp range you want to change, do this with all fans and all ranges. Do NOT touch any other settings, if you want to stay safe! Do NOT set overlapping temp ranges! Do set last 2 ranges to 100% fan speed! Do save config before reapplying and enabling again.

Good luck!

Edit: here is the config file that I promised. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dty23nh7gffxr4p/AAAMm559SG3x24pr-geOHE3ka?dl=0

Copy XML into "Program Files (x86)\Notebook FanControl\configs" directory, Open NBFC, open dropdown menu in selected config panel select ASUS GL702VM_Custom, click apply, set enabled. Enjoy!

[Kompensan]

Does this actually works?

IN XTU do you actually give more voltage? like increase to 0,150mV? Is this important to mess with the CPU fields as like its proven the heat comes from the GPU?

Thanks.

[Zandor84]

Kompensan wrote:
Does this actually works?

IN XTU do you actually give more voltage? like increase to 0,150mV? Is this important to mess with the CPU fields as like its proven the heat comes from the GPU?

Thanks.

Look at my screenshots in my previous post on page 14. It is a negative offset (-150 mV) Less power, less heat! Stability depends on your actual chips manufacturing quality, use smaller offset if you get blue screen crash!

On top of this please read the whole thread to get the whole picture.

[Saragrl]

Zandor84 wrote:
MSI Afterburner should start up in the background with your last activated profile when Windows starts. XTU just save new profile then set and forget. So nothing to do there.

NBFC should start with windows if you tick the option from the cog window on the main screen and set to close to system tray. You should have a new system tray icon displaying CPU temp you can open the program from there. Set to enable and all to 100% before starting a game.

I have in the meantime made a fan curve profile for all 3 fans that I will upload when I get home from work. It should keep your idle temps around 40°C instead of 50 with pretty much no extra noise and all fans should automatically spin up to a 100% and stay there whilst playing. So you wouldn't need to touch anything before starting a game. Just let MSI AB and NBFC automatically start with windows boot.

Thank you. I tested it out a bit. Still getting upper 80's in demanding games, but it does take longer to reach those highs. Less demanding games, temps are staying much cooler. Thank you for taking the time to make and post your settings.

[Zandor84]

Saragrl wrote:
Thank you. I tested it out a bit. Still getting upper 80's in demanding games, but it does take longer to reach those highs. Less demanding games, temps are staying much cooler. Thank you for taking the time to make and post your settings.

Yeah, at this point, after doing everything that is suggested in this thread, we should be fighting with the last couple of degrees above the thermal limit.

Small reduction in the ambient temperature of the room, or even the use of the right type of laptop cooling pad should be enough to give it that last tiny push to stay under the limit. I am still reaching 86°C when the room is 27°C, but staying at 82-83°C in a 25°C room even with the most demanding games.

It is important that if you are using a cooling pad It has to be big and flat enough to evenly cover the bottom of the notebook and let it breathe at the right spots. (I am using a Cooler Master SF-19 V2 USB3)