[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.

[TornaD-oz]

Hey FastM, yes, I just leave the fans on auto for now. I figured, since it never hits 90 C and spins at 3900 RPM, there's plenty of power left in the fans to deal with heat, and I'm quite comfortable with this as long as there is no throttling. I've thought about running the 1070 GPU on higher MHz, but found a lot of feedback online suggesting to leave it around 1680 MHz - "cool and fast" they said.

[mirkazemilad]

Guys! you don't need to disable turbo boost to stop throttling! yes you can under-volt your CPU core/cache (-125 is enough) & Optimize GPU clock speed using msi afterburner & use notebook fan control with custom profile (highly recommenced)..

BUT DON'T FORGET TO REDUCE TURBO POWER: IN THROTTLESTOP GO TO "TPL" AND REDUCE PACKAGE POWER (DEFAULT VALUE IS 56), START FROM 25.



this will completely fix CPU throttling during heavy load operations like games & etc..
also it isn't necessary to uncheck C1E in throttle stop main window if you don't have any problem with fan noise when idle..

[TornaD-oz]

mirkazemilad wrote:
Guys! you don't need to disable turbo boost to stop throttling! yes you can under-volt your CPU core/cache (-125 is enough) & Optimize GPU clock speed using msi afterburner & use notebook fan control with custom profile (highly recommenced)..

BUT DON'T FORGET TO REDUCE TURBO POWER: IN THROTTLESTOP GO TO "TPL" AND REDUCE PACKAGE POWER (DEFAULT VALUE IS 56), START FROM 25.

this will completely fix CPU throttling during heavy load operations like games & etc..
also it isn't necessary to uncheck C1E in throttle stop main window if you don't have any problem with fan noise when idle..

I'm still hitting PL1 and getting clock drops with your settings, any ideas?



It started to happen after BIOS 307. Ah, well, I guess I'm just gonna leave it at Turbo Off, less noise anyway.

[mirkazemilad]

TornaD-oz wrote:
I'm still hitting PL1 and getting clock drops with your settings, any ideas?



It started to happen after BIOS 307. Ah, well, I guess I'm just gonna leave it at Turbo Off, less noise anyway.

Hi, Setting Package Power Limit (just 56) to lower value (<25) will only apply when you are using 100% of CPU power. I just tested this in GTA and AIDA64..



can I ask what app/game you are using?

[TornaD-oz]

mirkazemilad wrote:
Hi, Setting Package Power Limit (just 56) to lower value (<25) will only apply when you are using 100% of CPU power. I just tested this in GTA and AIDA64..

can I ask what app/game are you using?

I'm back and forth between Intel XTU + FurMark, Intel Burn Test + FurMark and RealBench. I personally prefer the first combo, because the other ones might freeze the system due to overkill RAM usage. I started getting PL1 just recently, noticed it while playing Dishonored 2. I've had this laptop since November and I didn't have Power Throttling before, this only leads me to believe that something is amiss with either the latest BIOS update or my PSU.

I'm concerned with all those 100% stress tests because sooner or later there going to be games that push the hardware to it's limits. Even Assassin's Creed Origins used to push the CPU to around 80%, but, well, I didn't have any Power Throttling back then, only Thermal one.

[telael85]

Hey again,

just a short question.

Does anyone use a Coolermaster U3 Coolpad? I can´t see any Differenz in "using" this or not using this? Temps will be the same with and without the Coolpad ...

On the pic you can see which positions i had tried

But as i said, it makes no Differenz.

Tried Wolfenstein New Colossus yesterday and the Temps are great now : FullHD 75FPS (locked) on Ultra - GPU was around 60° / CPU hits at max the 70° but not more (GPU runs @900 undervolt with a Boost of max. 1915hz) and CPU runs with Turbo (3,8ghz) with -130v

So the new thermalpaste + undervolting works fine for me!

[JArias]

telael85 wrote:
Hey again,

just a short question.

Does anyone use a Coolermaster U3 Coolpad? I can´t see any Differenz in "using" this or not using this? Temps will be the same with and without the Coolpad ...

On the pic you can see which positions i had tried

But as i said, it makes no Differenz.

Tried Wolfenstein New Colossus yesterday and the Temps are great now : FullHD 75FPS (locked) on Ultra - GPU was around 60° / CPU hits at max the 70° but not more (GPU runs @900 undervolt with a Boost of max. 1915hz) and CPU runs with Turbo (3,8ghz) with -130v

So the new thermalpaste + undervolting works fine for me!

I have the Coolermaster U3 aswell. I initially thought the adjustable fans would be perfect but i was wrong. I might see a degree or two drop but thats it. Even with the internal fans at full. The red circled positions are too far to the left and right side for the U3 to even thoch. I dont even know if its pulling any air from the center vents. Im so close to pulling the trigger on the bottom case mod and then i will place the fan position directly under the newly made holes. If i could, I would swap the U3 for a single fan laptop cooler just to see the results.

Just checked. The left and right vents are obviously pulling air. the center vent with the 2 yellow circles is pulling air aswell. The top vent with the yellow and red circles does nothing...

[TornaD-oz]

telael85 wrote:
Hey again,

just a short question.

Does anyone use a Coolermaster U3 Coolpad? I can´t see any Differenz in "using" this or not using this? Temps will be the same with and without the Coolpad ...

On the pic you can see which positions i had tried

But as i said, it makes no Differenz.

Tried Wolfenstein New Colossus yesterday and the Temps are great now : FullHD 75FPS (locked) on Ultra - GPU was around 60° / CPU hits at max the 70° but not more (GPU runs @900 undervolt with a Boost of max. 1915hz) and CPU runs with Turbo (3,8ghz) with -130v

So the new thermalpaste + undervolting works fine for me!

I've had a cooling pad for a while, and didn't notice any differences in temps even after I made holes in it. May I inquire, what BIOS are you on? Mine ran Turbo without issue before 307 and now hits Power Limit. I'm not sure how to report this to ASUS. Never seen their representatives in these threads, don't have my warranty anymore after I drilled it to get a hold of temperatures.

I also wanted to add, that today it finally hit me, the harsh reality of what's going on. I've paid 6 month worth of my salary for this device and had to do so many mods just to get a somewhat above average performance out of it, it is completely insane...

[KalEl]

TornaD-oz wrote:
I've had a cooling pad for a while, and didn't notice any differences in temps even after I made holes in it. May I inquire, what BIOS are you on? Mine ran Turbo without issue before 307 and now hits Power Limit. I'm not sure how to report this to ASUS. Never seen their representatives in these threads, don't have my warranty anymore after I drilled it to get a hold of temperatures.

I also wanted to add, that today it finally hit me, the harsh reality of what's going on. I've paid 6 month worth of my salary for this device and had to do so many mods just to get a somewhat above average performance out of it, it is completely insane...

Well I did the whole thermal pad thing, and repaste with mx2 paste and thought it made a difference initially. However when firing up Metro 2033 I'm seeing 80s on both. On some older games I can see 65-70 with vsync on.I can only seem to get stable at -.110mv with intel xtu on my system. So I'm wondering if I should do the hole mod or just return the laptop. Even though I got this quite cheap I don't know if it can be saved. I might sell and get something else.

Not sure how to under volt the gpu. I am on bios 107 right now. I actually like this laptop though. The speakers are great, the form factor is great for on the go, the keyboard is great, and I don't really find the fans that bad even at load. The speakers seems to be good enough to carry over the fan sound. However going into the 80s on metro 2033 seems kind of crazy even with vsync on. However when I take vsync off the temps seem to stay the same. So maybe Metro doesn't care if it's on or off for some reason.

My issue is that in the future, when games get more demanding and cpu intensive, it's only going to get worse. I guess I need to test more games. Maybe Metro was an anomaly. Gonna see how fallout 3 and dying light do I guess.

[TornaD-oz]

KalEl wrote:
Not sure how to under volt the gpu. I am on bios 107 right now. I actually like this laptop though. The speakers are great, the form factor is great for on the go, the keyboard is great, and I don't really find the fans that bad even at load. The speakers seems to be good enough to carry over the fan sound. However going into the 80s on metro 2033 seems kind of crazy even with vsync on. However when I take vsync off the temps seem to stay the same. So maybe Metro doesn't care if it's on or off for some reason.

Hitting 80 on the GPU is within limits, but a little bit on the "hot" side. See the first post, Onjax described the GPU undervolt there, or consider a YouTube video.

I was thinking that before I got my Power Limit issues I also installed an "MEUpdate Hotfix" from the "Other" tab on GL702VS support page from ASUS web-site. Since "ME" stands for "Management Engine", it might as well be possible that the issue is not with BIOS, but with this update. This "Hotfix" launches a special app and updates the firmware on the motherboard, not a simple driver update and cannot be removed. None of you guys reported any issues with BIOS 307, but this update is stacked on a different tab so it's easy to miss. It would be a douche move by Intel but a fairly reasonable one to deal with thermal issues by limiting power - that leads to FPS drops every 15 minutes, removing the "gaming" from "gaming laptop".

Did any of you installed MEUpdate Hotfix from the support page? Did you notice any issues?