[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.

[pekkakana]

pekkakana wrote:

!!! UPDATE !!! my goal is achieved 🙂
All settings on default/stock only bottom case moification as presented on screen.
PUBG results: CPU@86C, GPU@79C max; achieved more than -10C during heavy load on full/maximum machine performance.

Heavy gaming during weekend (PUBG, HUNT, EscapeFT) - just few occasional thermal throttling accidents were registered (once per hour avg). IMHO, I only saw it in statistic but did not notice any influence from my user side: I did not experience any throttling side effects.


Temps were fine - CPU@86C max and GPU@79C max as earlier tests shown.

[FastM]

pekkakana wrote:
Heavy gaming during weekend (PUBG, HUNT, EscapeFT) - just few occasional thermal throttling accidents were registered (once per hour avg). IMHO, I only saw it in statistic but did not notice any influence from my user side: I did not experience any throttling side effects.


Temps were fine - CPU@86C max and GPU@79C max as earlier tests shown.

I understand your logic for wanting to keep things at default, but why not just undervolt a little? Personally im not comfortable letting the hardware heat up like that all th time. What scares me the most is the effect on the surrounding components, Not to mention you can get better performance out of the machine with undervolting applied..

[pekkakana]

FastM wrote:
I understand your logic for wanting to keep things at default, but why not just undervolt a little? Personally im not comfortable letting the hardware heat up like that all th time. What scares me the most is the effect on the surrounding components, Not to mention you can get better performance out of the machine with undervolting applied..

I will do some test with undervolting... previously having -125 my machine crashed a lot, stable was -110 but did not notice any significant changes to temperatures... will do some test maybe in future.

[revnja]

KalEl wrote:
Also would this affect my warranty?

It seems most people here order a second bottom casing to make modifications to, that way if they need warranty service they can just install the original casing before sending it off. If your case has been modified and Asus techs see that, I have no doubt they would deny warranty service.

[pekkakana]

revnja wrote:
It seems most people here order a second bottom casing to make modifications to, that way if they need warranty service they can just install the original casing before sending it off. If your case has been modified and Asus techs see that, I have no doubt they would deny warranty service.

case modification = warrant lose for sure; that’s why You should buy a replacement one then modify it and let original stay in the box in case of services

this is also my case, that’s why I’m bought extra bottom case for modification; it should be in days in my hands 🙂

IMHO, bottom case modification is THE BEST method to have full potential/performance while lowest temperatures, and its safe... just some $$$ for extra bottom case

stay tuned

[JArias]

While we are on the topic of ordering a second bottom case, Has anyone ordered from https://www.asus-accessories.com? Just trying to see if they are legit before placing my order.

[pppttl]

JArias wrote:
While we are on the topic of ordering a second bottom case, Has anyone ordered from https://www.asus-accessories.com? Just trying to see if they are legit before placing my order.

Personally I haven't ordered a bottom cover yet, but earlier on this forum someone recommended this site.

Last week I brought my GL702VM to the official Asus repair shop, to repaste the CPU and GPU with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut without voiding the warranty. It made a huge difference.

AC origins, geforce optimized settings, cpu uv -130mV, turbo off when gaming, onjax profile 3, notebook fan control on:
Before: CPU: 80C, GPU: 83C
After: CPU: 70C, GPU: 74C

You might not be as lucky as I was, because the technician said, that the previous (factory) paste application was very poor, but it's worth a try.

Furthermore, these temps are after a good long session. It is even cooler in the first 30 minutes.

As benchmarks have shown, disabling turbo doesn't affect gaming performance at all. I have bidden CTRL+F12 to disable turbo with throttle stop, and CRTL+F11 for enabling it.

With these settings i am comfortably gaming in the low 70C-s without loosing performance. Before ordering a second bottom panel, try repasting.

[praky]

pekkakana wrote:
case modification = warrant lose for sure; that’s why You should buy a replacement one then modify it and let original stay in the box in case of services

this is also my case, that’s why I’m bought extra bottom case for modification; it should be in days in my hands 🙂

IMHO, bottom case modification is THE BEST method to have full potential/performance while lowest temperatures, and its safe... just some $$$ for extra bottom case

stay tuned

From where can I order one?

Never mind found one mention, **** that is pricey and they dont deliver to India anyway.

[Catalinapcv]

Hi everyone, new here. Guess why? Yep, I bought my GL703VM during December sales. It was a good offer so I didn't even stop to read reviews and here I am. Sadly, I didn't have enough time to try it out before. Although I believe I can return it until Jan 31th (5 more days), your solutions gave me hope. Because, besides from the heating this thing is really good (Am I wrong? Please tell me I am not...). Anyway, I bought the Opolar and I saw a significant drop on temperature, but I am worried about my screen. I have tried different positions for it, but I just cannot seem to reach a 90º position and the extractor is already pushing against it. Have any of you had this problem? I think the design on the GL703VM is slightly different to the GL702VM. Any suggestions? I haven't glued the permanent plastic thing of the opolar yet because I am still struggling over whether to keep the laptop or not. It's my first gamer laptop, and I am expecting it to last for a while, but I don't think I will be able to find another with this specs for the same price...

Gatoxico wrote:
I just did it, just missing some little cosmetic details.
They were not perfectly centered because previously I had drilled holes and they did not stay very well centered.
greetings from Chile.

Weeenaaaa, de que parte de Chile? Y de pura copuchenta, te compraste en Chile el note o afuera? Te salio muy caro? Te quedo piola el arreglo.

[TornaD-oz]

Catalinapcv wrote:
Hi everyone, new here. Guess why? Yep, I bought my GL703VM during December sales. It was a good offer so I didn't even stop to read reviews and here I am. Sadly, I didn't have enough time to try it out before. Although I believe I can return it until Jan 31th (5 more days), your solutions gave me hope. Because, besides from the heating this thing is really good (Am I wrong? Please tell me I am not...). Anyway, I bought the Opolar and I saw a significant drop on temperature, but I am worried about my screen. I have tried different positions for it, but I just cannot seem to reach a 90º position and the extractor is already pushing against it. Have any of you had this problem? I think the design on the GL703VM is slightly different to the GL702VM. Any suggestions? I haven't glued the permanent plastic thing of the opolar yet because I am still struggling over whether to keep the laptop or not. It's my first gamer laptop, and I am expecting it to last for a while, but I don't think I will be able to find another with this specs for the same price...

GL702VS here. Got a wake up call when I saw 99 C in PUBG. Since you mentioned Opolar, I wanted to share my experience with similar stuff. Bought two of these babies:
http://s.aliexpress.com/Nja6reiE?fromSns as per recommendation by one of the posters on this topic, attached them, confirmed, that the hot air is going through them. I undervolted CPU + GPU, so by stress-testing the lappy in Intel Extreme Utility + FurMark, without vacuum-coolers I had 96 C tops, thermal throttling, with vacuum-coolers set on max RPM: 96 C tops, thermal throttling. Yep, they make zero difference on my machine. Tried all possible positions with them, still no difference in temps. The vacuum-coolers themselves are horrendous - they make very loud noise, that can be heard even from the other room. To make matters worse, one of them has a high-pitched buzzing. I wasted money on the device that I would not even be able to send back.

I really love this laptop, so I gave it another chance and tried to run it without back cover. CPU maxed at 85 C, no throttling. Guess I'll try to repaste it and then bite the bullet and drill the holes. Don't believe in Russian ASUS warranty much, so I'd rather take my chances and fix the cooling.