[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.

[Kompensan]

Zandor84 wrote:
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)

Thank you! It actually worked with me as well. 75/78ºC with BF1 in ULTRA.

Well done!!

[Zandor84]

Kompensan wrote:
Thank you! It actually worked with me as well. 75/78ºC with BF1 in ULTRA.

Well done!!

Happy to help 🙂 !

[Dassh]

Works really well for me aswell 🙂 Was so suprised when i checked MSI afterburner after 2 hours of gaming, 78 C at CS GO.
Gonna try out BF1 and BF4 today.

[EpicMomo]

So basically our fans will be at a 100% all the time? or will they only get to 100% when we start a game?
Is there a chance that if they are working at a 100% they might break sooner?

Im pretty new with this stuff, im wondering. Also massive thanks to zandor for a new solution

[Dassh]

EpicMomo wrote:
So basically our fans will be at a 100% all the time? or will they only get to 100% when we start a game?
Is there a chance that if they are working at a 100% they might break sooner?

Im pretty new with this stuff, im wondering. Also massive thanks to zandor for a new solution

Yeah the fans will get worn much faster with a possibility to break down. But if that happens you can send it for repair.

[Zandor84]

EpicMomo wrote:
So basically our fans will be at a 100% all the time? or will they only get to 100% when we start a game?
Is there a chance that if they are working at a 100% they might break sooner?

Im pretty new with this stuff, im wondering. Also massive thanks to zandor for a new solution

Yeah the fans might work a bit more frequently and spin at 100% for longer then on factory settings, but I don't think it will cause an issue (certainly less of a problem then frying your CPU/GPU to a crisp due to constant extremely high temps). If you use the xml that I linked to in my earlier post the fans should only spin up when they need to. Not when Idle, or browsing, or watching movies etc. My .xml on the other hand might not be the best, at this point, but it's a start

Feel free to further tweak the temp zones within NBFC to your liking and post your best .xml here so others can benefit too.

Dash is right in saying that if your fans do wear out within the 2 year warranty period, they will be changed without charge. On top of this I don't think the fans are that expensive anyway...

Here is the link again to my custom NBFC - GL702VM.xml:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dty23nh7gffxr4p/AAAMm559SG3x24pr-geOHE3ka?dl=0

[Appuru]

Zandor84 wrote:
Yeah the fans might work a bit more frequently and spin at 100% for longer then on factory settings, but I don't think it will cause an issue (certainly less of a problem then frying your CPU/GPU to a crisp due to constant extremely high temps). If you use the xml that I linked to in my earlier post the fans should only spin up when they need to. Not when Idle, or browsing, or watching movies etc. My .xml on the other hand might not be the best, at this point, but it's a start

Feel free to further tweak the temp zones within NBFC to your liking and post your best .xml here so others can benefit too.

Dash is right in saying that if your fans do wear out within the 2 year warranty period, they will be changed without charge. On top of this I don't think the fans are that expensive anyway...

Here is the link again to my custom NBFC - GL702VM.xml:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dty23nh7gffxr4p/AAAMm559SG3x24pr-geOHE3ka?dl=0

thanks for your work so far, the temperatures really look a lot better with your profile 🙂
A new (original) CPU fan currently costs ~45€ here in Germany 😕 since I didn't want to send my new notebook in for RMA for something I can exchange myself I'd rather spent the money than having no notebook for 7+ days. (the time between the order and the arrival of the fan was about 2 months, definitely wouldn't recommend that ^^')
What I noticed now was that with your settings my CPU fan keeps spinning on and off when set at "12.5%". I changed the line in your xml to 25% now instead which is hardly any louder and definitely less annoying since the on/off-part doesn't happen. Idk if it's only for m e since I already had problems with the fan before, but just wanted to share.

[Ymzuki]

Appuru wrote:
thanks for your work so far, the temperatures really look a lot better with your profile 🙂
A new (original) CPU fan currently costs ~45€ here in Germany 😕 since I didn't want to send my new notebook in for RMA for something I can exchange myself I'd rather spent the money than having no notebook for 7+ days. (the time between the order and the arrival of the fan was about 2 months, definitely wouldn't recommend that ^^')
What I noticed now was that with your settings my CPU fan keeps spinning on and off when set at "12.5%". I changed the line in your xml to 25% now instead which is hardly any louder and definitely less annoying since the on/off-part doesn't happen. Idk if it's only for m e since I already had problems with the fan before, but just wanted to share.

Didn't help me, even if i change fan speeds to 100% then run some stress test CPU+ GPU, the temps would stay lower than usual for a few minutes, but after that i would see again the 95C+ on CPU even with -0.15 undervolt. No problems with GPU temps, 72-78 and sometimes 80C with prime95+ furmark.

Considering changing the heatsink.

[Zandor84]

Ymzuki wrote:
Didn't help me, even if i change fan speeds to 100% then run some stress test CPU+ GPU, the temps would stay lower than usual for a few minutes, but after that i would see again the 95C+ on CPU even with -0.15 undervolt. No problems with GPU temps, 72-78 and sometimes 80C with prime95+ furmark.

Considering changing the heatsink.

Hi there, I would suggest that you get it checked out, cause under no circumstances should the CPU (especially after under-volting) be higher temp then GPU if both of them are loaded equally. However Furmark doesn't necessarily load a GTX 1060 to the point of triggering the highest clock speeds. Try Kombustor 3, "Plasma - 1M particle" test on 8xMSAA at 1080p windowed to see higher clock speeds whilst testing... If you still get 80-ish C on GPU and 90+ on CPU then you certainly need to take it in for service.

[EpicMomo]

The solution is awesome my gpu stays around the 75c when im gaming in max settings but i still hate i get around 65c just from normal browsing and using illustrator/photoshop in a 27c room.
Also taking my computer to repair isn't the best idea for me since i bought this notebook when i was in USA and now im back in Honduras, the warranty doesn't cover latin america to make it worse.

I really dont like it my gpu is always around the 60c everyday, even when i undervolted.
My cpu runs around the 51-55c at least.