Is there anything I can do about my laptop's temperature?

[CallMeLeonidas]

I don't remember what the temperatures were back when I bought it (Acer Predator Triton 300 (not exactly the same GPU)[www.notebookcheck.net] in December 2020, but before I sent it to the major retail store's repair center in April 2023 my laptop would reach 92C on the GPU and 100C on the CPU and throttle constantly under heavy gaming (actually it even happens in L4D2, a game from 2009), with major FPS drops every few seconds, unless I turned on Turbo fans, which would not be enough to reach those good temperatures.

Now it's August 2023, and while those drops are rare, the temperatures still get hot without Turbo fans, and even with them it is still not enough to get it cool as in this video. I have no idea why my laptop gets so hot while playing L4D2 while others play much more demanding games with lower temperatures. I'm losing my patience right now, and I might have to sell it in exchange for a weaker PC with an upgrade later on.

Two days ago, a guy told me that the radiator might be the problem and I should take it to a repair center again. Do you think this will help? I couldn't exchange my laptop for his RTX 2070 PC because the former was too hot, so I can only sell it for less than half of its purchase price.

Thanks for suggestions.

[Overseer]

That depends on how the temps were when you got it.
You could open it and clean the dust. Maybe a significant amount of it blocks the air.
You can also do a repaste which can drop a couple degrees, depending on the state of the current one and what benefits a higher quality paste could bring.
Increased airflow through external means would also be an option. Or undervolting/underclocking which may decrease performance but yield better stable temps.

[CallMeLeonidas]

Overseer lähetti viestin:

That depends on how the temps were when you got it.
You could open it and clean the dust. Maybe a significant amount of it blocks the air.
You can also do a repaste which can drop a couple degrees, depending on the state of the current one and what benefits a higher quality paste could bring.
Increased airflow through external means would also be an option. Or undervolting/underclocking which may decrease performance but yield better stable temps.

The thing is I got this thing cleaned at a repair center four months ago, but considering how dusty my room is, this could be the problem. I've already tried undervolting/underclocking, but only the CPU's temperatures got lower, and that's only because I combined with disabling Turbo boost.

Ugh, I want to sell this laptop and get a proper PC or even a console that doesn't freaking overheat when playing a fourteen years old game.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Cap the FPS.
Undervolt the CPU and/or GPU

I used to sit Laptops on a small elevated grill that was basically meant for putting on bread or cookies on after they come out of the oven; so they can cool properly before you bag them. This grill elevated the laptop while allowing proper breathing room for the cooling/venting.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

The above suggestion is best: Try using the nvidia control panel to cap the GPU to 60 FPS and see if that helps your temps.

[CallMeLeonidas]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊 lähetti viestin:

The above suggestion is best: Try using the nvidia control panel to cap the GPU to 60 FPS and see if that helps your temps.

I already set it to 60 FPS, and it's been this way for months. My laptop still overheats when playing demanding games.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

I already set it to 60 FPS, and it's been this way for months. My laptop still overheats when playing demanding games.

Did you use something like the steam overlay FPS display, MSI Afterburner FPS display or something else to verify it is actually running limited to the 60 FPS that you set it to? You can also try to force vsync on but if you have a 120hz or 240hz panel in that thing then it wouldn't do anything.

Do you know what kind of screen is in it? Is it a 4K screen? 1440p screen?

[CallMeLeonidas]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊 lähetti viestin:

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

I already set it to 60 FPS, and it's been this way for months. My laptop still overheats when playing demanding games.

Did you use something like the steam overlay FPS display, MSI Afterburner FPS display or something else to verify it is actually running limited to the 60 FPS that you set it to? You can also try to force vsync on but if you have a 120hz or 240hz panel in that thing then it wouldn't do anything.

Do you know what kind of screen is in it? Is it a 4K screen? 1440p screen?

My laptop's screen is 1080p 120hz. The framerate graph is as smooth as a straight line when it is not dropping below 60 FPS.

Sorry for taking so long, my laptop actually froze completely when I undervolted my GPU too much, huh.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

My laptop's screen is 1080p 120hz. The framerate graph is as smooth as a straight line when it is not dropping below 60 FPS.

Sorry for taking so long, my laptop actually froze completely when I undervolted my GPU too much, huh.

That's Nvidia's protection system at work. Don't undervolt that far.

I'm not sure what to say there then. But in general laptops do run pretty hot. All components in laptops are designed to handle up to 100c easily. There's just not a lot you can do to get laptops cooler.

[CallMeLeonidas]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊 lähetti viestin:

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

My laptop's screen is 1080p 120hz. The framerate graph is as smooth as a straight line when it is not dropping below 60 FPS.

Sorry for taking so long, my laptop actually froze completely when I undervolted my GPU too much, huh.

That's Nvidia's protection system at work. Don't undervolt that far.

I'm not sure what to say there then. But in general laptops do run pretty hot. All components in laptops are designed to handle up to 100c easily. There's just not a lot you can do to get laptops cooler.

Do you mean that this laptop was designed to throttle? I should've known this back in 2020. I guess I will just sell it and get a proper PC or even an Xbox Series S. Don't want to deal with all that overheating stuff. Thanks for the help.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

Do you mean that this laptop was designed to throttle? I should've known this back in 2020. I guess I will just sell it and get a proper PC or even an Xbox Series S. Don't want to deal with all that overheating stuff. Thanks for the help.

I don't know if "Designed to throttle" is the correct term. But it is true that most laptops will run hot and thermal throttle. I think it's a problem with laptops in general. They advertise all this fancy hardware and video cards and everyone thinks it's great then they just sell it even if they know it has a poor thermal design that will throttle all the time and they just don't care. It sounded good and got you to spend money on it.

[CallMeLeonidas]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊 lähetti viestin:

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

Do you mean that this laptop was designed to throttle? I should've known this back in 2020. I guess I will just sell it and get a proper PC or even an Xbox Series S. Don't want to deal with all that overheating stuff. Thanks for the help.

I don't know if "Designed to throttle" is the correct term. But it is true that most laptops will run hot and thermal throttle. I think it's a problem with laptops in general. They advertise all this fancy hardware and video cards and everyone thinks it's great then they just sell it even if they know it has a poor thermal design that will throttle all the time and they just don't care. It sounded good and got you to spend money on it.

Well, thanks for the help once more. I will never buy a laptop again.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

Well, thanks for the help once more. I will never buy a laptop again.

I wouldn't say that. I would however suggest in the future that you spend time and search for internet reviews on youtube of a specific laptop model before you buy it. There are some with fantastic thermal designs that don't thermal throttle all the time. I think you just picked a poorly-designed model this time.

[CallMeLeonidas]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊 lähetti viestin:

Leonidas lähetti viestin:

Well, thanks for the help once more. I will never buy a laptop again.

I wouldn't say that. I would however suggest in the future that you spend time and search for internet reviews on youtube of a specific laptop model before you buy it. There are some with fantastic thermal designs that don't thermal throttle all the time. I think you just picked a poorly-designed model this time.

But the one that is similar to mine is reviewed on notebook-check.net, and its thermals are so good (around 86C under lengthy gaming), and there are videos of people gaming with laptops with the same GPU and similar CPU playing with less than 70C. I think I just got unlucky.

[_I_]

these style blowers work pretty good
https://www.amazon.com/IETS-Temperature-Side-Draft-Intelligent-Adjustable/dp/B07DND16MN/ref=asc_df_B07DND16MN/
they suck the air out of the exhaust vents

[CallMeLeonidas]

_I_ lähetti viestin:

these style blowers work pretty good
https://www.amazon.com/IETS-Temperature-Side-Draft-Intelligent-Adjustable/dp/B07DND16MN/ref=asc_df_B07DND16MN/
they suck the air out of the exhaust vents

Too bad they don't exist in my country, and I can't buy anything from Amazon because of sanctions, duh.