Does anyone know if this Acer Predator 17 CPU normally runs kinda toasty?

DraxPraetor

I have this Acer Predator 17, "Acer Predator 17 G9-793-79VS 17.3" Gaming Laptop Computer - Black; Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor 2.8GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5; 16GB DDR4-2400 RAM; 256GB SSD (RAID 0)+1TB HDD"

I got from Microcenter on Black Friday couple of months ago.

For some reason the Temperature of the CPU when gaming is between 94 to 98 Celsius. I am also using a $20 laptop cooler as well.
There is nothing wrong with it as it can game and suffers no stuttering or anything like it and gameplay is pretty much smooth on Ultra Settings.

I tested it with Battlefield 1 and Assassins Creed Origins and usually tops at 98C.

Couple of hours ago I have taken it apart and replaced the Thermal Paste that was in there already with this, StarTech 1.5g Metal Oxide Thermal CPU Paste Compound.

Now I have tested it again playing for a couple of hours and it still in the 94 to 98 Celsius for the CPU, while the GPU normally never goes above 70 Celsius.

Is it really bad for it to have that much temperature for a mobile CPU while gaming? Because I have been playing on it for the past month and have run into no problems at all.
But the CPU temperature is kinda high as a lot of people on Tomshardware and Quora has told me.
So the only thing left is maybe undervolt the CPU, but as I said there are no problems when gaming just the High Temperature.

Skelomorph

Addon: Metal Thermals are BETTER at transferring heat by 2-3C, but I would not advise anyone to use them because of the difficulties that arise if you would need to replace it again.

With the limits that Intel has on it, it will turn off before any damage occurs. However, heat is the main opponent of tech hardware and will decrease the life and performance of the laptop. They can run that hot, but not ever recommended.

When you repasted, how much did you use (should of been almost a grain of rice or smaller)? I have never used StarTech Thermal Paste, I always use Arctic non-metal thermal paste such as MX-4 (I previously used Silver 5, but it is conductive so I used the newer MX-4). Metal thermal pastes, once used, can't really be replaced again because the metal thermal paste will scratch the CPU (metal thermal pastes are gritty). 

As you said, you can do undervolting, but I wouldn't try repasting again now that you have used a metal based thermal paste. You could also try disabling Turbo Boost using ThrottleStop (Will decrease temps, but IDK how much it will decrease performance).

Skelo

DraxPraetor

Thanks. I think I will try and go for undervolting with XTU. Im actually going to do that now.

Queen6

I'm also looking a undervolting the CPU on a G9 793, with either Intel XTU or ThrottleStop, however when looking at the system the XTU service is already running as part of Acer's base install. I'm wondering if this is just an aspect of Acer's default SW image encompassing the 17X with OC  CPU, as there seems no obvious connection to the 7700HQ of the standard Predator 17.

Personally I'd like to try ThrottleStop as previously with other notebooks XTU has frequently failed to retain the undervolt settings. So very interested in results of undervolting with both ThrottleStop & XTU on the G9 793.

Gaming temperature's so far are ok, I did turn on CoolerBoost (Acer Quick Access) as this increases fan RPM's and seems to be more aggressive which made a repeatable difference when running Metro Last Light Redux benchmark (Max settings CPU averages 84C after 12 iterations, 32 minutes of running the bench test solidly).  CPU can spike to the low 90's and generally averages out at around the high 70's (3 hours+ Crysis at max settings & config tweaks).

Skelomorph

Queen6 said:

I'm also looking a undervolting the CPU on a G9 793, with either Intel XTU or ThrottleStop, however when looking at the system the XTU service is already running as part of Acer's base install. I'm wondering if this is just an aspect of Acer's default SW image encompassing the 17X with OC  CPU, as there seems no obvious connection to the 7700HQ of the standard Predator 17.

Personally I'd like to try ThrottleStop as previously with other notebooks XTU has frequently failed to retain the undervolt settings. So very interested in results of undervolting with both ThrottleStop & XTU on the G9 793.

Gaming temperature's so far are ok, I did turn on CoolerBoost (Acer Quick Access) as this increases fan RPM's and seems to be more aggressive which made a repeatable difference when running Metro Last Light Redux benchmark (Max settings CPU averages 84C after 12 iterations, 32 minutes of running the bench test solidly).  CPU can spike to the low 90's and generally averages out at around the high 70's (3 hours+ Crysis at max settings & config tweaks).

Intel Extreme Tuning Utility is included with PredatorSense, but I have downloaded it manually, and use ThrottleStop to undervolt which seems to stick. It shows the undervolt in both ThrottleStop and Intel XTU.

Skelo

Queen6

Thx, that's what I figured, which make come back round to XTU.  Did you reduce the Core & Cache voltages with solely XTU and were the values persistent?  My previous MSI notebook I was able to undervolt the CPU by -140mV without effecting stability.  Would be looking at starting at -100mV with the Predator 17.

As the XTU service is running by default it seems expedient to DL the full XTU App, equally I'm not wanting to effect or destabilise the system as gaming is not it's primary role.  ThrottleStop appeals as it simply an App with no impact on the BIOS or services, however running both ThrottleStop & XTU is generally not recommended.  In this case I believe XTU is just reporting default values being tied to PredatorSense to maintain OC values for the CPU.  Right now I'm considering either disabling the XTU service and going with ThrottleStop or Intel's full XTU...

Q-6

Queen6

Following up and after a good deal of testing on my G9 793 i7 7700HQ , GTX 1070, 32Gb  Ram with Prime95:

CPU stable down to -140mV
System locks up at -150mV
No thermal throttling at -128mV over sustained testing all CPU cores at max frequency.

Opted for Core & Cache voltage offset of -128mV as this offers a good reduction in overall CPU temperature, even under massive sustained synthetic load no thermal throttling.  Set profiles for Performance and Battery with only difference of disabling Turbo Boost on battery to help extend the runtime.

Intel XTU service I left as the default delayed start, equally with the 7700HQ I strongly suspect disabling the service will have no effect.  As per guides if wanting to auto start ThrottleStop best to delay 20-30 seconds or more.

CoolBoost on and Frost Core installed

Q-6