Why is my Helios 300 running so hot?

whosjeebus

My Acer Predator Helios 300 is all of one day out of the box, and the fans are almost constantly running high. If I'm doing absolutely nothing, just internet browsing, the fans will kick into high gear only occasionally, and they manage to keep the laptop cool. But any game I play, even a measly DirectX 10 casual game, the fans run at high speed constantly, really hot air belches out all the vents (also constantly), and the keyboard (and the metal above the keyboard especially) are uncomfortably hot to touch. The Predator Sense specs and the data from Open Hardware Monitor seem to support my suspicion that it's getting way too hot for the load it's under. Is this computer faulty? 

Sumanth

In all honesty.. I don't actually see anything wrong, but I'll keep my thoughts open.
I have a lower tier hardware in the same chassis i5 9300H + GTX 1660Ti. 
I used to get sorta similar temps (maybe a lil lower) when I'm not using the turbo profile.
I think it's just how the laptop handles the heat on auto fan mode. (Laptops usually tend to run quite a bit hotter than desktops, the predator and other high end series in specific).
I think it'll be better if you try to run a game/benchmark which can push the hardware to the limits, that way you'll be able to see if there's any problem (would thermal throttle).

I've also researched quite a bit about the stock thermal paste used in the Helios 300, people usually claim to get a significant difference in temperature by re-pasting with a better compound (along with cleaning the fans, which I wouldn't be bothered with as your machine is new).

Sumanth

Have you checked if anything's running in the background using task manager? 
See any application that's using a lot of resources?
Also if you are using chrome, disabling hardware acceleration might be helpful, but with the hardware you have, it shouldn't be a problem.
Are the above screenshots taken while browsing the internet or while gaming? If gaming, which one?
Cool Boost is turned on, which means the fans will be more sensitive to load and try to go higher than average in speed when it detects the same. Which explains the frequent ups and downs in fan speeds. 

whosjeebus

Thank you for your reply, Sumanth.

The laptop is brand new, so what is running in the background is what came pre-loaded on it direct from Acer, with the exception of Dropbox (which I disable on startup out of habit, if I don't plan to use it), downloaded Chrome to use as my default browser, removed the 30 day Norton Ultra trial that came pre-installed, and added Steam with a couple of games to try out. I've included a screenshot of everything going in task manager at the moment, replicating what I was using at the time of the previous screenshots. Nothing seems to be using up a ton of resources to my eyes, but another pair of eyes are welcome to take a look and give an opinion.

I have now disabled hardware accereration, and disallowed Chrome to run in the background when closed. The previous screenshots were taken while I was using Chrome with 2 tabs open and 3 Chrome extensions enabled (2 adblockers and Google Sheets), Predator Sense, Open Hardware Monitor, Steam, and a Steam game called House Flipper, which I was running with low settings, and in DirectX 10 mode (it normally uses 11 and 12). Also, I have disabled all keyboard backlights. I can't find anything that I would label as 'the culprit'.

As far as CoolBoost goes, I've had the same problems with it on as I have had when it is off. I know that it adds 200-400 rpm to the fans, but that's honestly a drop in the bucket with how hot this machine gets under not very much load.

Today's screenshots, same setup, except the changes I made to Chrome:

Sumanth

In all honesty.. I don't actually see anything wrong, but I'll keep my thoughts open.
I have a lower tier hardware in the same chassis i5 9300H + GTX 1660Ti. 
I used to get sorta similar temps (maybe a lil lower) when I'm not using the turbo profile.
I think it's just how the laptop handles the heat on auto fan mode. (Laptops usually tend to run quite a bit hotter than desktops, the predator and other high end series in specific).
I think it'll be better if you try to run a game/benchmark which can push the hardware to the limits, that way you'll be able to see if there's any problem (would thermal throttle).

I've also researched quite a bit about the stock thermal paste used in the Helios 300, people usually claim to get a significant difference in temperature by re-pasting with a better compound (along with cleaning the fans, which I wouldn't be bothered with as your machine is new).

whosjeebus

I think I may just be spoiled by the last gaming laptop I bought (Asus G72GX-RBBX05), which only got hot and had fans kick into overdrive when it was REALLY struggling, and/or the fans were badly in need of cleaning. The performance was significantly impacted when that would happen, too. My old laptop was huge, though. More of a desktop replacement than a portable machine, so maybe it cooled more efficiently than the smaller design of the Helios 300.

In the time since getting the Asus, I purchased a desktop for the majority of my gaming, and also a really pitiful i3 integrated graphics POS laptop on the cheap for travel and school. The Helios is my big new splurge, but I think the way it operates is going to take some getting used to. I've bought a cooling fan for underneath, and I'm definitely going to try replacing the thermal paste, as doing that helped out my desktop when it was having some heat issues in the recent past. I'm also looking into maybe a fan that attaches to the side vent to draw out hot air, and a number of ppl have suggested doing a clean windows install to get rid of unnecessary junk that Acer throws in there. Undervolting is something else that has been suggested, and once I figure out what that is and decide if it will help, I may give that a try, too.

Regardless, thank you for your help and suggestions, and I will try in the future not to be so alarmed at the temps I'm getting, and the scary-loud fan noise. :-)  

Sumanth

whosjeebus said:

I think I may just be spoiled by the last gaming laptop I bought (Asus G72GX-RBBX05), which only got hot and had fans kick into overdrive when it was REALLY struggling, and/or the fans were badly in need of cleaning. The performance was significantly impacted when that would happen, too. My old laptop was huge, though. More of a desktop replacement than a portable machine, so maybe it cooled more efficiently than the smaller design of the Helios 300.

In the time since getting the Asus, I purchased a desktop for the majority of my gaming, and also a really pitiful i3 integrated graphics POS laptop on the cheap for travel and school. The Helios is my big new splurge, but I think the way it operates is going to take some getting used to. I've bought a cooling fan for underneath, and I'm definitely going to try replacing the thermal paste, as doing that helped out my desktop when it was having some heat issues in the recent past. I'm also looking into maybe a fan that attaches to the side vent to draw out hot air, and a number of ppl have suggested doing a clean windows install to get rid of unnecessary junk that Acer throws in there. Undervolting is something else that has been suggested, and once I figure out what that is and decide if it will help, I may give that a try, too.

Regardless, thank you for your help and suggestions, and I will try in the future not to be so alarmed at the temps I'm getting, and the scary-loud fan noise. :-)  

Happy to share my thoughts!
Yes, definitely give undervolting a shot (use throttlestop, not XTU) , perfectly safe if you do it right, something which you can do in a couple of minutes rather than taking the machine apart (don't wanna void warranty now do ya, but definitely do that after like 6 months, cause mine totally clogged right now).
 If you raise the back end of the laptop an inch or two off a hard surface, it can actually give decent cooling.
Have a nice day!

Sumanth

I would also recommend you to try this out:
Change power options from "Acer" to "Balanced (recommended).
This will stop pinning the cores to max frequency and allows the CPU to downclock when its not being totally used.
Peak temps will still be the same, AVG temps can decrease.
After undervolting, use the slider in battery options, from "best performance" to "battery life" or in between.
This does the same thing, combination of these two with undervolting could be helpful.