Is it okay for my laptop's CPU to run at 100°C when in Extreme mode?

Hi. I have a PH317-55 (i7 1180H, RTX3060) which I absolutely love. It has good performance and I like the looks of the laptop a lot.

One issue that I have is that I have always wanted to use the built-in PredatorSense software and use its potential, but whenever I designate the Extreme mode for a game, it will overclock the CPU and GPU which will result in my CPU to run at 100°C almost all the time that I am in the game. I did some research online and it seems that is not a big deal and that shouldn't be a problem, but I would like to hear back from other people who have similar laptops than mine to make sure.

I have also been considering re-pasting my laptop's CPU and GPU thermal paste, but does doing that void the warranty? I am NOT going to use liquid metal because it is very risky due to it being electrically conductive, but will use a thermal paste like Kryonaut.

As a reference, I have attached 2 pictures. The 1st one is the game in default mode and with CPU limited to 99% processor power through the windows power options. The 2nd picture is in Extreme mode and normal CPU power at 100%. As you can see, I get couple of FPS gains using the Extreme mode, but the CPU hits 100°C all the time.

Thanks.

Accepted answers

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/671445/is-it-okay-for-my-laptops-cpu-to-run-at-100-c-when-in-extreme-mode

A 100°C cpu temp is a critical temp, and you should not be allowing this laptop to those temps at any time. The Core i7-11800H should sit ideally at 88*C max in a 28*C ambient room for normal gaming and anything above that should only be reached monetarily or not at all for great amounts of time, as it will greatly affect the cpu's lifespan.

With the repasting of your new laptops cpu/gpu, this is an extensive job and needs allot of your laptops components to be removed, like the back cover and its 11 screws, I would also disconnect the main battery, and remove both fans and then the heatsink, if you don't have experience in disassembling laptops "I wouldn't attempt doing this job" as and if anything goes wrong or you damage any other of your laptops components, then the warranty wil be voided.

Repasting the cpu/gpu with a high end conventional paste will not reduce the "Extreme mode setting temps" of your cpu/gpu in any way, as a normal thermal paste isn’t as good a conductor of heat as a liquid metal paste, therefore using liquid metal for builds which you expect to be overheating and need the best results, you’d be better off choosing a liquid metal paste that provides up to 73 W/(mK) thermal conductivity which is much higher than the 0.5-12.5 W/(mK) thermal conductivity provided by conventional thermal pastes.

A liquid metal can reduce temps by as much a 20°C, also, liquid metal, is much more difficult to apply (as its conductive and dangerous if spilled onto mobo components) and needs to be brushed on very carefully which can be critical and should only be used by experts that know how to apply this paste correctly, onto laptops/desktops that will generate high temps to do graphics, video, gaming and other computationally intensive tasks, as a gallium or even indium pastes can be a good investment "its Up To You"?

If you don't want to use liquid metal paste, with the Extreme mode setting your only option for a laptop (and to mod it in anyway) is to revert to a very efficient cooling tablet system (which you can either buy or better still, make one up yourself) as a laptop is not a desktop where reducing case/cpu or gpu temps, is as easy as to upgrade with a superior dry cpu thermal/fan cooling system or an AIO or a kit water cooling setup, which are not available as kit yet for laptops. Good luck and hope this guide helps you out.

All comments

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/671445/is-it-okay-for-my-laptops-cpu-to-run-at-100-c-when-in-extreme-mode

A 100°C cpu temp is a critical temp, and you should not be allowing this laptop to those temps at any time. The Core i7-11800H should sit ideally at 88*C max in a 28*C ambient room for normal gaming and anything above that should only be reached monetarily or not at all for great amounts of time, as it will greatly affect the cpu's lifespan.

With the repasting of your new laptops cpu/gpu, this is an extensive job and needs allot of your laptops components to be removed, like the back cover and its 11 screws, I would also disconnect the main battery, and remove both fans and then the heatsink, if you don't have experience in disassembling laptops "I wouldn't attempt doing this job" as and if anything goes wrong or you damage any other of your laptops components, then the warranty wil be voided.

Repasting the cpu/gpu with a high end conventional paste will not reduce the "Extreme mode setting temps" of your cpu/gpu in any way, as a normal thermal paste isn’t as good a conductor of heat as a liquid metal paste, therefore using liquid metal for builds which you expect to be overheating and need the best results, you’d be better off choosing a liquid metal paste that provides up to 73 W/(mK) thermal conductivity which is much higher than the 0.5-12.5 W/(mK) thermal conductivity provided by conventional thermal pastes.

A liquid metal can reduce temps by as much a 20°C, also, liquid metal, is much more difficult to apply (as its conductive and dangerous if spilled onto mobo components) and needs to be brushed on very carefully which can be critical and should only be used by experts that know how to apply this paste correctly, onto laptops/desktops that will generate high temps to do graphics, video, gaming and other computationally intensive tasks, as a gallium or even indium pastes can be a good investment "its Up To You"?

If you don't want to use liquid metal paste, with the Extreme mode setting your only option for a laptop (and to mod it in anyway) is to revert to a very efficient cooling tablet system (which you can either buy or better still, make one up yourself) as a laptop is not a desktop where reducing case/cpu or gpu temps, is as easy as to upgrade with a superior dry cpu thermal/fan cooling system or an AIO or a kit water cooling setup, which are not available as kit yet for laptops. Good luck and hope this guide helps you out.

Alijoh

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1147318#Comment_1147318

Thanks a lot for the lengthily reply. I must say I agree with most of your response, but after I left the question here, I did more research and think that running laptop CPU at 100C should be really a huge problem. Have a look at the below link for an example.

As for re-pasting the laptop cooling system, I should say that I can say I know how to open my laptop as I have already done adding a 2nd SSD and an HDD to it. But I know dissembling the cooling system is more tricky, and fear that might be more difficult than simply undoing some screws. There are fan wires, thermal pads of the VRAM components, etc.

I don't feel safe to apply Liquid Metal to my laptop at all. Not just because of its electrical conductivity, but also because I saw some videos that showed how after some time the LM attaches to the copper of the cold plate and have a chemical fusion with it.

At this point I think my only option is to not use the Extreme mode of the laptop because it does not provide any meaningful performance gains but causes the CPU to hit 100C all the time. Which is a shame because I really like my laptop and liked to use its potentials as much as possible. What's the point if my laptop has the PredatorSense extreme/turbo modes but I can't use it?!