Fixing Acer Helios Overheating Issue.While gaming it jumps to 88c-92c then settles to 71c-77c

Rockwell_Helios16

Hi,

This is a follow-up post from my previous question regarding voiding warranty when re-pasting the i9-13900HX.

I have removed the liquid metal and found that the application was way too much liquid metal. Please see images below. There is also a poor application of liquid metal, where you can see blobs and bare spots on the die. I took my time and removed all of the liquid metal and applied Thermal Grizzly Extreme Kryonaut, as it is all I had on hand and knew worked very reliably.

With the new re-paste my Helios sits at 44c-51c on idle on the CPU which is a large improvement. However it still spikes to 90c at 1% usage. During gaming it somehow jumps to 88c-92c then settles to 71c-77c during gameplay, but in the menu of Halo Infinite and Battlefield 2042, it hits the 88c-92c.

I decided since my warranty was already void, might as well go further, and install Intel XTU and ThrottleStop. XTU is great for seeing the little details of boost frequency and seeing exactly when the CPU thermal throttles and power throttles. After disabling boost in ThrottleStop I witnessed something interesting. The CPU will sit at 2.2Ghz-2.3Ghz at 54c under 100% load. I could not undervolt or mess with power on this Acer, but i can disable boost, which gave me the best thermals I've seen yet. Yes, It does hurt CPU performance compared to it hitting 5.2Ghz, but it will do so at 90c.

During gameplay, I did not see any difference, as the games I played are not CPU heavy games, but fan noise was massively reduced. Please see images below of AcerSense, there is a 17c difference on the CPU with similar CPU usage. During normal day-to-day use, I didn't notice a performance difference with the boost disabled.

I am not a expert nor a professional but I think Acer needs to fix the i9 boosting issue. It is constantly trying to hit the 5Ghz+ mark and that requires heat, which the cooling system in this system is not able to handle. I did not do a large suite of tests, as I do not have those programs nor the time.

Acer did offer to redo the liquid metal application and it would of taken 5-7 business days. B&H refuses to accept a return due to their terrible policies. Due to me opening up the Helios 16 and redoing the liquid metal myself, I have voided my warranty and do not advise others to do so unless they know what they are doing and understand the risks. I do love this system but I know if Acer put a little more love into it, it can be a fantastic machine.

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[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

unclewebb

You can also try adjusting the Speed Shift Max value in the ThrottleStop TPL window. Instead of checking Disable Turbo and disabling all Intel Turbo Boost, try lowering the Speed Shift Max value and run as much turbo boost as you want. This is a more flexible way to balance power consumption and heat vs performance.

As you found, some games depend more on GPU MHz and not so much on CPU MHz.

Intel is good at making fast mobile CPUs but at full power, they are next to impossible to cool in something the size of a typical laptop. No one is interested in carry around 10+ pound laptops on their back.

Intel considers 90°C to be a normal operating temperature when playing games. I can understand wanting to reduce fan noise but at least you do not have to worry that you are going to hurt your CPU when running it at these temperatures. Intel CPUs can handle the heat more than your lap can.