Please Help Fix Predator 300 Helios Temperature Spikes after latest Win 11 update

Veor

My Predator 300 Helios has been running into serious overheating problems since I upgraded to Win 11 about a year ago. The Acer's local warranty service provider tells me the only option is to downgrade to Win 10 because the issue is caused by the Integrated UHD GPU being incompatible with the OS and Acer has not issued any Win 11 compatible drivers for my Predator 300 model (this is the 2019 version that came with Win 10). I've done the usual temp checks like cleaning the fan and reapplying thermal paste (which the shop did only last month!), but the problem persists. The temperatures are lower on battery BUT can spike. Details below.

So far, I've been using the laptop only minimally for gaming on the lowest settings because games cause the laptop to reach temperatures above 85C/185C . Since the Win 11 November 2023 update, the laptop reaches 86-90C/186-194F temps simply when starting up. Even using hardware acceleration on Chrome makes the temp go up to 90C/194F. Since the newest Win 11 update only days ago, I've been getting BSOD crash errors kind of randomly. I can't screen record using the Game Bar (like an MS Word doc, not a game) without the temperatures going to 90C/194F and the system crashing. Forget gaming because the system keeps crashing when loading the game. I even got a BSOD error when the PC auto updated.

The temperatures remain low when I run the laptop on battery. However, if I start using the game bar to record, for example, the fans start cranking up and temps go up to around 70C/158F, comes down a bit, then goes back up, etc. I've been draining the battery and recharging while working these past few days to avoid BSOD crashes. Essentially, I can't use the laptop as it is now and the IT repair shop keeps telling me to downgrade to Win 10. Considering Win 10 support is ending next year, is there any other possible solution?

I've upgraded all the drivers, Nvidia included, and I've installed all the recommended updates from Intel Driver Support Assistant. The drivers in the Acer page are all Win 10, so mine is up to date, except for the BIOS. I have the Insyde Corp V 1.12 BIOS but my system info says it is dated 7/28/2020 while the Acer site has the same version from 9/3/2020.

This is an absolute nightmare because I use this laptop for work and not just gaming and I have so many important things coming up next week. I would appreciate any help that would let me keep Win 11 and fix the heating issue, otherwise I have to buy a new computer next year :'(

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/700660/please-help-fix-predator-300-helios-temperature-spikes-after-latest-win-11-update

The 8th Gen cpu integrated graphics the Intel® UHD Graphics 630 is Win-11 compatible. According to the minimum system requirements specified by Microsoft, you need a graphics card that supports DirectX 12 or later with a WDDM 2.0 driver, and the Intel UHD Graphics 630 meets these criteria. However, it’s essential to consider other factors as well, when you install the Win-11 Intel UHD630 driver you need to do a clean install of this driver and delete all other Intel UHD 630 Intel drivers.

From what you have said, and all the updates and cleaning, repasting that you have done to your laptop (is it the PH315-52?) the cpu/gpu should perform at normal temps, especially with games, which you should also play through the NVidia GeForce Experience software settings. Note that the 8th Gen cpu/gpu die cast is set at 100°C and your laptop will shut down automatically if that temperature is reached.

I don't know what paste and thermal pads you use or if you have left the thermal pads oem that Acer fitted, as a proven gaming high temp cpu/gpu paste is to use the liquid metal paste with also replacing the VRAM chips with a graphite thermal pad (btw, I use Thermal Grizzly which is one of the best thermals around) so I suggest that you do the same, as liquid metal does reduce cpu/gpu laptop gaming temps in the range of 10-15°C cpu/gpu. Note and be careful with liquid metal, that applying too much liquid metal paste and if this paste spills under the cpu/gpu or onto the mainboard chips, this paste is conductive and will destroy the mainboard or the cpu/gpu, so be very careful. Try all this as you will find that your laptop will operate at a lower temp while gaming. Hope this helps you out and let us know how it worked out.

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