Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-51 i5-8300H CPU runs very hot

dwyde · June 2019

Hello guys,

I am writing this question due to my CPU, that is running very hot, around 97 Celsius degrees even with undervolt at -150mV. The temperature in the room is around 28, maybe 28.5 Celsius degrees. Yesterday I even got some thermal throttling while playing PUBG. I do not have any issues with the GPU temperatures, which are around 76-85 degrees.
I have also tried to use the Balanced power plan and to limit the CPU power at 99%. Unfortunately, Windows was not deducing the right amount of CPU power and it was limiting it to 2.19 GHz, which is under the base clock of the processor, but keeping cool it at most 77 degrees.

Could you please give me some advice?

AlpineTom · June 2019

You also have a "custom" setting in PredatorSense, which is perfect for finding balance between better cooling and not being deafeningly loud. Try settings of 3,500 to 5,000 RPM depending on the game and how loud you can bear. This is basically setting the minimum RPMs, meaning that the fans will not spin down below that threshold unless the temperature drops below ~38°C; if the laptop needs even higher cooling, the fans will (temporarily) spin up.

Also, it's more or less normal for temperatures to spike up into even the high 90s. Those spikes are not an issue, and they keep happening even when the fans are at max, although they spikes might not be quite as high (can still be in the 90s, though).

Edit: Also, increase BOTH fans equally, not just the CPU's. Even if the GPU isn't being taxed (as) much, the CPU and GPU share heat-pipes, so increasing the GPU fan speed also cools the CPU, and vice versa.

dwyde · June 2019

I usually game on Auto Fan mode in PredatorSense. Today I tried to game with fans at maximum speed and voila, temperatures between 73 and 77 degrees.
Is this the best way possible? The laptop is very loud while using the fans at maximum speed...

AlpineTom · June 2019

You also have a "custom" setting in PredatorSense, which is perfect for finding balance between better cooling and not being deafeningly loud. Try settings of 3,500 to 5,000 RPM depending on the game and how loud you can bear. This is basically setting the minimum RPMs, meaning that the fans will not spin down below that threshold unless the temperature drops below ~38°C; if the laptop needs even higher cooling, the fans will (temporarily) spin up.

Also, it's more or less normal for temperatures to spike up into even the high 90s. Those spikes are not an issue, and they keep happening even when the fans are at max, although they spikes might not be quite as high (can still be in the 90s, though).

Edit: Also, increase BOTH fans equally, not just the CPU's. Even if the GPU isn't being taxed (as) much, the CPU and GPU share heat-pipes, so increasing the GPU fan speed also cools the CPU, and vice versa.

xapim · June 2019

dwyde i suggest replace your thermal paste and clean fans/exit airflow while your at it either you or ask acer support in your country to do it in case you can void your warranty while doing it yourself

Triparadox · June 2019

1. Get a better thermal paste (one with high W/mK rate)
2. Get the thermal pads changed
3. Clean the fan exhausts
4. Undervolt the CPU
5. Tune the GPU

dwyde · June 2019

xapim said:

dwyde i suggest replace your thermal paste and clean fans/exit airflow while your at it either you or ask acer support in your country to do it in case you can void your warranty while doing it yourself

I do not find this okay as the laptop is just 4 months old...

dwyde · June 2019

Triparadox said:

1. Get a better thermal paste (one with high W/mK rate)
2. Get the thermal pads changed
3. Clean the fan exhausts
4. Undervolt the CPU
5. Tune the GPU

I can not get a better thermal paste and thermal pads without voiding my warranty. The fans shouldn't be that dirty as the laptop is 4 months old. The CPU is already undervolted by -0.150 and so is the cache.
The GPU is cooled fine, around 60-70 degrees.

dwyde · June 2019

AlpineTom said:

You also have a "custom" setting in PredatorSense, which is perfect for finding balance between better cooling and not being deafeningly loud. Try settings of 3,500 to 5,000 RPM depending on the game and how loud you can bear. This is basically setting the minimum RPMs, meaning that the fans will not spin down below that threshold unless the temperature drops below ~38°C; if the laptop needs even higher cooling, the fans will (temporarily) spin up.

Also, it's more or less normal for temperatures to spike up into even the high 90s. Those spikes are not an issue, and they keep happening even when the fans are at max, although they spikes might not be quite as high (can still be in the 90s, though).

Edit: Also, increase BOTH fans equally, not just the CPU's. Even if the GPU isn't being taxed (as) much, the CPU and GPU share heat-pipes, so increasing the GPU fan speed also cools the CPU, and vice versa.

This is what I did, I use custom with the fans spinning around 5.6k at both CPU and GPU and the temperatures are at their 80's now. I am curious now why the Auto Setting is doing such a bad job at cooling..

xapim · June 2019

dwyde said:

show previous quotes

Triparadox said:

1. Get a better thermal paste (one with high W/mK rate)
2. Get the thermal pads changed
3. Clean the fan exhausts
4. Undervolt the CPU
5. Tune the GPU

I can not get a better thermal paste and thermal pads without voiding my warranty. The fans shouldn't be that dirty as the laptop is 4 months old. The CPU is already undervolted by -0.150 and so is the cache.
The GPU is cooled fine, around 60-70 degrees.

dwyde as i said above contact acer support and ask them to repast it and if its 4 months old its not normal either you paste is dry or its already almost gone you will always get thermal issues if its not properly repasted the stock paste if properly applied its not bad but most of the times its all bad repastes and these are the main issues replacing the paste with a proper one its the only solution when undervolting and windows optimization wont work i repasted mine the first week i got it (kryonaut) and the stock paste was rock solid when i opened it so yeah repaste its the only solution when nothing else works

dwyde · June 2019

But how can something like this happen? I find it very strange that a brand new laptop can have that issue of dry paste or almost gone. That's just terrible.

xapim · June 2019

dwyde said:

But how can something like this happen? I find it very strange that a brand new laptop can have that issue of dry paste or almost gone. That's just terrible.

dwyde read my post above i edited it this is common to happen with all manufacturers the paste its not applied by human hand on factory so most of the times there are issues with it and if you want it properly done you have to do it yourself (if you can) if not Acer support will have to

dwyde · June 2019

xapim said:

show previous quotes

dwyde said:

But how can something like this happen? I find it very strange that a brand new laptop can have that issue of dry paste or almost gone. That's just terrible.

dwyde read my post above i edited it this is common to happen with all manufacturers the paste its not applied by human hand on factory so most of the times there are issues with it

How much did the temps went down after you repasted it with a proper thermal paste?

xapim · June 2019

dwyde said:

show previous quotes

xapim said:

dwyde said:

But how can something like this happen? I find it very strange that a brand new laptop can have that issue of dry paste or almost gone. That's just terrible.

dwyde read my post above i edited it this is common to happen with all manufacturers the paste its not applied by human hand on factory so most of the times there are issues with it

How much did the temps went down after you repasted it with a proper thermal paste?

Down 25+ the max i get now on ultra its gpu 70/75 cpu 75/80 of course the 1060's will be at the same level of the cpu

AlpineTom · July 2019

dwyde said:

But how can something like this happen? I find it very strange that a brand new laptop can have that issue of dry paste or almost gone. That's just terrible.

That's because your new laptop isn't exactly brand new.

Most consumer electronics, including laptops, aren't built on demand but in bulk and shipped off to some warehouse. From there the manufacturer ships them off to some regional distributer where they also sit in another warehouse for some time before they get shipped off to a retailer's warehouse where they sit some more time before you buy and it finally arrives in your hands. Thermal paste will dry out during all that time, and the more time passed between the manufacturing date (which you can see on a sticker at the bottom of your laptop) and you buying it, the dryer it gets.

For example, I bought my Predator late November last year, and it had been manufactured more than half a year earlier, in late April.

On top of that, the thermal paste used is usually the cheap and not so great stuff, and it's also applied in rather sparing quantities by a robot who just puts a blob in the middle rather than a human being who applies it carefully.

However, all that is pretty much par for the course. Unless you buy a laptop (or a pre-built desktop PC) from some boutique builder like Digital Storm or CyberPowerPC, where they carefully assemble your machine by hand, that's something you will have to live with.

AlpineTom · July 2019

Time ran out when editing my above post, so sorry for posting twice.

dwyde said:

I am curious now why the Auto Setting is doing such a bad job at cooling..

Basically there are a few reasons for this:

Firstly, if the fans were to ramp up every time the CPU or GPU gets a bit hotter, they would constantly spin up and down. This causes much higher wear on the fans' bearings than when they're spinning at a constant speed.

Secondly, the fans spinning up and down all the time would be really annoying for most people. Fans make noise, and a noise that keeps starting and stopping all the time is much more annoying and harder to ignore than a constant noise. Those are the two reasons why there's a delay for fans spinning up when it gets hot.

And thirdly, there is no need to spin up the fans if the CPU is working hard for just a few short moments even if this means that it's getting pretty hot. Those are these spikes I mentioned earlier; the CPU has a lot to do all of a sudden and gets hot quickly, but finishes and starts cooling down again due to the fans' spinning even a slow speeds. And while this can be annoying and maybe even a bit unsettling, and is definitely not ideal, it's not dangerous. Safety measures in the CPU (and the GPU) will prevent it from getting damaged by throttling it a bit.