CPU reaches 80 degrees Celsius on certain game!Please help!

[Maq___]

Hi all,

my Lenovo Y700-15 ISK laptop's CPU is i7-6700 HQ and the GPU is Nvidia GTX 960 M 4 GB GDDR5.

For better performance while gaming,I have slightly overclocked the GPU ,but in the safe limit(135MHz/625 MHz) with MSI Afterburner ,and for my CPU I am using ThrottleStop which allows me to use the Intel Turbo Boost which is 3.50 GHz for my CPU all the time I play a game,BUT ONLY while I play a game!
And I'm also using ParkControl to unpark the cores,ONLY while I'm gaming!
After using all of these tweaks I have stuttering in my games NO more,because the games I play are more CPU intensive,I mean for ArmA 3 and GTA V!

I am currently playing only three games:ArmA 3,NBA 2K18 and GTA V.

While playing NBA 2K18 the CPU never reaches more than 64 degrees Celsius,while playing ArmA 3 at max 70 degrees Celsius but that is just for some seconds,it quickly goes down to 64-65 degrees Celsius!
But when I play GTA V the CPU sometime reaches 80 degrees Celsius!

I am using a coolingpad,and I asked the techs from the laptop's service to repaste the thermal paste but they told me that there is no need for that,as I bought my laptop in February this year!And they also checked if the cooler was dusty, but it wasn't!

Please tell me if these temps are normal for my laptop,and that they would not affect the life-span of the CPU !

By the way, Lenovo have limited the temp of the GPU to 65 degrees Celsius BUT it never throttles ! So I am not worried about the GPU!

I am only concerned about the CPU!

Please tell me!
Thanks to all in advance!
Best regards!

 

[miggtt699]

Well you shouldn't be too concerned, you are in fact forcing the CPU and GPU to run at their maximum potential so it is normal that the temperatures climb to those levels, specially on a laptop.

What you're seeing is completely normal, specially you mentioning GTA, its a CPU intensive game, and as such it will push the CPU harder than your GPU.

A quick google search shows that the CPU and GPU share the same heatpipes, so naturally they will share the same thermal envelope, overclocking the GPU will affect the CPU's thermals.

You shouldn't worry beyond the fact that your hands might get toasty, but leaving the CPU do its thing without using throttlestop and just overclocking the GPU alone I think will be more beneficial to you in less CPU intensive games, because a GTX 960M will hold back a 6700HQ specially when you start cranking up the details in game.

Hope this helps.

 

[Maq___]

Dear miggtt699,thank you for replying to me!

I am mostly concerned about the CPU's life-span! How much time can I play a game hitting arround 80 degrees Celsius,without harming the CPU?

 

[miggtt699]

Dear miggtt699,thank you for replying to me!

I am mostly concerned about the CPU's life-span!
And also how much time can I play a game hitting arround 80 degrees Celsius,without harming the CPU?

I think that if you can keep it under or around 80ºC you should be fine without having to worry about longevity.

What I'm most concerned about in laptops personally when it comes to temperatures isn't the CPU killing itself from the temperatures, its what makes the connection between the CPU and the motherboard (BGA as they call it) weakening over time with heat, but I'd say 80ºC is fine and you won't have to worry much over it, its a laptop, not much more could be done.

I'd say if you're really wanting to improve thermals at any cost, try going to some specialist if you don't see yourself being fit with doing the job and having them replace the current thermal paste with a higher quality one, I will warn you that, the thermal paste that comes with the laptop might be good enough and you won't see much difference, possibly lose any warranty by doing such but, that's up to you to make the call.

I'd recommend something like the Noctua NT-H1.

Again, this is if you're extremely worried, but I'd personally not bother.

 

[Maq___]

Dear miggtt699,thank you so much! I have only one more question!

Lenovo have a software called Lenovo Nerve Sense.
There is an option there called Extreme Cooling,which could be manually turned on or off.It makes the fans work at the maximum speed!
What would you suggest to me?Should I use that feature or not?I am really concerned about the life-span of the fans in this case!
From Lenovo say that feature could be used without any issues, but how much is that true?
What do you think about it?

 

[Maq___]

And would then be possibility for a frequent need of cleaning of the fans with that feature turned on?

 

[miggtt699]

I think you should refrain using such option if you can maintain 80ºC on both GPU and CPU, as yes, it will run down the lifespan of the fans in the laptop. How much that would that be and if it might end up doing you worse in the long run? Is very unpredictable.

However, don't forget that, if this is still an issue, you can always just overclock the GPU and leave the CPU be to manage itself, see if the overclocking and tuning really makes a difference worth worrying over all of this, and if you can still happily game on your laptop without having to use these enhancements, I think that it wouldn't be worth the headache.

But again, if you can keep it under 80ºC, you should be good to go. About the cleaning? Well, it depends on where you usually use your laptop, if you avoid dusty environments and using it on top of cloth covered surfaces that can collect dust and hair particles, you won't have to worry about it as much.

Usually I cleaned my laptop every 6 months but mine was easy to maintain, but if you drop it by for someone to have it cleaned up every year won't hurt (if that is no problem for you).

 

[Maq___]

Dear miggtt699,thank you so much!

 

[miggtt699]

Dear miggtt699,thank you so much!

You're very welcomed. Glad to have helped.