Question Laptop CPU overheats while gaming ?

[lordsam_002]

I have an Acer Nitro 5 AN515-45 laptop. I recently opened the back case to clean some dust off the fans. After I closed the case the laptop worked normally that day with no issues. The next day when I started playing GTA 5 I experienced some lag which I didn't expect. I then saw the CPU temperature and it was peaked out at 91 C. I then closed the game and still it was peaked out at 91 C. It just didn't want to go below 90 C. I then searched online and found out some solutions. One of the solutions was to reduce the maximum power to 99% (I'm sure many people know this). This solved the problem partially as the CPU runs at around 55-65 C during normal browsing and other work. But the moment I start a game it jumps to 90-91 C and stays there the whole time. Now I'm confused about the problem. Is it because I opened the case and the cooling system was somehow disrupted or is it another problem. Please help.

P.S: I also wanted to mention one thing. The CPU heats up only during gaming and not normal usage of CPU heavy tasks.

 

[Lutfij]

You can do a couple of things, check and see if your cooling assembly was put on in the right order and if the CPU cooling fan's cable for the cooling assembly was plugged in the right way onto the motherboard. You might want to also inspect the thermal paste if you took the heatpipe assembly off, in fact you're advised to reapply the thermal paste with something higher in quality, after removing the old/factory thermal paste. You can also try undervolting using ThrottleStop.

 

[lordsam_002]

You can do a couple of things, check and see if your cooling assembly was put on in the right order and if the CPU cooling fan's cable for the cooling assembly was plugged in the right way onto the motherboard. You might want to also inspect the thermal paste if you took the heatpipe assembly off, in fact you're advised to reapply the thermal paste with something higher in quality, after removing the old/factory thermal paste. You can also try undervolting using ThrottleStop.

I removed the fans to clean them but didn't take the heatpipes off. I just lifted them a bit and saw that the thermal paste was still wet and stuck to the heatsink and CPU (My laptop is just 6 months old) which I felt normal. I will try replacing the thermal paste though because this CPU temperature problem is persistent since I bought the laptop but it never throttled. It started throttling now so I feel its high time I changed the thermal paste. I was thinking of going with the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste. Is it okay? Or do you suggest any other?

 

[Lutfij]

I just lifted them a bit and saw that the thermal paste was still wet and stuck to the heatsink and CPU
If you reseat the heatpipe as is, you introduce air pockets in the otherwise smooshed thermal paste. This is why you reapply the thermal paste at any moment you lift the heatpipe.

ThermalGrizzly, Noctua, Arctic - are some good brands.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Agree with this^^ Noctua NT H2 is a good one. Not the NT H1 variant, as it's not good for laptops. It can 'pump out' after 2-3 months of gaming use.

 

[lordsam_002]

I just lifted them a bit and saw that the thermal paste was still wet and stuck to the heatsink and CPU
If you reseat the heatpipe as is, you introduce air pockets in the otherwise smooshed thermal paste. This is why you reapply the thermal paste at any moment you lift the heatpipe.

ThermalGrizzly, Noctua, Arctic - are some good brands.

Oh I did not think about the air pockets. I will replace the factory thermal paste with a new one in coming days and tell the results. Thank you so much for you help.

 

[lordsam_002]

I just lifted them a bit and saw that the thermal paste was still wet and stuck to the heatsink and CPU
If you reseat the heatpipe as is, you introduce air pockets in the otherwise smooshed thermal paste. This is why you reapply the thermal paste at any moment you lift the heatpipe.

ThermalGrizzly, Noctua, Arctic - are some good brands.

An update about the situation.
I ordered the Thermal Grizzly compound couple of days ago. It will arrive the next week. But today morning when I turned on the laptop and tried to play GTA 5 the thermal throttling miraculously stopped and there was no thermal thermal throttling at all. Although the temperatures went up to 90 C but there was no throttling. Also, idle temperatures of the CPU were previously around 60-65 C but now they hover around 45-50 C. Now the question I face is should I still re paste the CPU and GPU ? Or let it be as it is ?
Please Help.