Discussion MSI GF66 11UE High CPU temps (94-98C°) as well as massive game stutters and fps drops.

[ConnectiviTI]

I have a MSI Katana GF66 11UE i5-11400h + RTX 3060 (85W) gaming laptop
Around a year ago I bought this laptop for mainly playing CSGO after a month of purchase i've noticed really high temps, but I didn't really pay much attention because I thought it's probably normal for a gaming laptop ( it's not!). A year passes everything seem to be OK and then one day i've launched CSGO and my fps dropped by half from 450 to 200 and it started stuttering like hell. I've used MSI CENTER, core temp and HWINFO to check the temperature. GPU was around 85C° and my CPU was around 94-98C°. After a year of use it probably needs good cleaning and thermal repasting but the thing is that any game lags and stutters even before it reaches this temperature as of right now, and I think something got damaged inside... Maybe you have any idea of what could have happened?

P. S I've reinstalled windows (clean wipe), reinstalled drivers (DDU), everything is up-to-date, so I don't think it's a software issue. Switching power options doesn't help either. Fans seem to be spinning normally 5k rpms (6k rpms with cooler booster)... This laptop does have a 2-year warranty, but I don't think it covers this type of thing...

I'm really sorry for my english, i've tried my best.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

I thought it's probably normal for a gaming laptop ( it's not!)

Yes, this is totally normal for a gaming laptop. Nearly all of them apart from the most expensive, often have underwhelming cooling, which is just barely enough to keep the CPU cool. Add in the small chassis of the laptop and extra heat from the GPU, cooling a laptop can be a challenge.

However, you've hit the nail on the head in terms of what to do next. You should take it apart and clean it with compressed air. While you're in there you should repaste both the CPU and GPU. Use Noctua NT H1 thermal paste which is ideal for laptops.

Set up/install Throttlestop. Open up the limits tab, and also the inbuilt benchmark TS Bench. Run the small test first. You should see your CPU go to max load and the limits window will show you if your CPU is throttling, and for what reason. You are looking out for PL1/PL2/PROCHOT/EDP Other. If any of those indicators turn red, your system is throttling. You can determine why.

 

[ConnectiviTI]

Hey there,


Yes, this is totally normal for a gamng laptop. Nearly all of them apart from the most expensive, often have underwhelming cooling, which is just barely enough to keep the CPU cool. Add in the small chassis of the laptop and extra heat from the GPU, cooling a lpatop can be a challenge.

However, you've hit the nail on the head in terms of what to do next. You should take it apart and clean it with compressed air. While you're in there you should repaste both the CPU and GPU. Use Noctua NT H1 thermal paste which is ideal for laptops.

Set up/install Throttlestop. Open up the limits tab, and also the inbuilt benchmark TS Bench. Run the small test first. You should see your CPU go to max load and the limits window will show you if your CPU is throttling, and for what reason. You are looking out for PL1/PL2/PROCHOT/EDP Other. If any of those indicators turn red, your system is throttling. You can determine why.

Thank you for the reply. I have installed the the program and as soon as I started the test the whole time CORE PL2 was red, GPU sometimes turned to red too. Cleaning and repasting CPU and GPU should help fixing this problem?

EDIT: While doing this test third time i've noticed to the right of limits tab it said: POWER all in red.
A screenshot of the test

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Okay, so your CPU is throttling. This is why you see your FPS drop. As the CPU gets up to speed, it gets too hot, and slows down to keep the CPU cool.

Cleaning and replacing thermal paste will help.

Look at vids like this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exbsVEzQ5ZI


to get an idea of what you need to do.

It's possible to change PL1/PL2 with TS. You can also try and undervolt the CPU. This can also help with temps.

Once you repaste, clean and undervolt, we can look at your CPU then and see if we can improve further.

 

[ConnectiviTI]

Okay, so your CPU is throttling. This is why you see your FPS drop. As the CPU gets up to speed, it gets too hot, and slows down to keep the CPU cool.

Cleaning and replacing thermal paste will help.

Look at vids like this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exbsVEzQ5ZI


to get an idea of what you need to do.

It's possible to change PL1/PL2 with TS. You can also try and undervolt the CPU. This can also help with temps.

Once you repaste, clean and undervolt, we can look at your CPU then and see if we can improve further.

I'm not a computer guy so i don't know how to "undervolt" is there an option I could turn on to enable that or...?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I'm not a computer guy so i don't know how to "undervolt" is there an option I could turn on to enable that or...?

So, you don't turn it on per se, although you do open an option to use it.

You can look here to understand it better, and try an undervolt: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/31385-the-throttlestop-guide/

The author is a member of Tom's community, @uWebb429, and often gives some valuable feedback on system setup with TS.

 

[ConnectiviTI]

Hello again, I've repasted my CPU and GPU as well as cleaned the dust of the coolers. Temps went back to normal, and the stuttering in games way better, but it still stutters and my overall game performance is lower, than it was before. I get around 150-220 fps (CSGO). When in combat it even goes to 120 fps. Just a couple of months ago it was around 250-300 fps. I used throttlestop to check PL 1 PL 2 and temps. Temps were... okay. sometimes in the Limits Tab the THERMAL (in red) came up and Prochot 95C stays in red too, when I do the test it says HOT. but I think it's because at this time of year and I use my pc at high performance.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

sometimes in the Limits Tab the THERMAL (in red) came up and Prochot 95C stays in red too, when I do the test it says HOT

So this is why your CPU is downclocking. PROCHOT is used when the CPU heats up too much.

How did you apply the paste?

 

[ConnectiviTI]

So this is why your CPU is downclocking. PROCHOT is used when the CPU heats up too much.

How did you apply the paste?

Well, technically i didn't. It had factory seal sticker where the screw is so I just sent it to the repair shop. In my country it's one of the most known repair shops, and according to them after all the cleaning and repasting, temps went back to normal...

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Well, technically i didn't. It had factory seal sticker where the screw is so I just sent it to the repair shop. In my country it's one of the most known repair shops, and according to them after all the cleaning and repasting, temps went back to normal...

Well, if the temps were normal, you wouldn't be hitting PROCHOT. What paste did they use?

 

[ConnectiviTI]

Well, if the temps were normal, you wouldn't be hitting PROCHOT. What paste did they use?

They just said that they did it, no idea what brand of paste they used...