Question Laptop runs very hot and has poor performance in games where it should achieve more ?

[ripperwrath]

Hi everyone,

I purchased an 18-inch Razor Blade 18 laptop in Q2 2023 with the following specs:

CPU: i9-13950HX
GPU: RTX 4090 mobile
RAM: 32GB DDR5 @ 5600 MT/s.
Native display: 2560 x 1600 @ 240hz
OS: Windows 11 24H2 IoT Enterprise LTSC

Here is where my issues begin, it runs very very hot, as in it is constantly being thermal throttled even when just using a browser or watching youtube videos. The GPU achieves temps of around 88-90 celsius in modern AAA games which I found to be unacceptable. I have purchased a cooling stand and it has lowered temps to around 78-82C which is better, but still not amazing. I also get very poor framerates ingame as well. For example, my friend with a 4060 desktop PC with a similar cpu (intel 12th gen) gets 350+ fps on the same resolution compared to me where I get only around 150-180. What could this possibly be related to? Reinstalling the OS didn't fix it either. Windows 11 Pro and Home edition have the same issue, so this isn't related to being on a LTSC branch of Windows. Please let me know what you think. Thank you in advance.

 

[rgd1101]

why and how did you get enterprise windows 11?

 

[ripperwrath]

why and how did you get enterprise windows 11?

I got it because it has a better CPU scheduler than the consumer versions of Windows 11 24H2 (Pro/Home) and is also said to have a newer kernel. The latter is unconfirmed by me personally but the former is. It also is functionally identical when it comes to using software so I saw no reason not to get it. As for how, well, the .iso/image is available from official Microsoft download links if you know where to look, the iffy part is activating it, which there is no way to do for a normal consumer, and so you have to "sail the seas" so to speak. There are methods that are easily discoverable, though.

 

[punkncat]

With those specs I would expect the laptop to be a hotplate. Are these temperatures much higher than when it was new?

It may be worthwhile to consider opening and cleaning out any dust on the fans, cooler(s), venting in the case. Unless you know what you are doing it may or may not be a good idea to dig further into such as a repaste and pad on the CPU and GPU dies. Keeping in mind that if you don't know what you are doing this could result in 'no-worky', so you be the judge of that based on your experience.

Other things would be to consider what else is running while you are gaming. Less running, less resources, less heat.

Also, cannot compare laptop hardware to PC hardware directly. It is not apples to apples. Have your attempted to look up benchmarks for that same laptop to see if others have the same temps and perf?

 

[ripperwrath]

With those specs I would expect the laptop to be a hotplate. Are these temperatures much higher than when it was new?

It may be worthwhile to consider opening and cleaning out any dust on the fans, cooler(s), venting in the case. Unless you know what you are doing it may or may not be a good idea to dig further into such as a repaste and pad on the CPU and GPU dies. Keeping in mind that if you don't know what you are doing this could result in 'no-worky', so you be the judge of that based on your experience.

Other things would be to consider what else is running while you are gaming. Less running, less resources, less heat.

Also, cannot compare laptop hardware to PC hardware directly. It is not apples to apples. Have your attempted to look up benchmarks for that same laptop to see if others have the same temps and perf?

Yes, they are definitely hotter then when I first bought it, which is why I'm researching this issue to begin with. I am probably going to play it safe and not repaste/replace thermal pads as I do not feel I have expertise for it. Also it's hard to find benchmarks for this laptop- since well, most people can straight up just not afford a laptop like this and it's a bit of a niche product. I have less than 100 processes on bootup, which I feel is very low, so I don't think background processes are the issue.

 

[ripperwrath]

I did manage to find some benchmarks though, and it turns out other users get lower temps on average

 

[punkncat]

If you have never cleaned it, give blowing out the vents and cooler/fan a try first. In this case most like a can of air should at least offer some change.