Hardware Should I be worried about CPU temps?

[the_randomizer]

So, for those who may or may not know, my current machine is as follows

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570

CPU: Intel Core i7 2670QM 2.2 GHz to 3.1 GHz (Turbo Boost 2.0)
GPU: nVidia GeForce GT555M 1 GB GDDR RAM
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM PC 10600
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit
HDD - 500 GB

Now, we all know that laptop CPUs will most definitely run hotter than their desktop counterparts. I should also note that while this machine isn't super high-end, I've no issue running GPU/CPU intensive games such as Splinter Cell Conviction and Skyrim at very nice speeds at high settings (along with Dolphin and PCSX2). But there is one thing that I'm somewhat perturbed by, being overly paranoid about having to check the CPU temperature every ten seconds (not really, but very frequently).

What are normal temps for the Core i7 2670QM while using something simple like Chrome? Or when it's at idle/low CPU usage?

If dust is an issue, what's the most efficacious way of removing the dust without taking every piece of hardware out? Am I being too paranoid about the temps being too high or is it normal to be this wary?
I have the program Core Temp and I have seen the CPU almost reach 80 Celsius/176 Fahrenheit under heavy load, and that alone frightens the s**t outta me. I have a laptop cooler, and I make sure there is sufficient airflow underneath the system (it's at an angle), so I want to make sure I'm doing it right.

Any pointers?

 

[KTurbo]

I recon your laptop should be around 40-50c while browsing the web, perhaps even a bit lower, but that depend on what is currently running.
Thing is, 80c is a bit high, but when you're running best settings on a laptop it's not so much of a surprise. Dust shouldn't be much of a problem, rather what surface you have your laptop on while playing, a laptop cooler you say? Do you have any way to check the temp on the GPU?

Flip the laptop over and check the airflow intake to see if there are any visible dust. If you want to disassemble it you might check youtube for vids on how to do it. Also, try to monitor your temps - when and why it's getting hot.

 

[Originality]

Whilst I understand your concern, 60-80C is kinda expected from a high end laptop. When I say high end, I mean Core i7 with GTX 550 and above.

The ways to keep temps lower include cleaning the dust out, using a better cooling pad, using additional fans pointed at the surface, under clocking the CPU, and turning down CPU intensive settings so you don't overtax it.

 

[Foxi4]

Temperatures between 40 and 80 degrees Celsius on an i7 are entirely acceptable and in fact, to be expected from such a build.

Depending on your BIOS, you may attempt to undervolt and underclock your system accordingly to take the temperature a few notches down, however that may have a negative impact on system performance, depending on how much power you're going to cut.

Additionally, you may want to prepare custom Power Plans for your system. I found out through trial and error that using static Power Plans and making shortcuts to them on the desktop is far more efficient than using the built-in Performance on-demand plan (Balanced setting).

Last but not least, removing system features you are unlikely to use, keeping your disk defragmented with the system files at its beginning (an option in Auslogics Defragmenter), disabling system services that are not used, setting those used rarely to Manual and managing your startup (great CCleaner feature) take a lot of toll off the processor.

The secret of a well-performing, cool system is usually in fine-tuning - give it some love and it will love you back.

From your description alone, I don't see any reasons for concern, but a few tweaks are always welcome.

 

[the_randomizer]

I recon your laptop should be around 40-50c while browsing the web, perhaps even a bit lower, but that depend on what is currently running.
Thing is, 80c is a bit high, but when you're running best settings on a laptop it's not so much of a surprise. Dust shouldn't be much of a problem, rather what surface you have your laptop on while playing, a laptop cooler you say? Do you have any way to check the temp on the GPU?

Flip the laptop over and check the airflow intake to see if there are any visible dust. If you want to disassemble it you might check youtube for vids on how to do it. Also, try to monitor your temps - when and why it's getting hot.

The cooler is aluminum (or aluminium) which helps dissipate heat quite well from what I hear and is at an angle, but it wasn't super expensive, seeing as I don't know how much of a difference a high-end cooler would make, but if it helps, I might invest in one. I use Core Temp to watch the CPU, which has real time monitoring and has little lag, but I keep finding myself using it every ten minutes, hence why I asked if I was being paranoid.

Whilst I understand your concern, 60-80C is kinda expected from a high end laptop. When I say high end, I mean Core i7 with GTX 550 and above.

The ways to keep temps lower include cleaning the dust out, using a better cooling pad, using additional fans pointed at the surface, under clocking the CPU, and turning down CPU intensive settings so you don't overtax it.

Well, I guess there was no real cause for concern after all. This is a quad-core CPU with eight threads, so I guess the temps are to be expected There are profile buttons that have modes such as:

Super-silent, which locks the CPU at the default 2.2 GHz, no Turbo Boost is used/
Super efficient thermal dissipation, which allows the CPU to overclock within Intel's specifications without damaging the CPU
Dedusting - helps loosen accumulated dusts in the exhaust vent, but I doubt it's a substitute to using compressed air
Standard - Not sure what this does.

I keep it on the second one mostly due to how the fan is controlled and when it spins up/down.

Temperatures between 40 and 80 degrees Celsius on an i7 are entirely acceptable and in fact, to be expected from such a build.

Depending on your BIOS, you may attempt to undervolt and underclock your system accordingly to take the temperature a few notches down, however that may have a negative impact on system performance, depending on how much power you're going to cut.

Additionally, you may want to prepare custom Power Plans for your system. I found out through trial and error that using static Power Plans and making shortcuts to them on the desktop is far more efficient than using the built-in Performance on-demand plan (Balanced setting).

Last but not least, removing system features you are unlikely to use, keeping your disk defragmented with the system files at its beginning (an option in Auslogics Defragmenter), disabling system services that are not used, setting those used rarely to Manual and managing your startup (great CCleaner feature) take a lot of toll off the processor.

The secret of a well-performing, cool system is usually in fine-tuning - give it some love and it will love you back.

From your description alone, I don't see any reasons for concern, but a few tweaks are always welcome.

Which services are the ones I can disable in services.msc safely? As far as lowering the voltage on the CPU, I don't feel real comfortable doing that, as it may void the warranty on the laptop. The current profile isn't Balanced but set to Performance. and the GPU is always set to the nVidia GPU (let's be honest, the Intel HD 3000 isn't that great for gaming or emulation), so that would definitely give off more heat, but from what I've read thus far, these temps are nothing to be too concerned about and that's quite reassuring actually. As for setting up proper profiles what do you suggest I set it up as?

For the fan spinning up/down or fluctuating, is that going to wear it out faster?

 

[Foxi4]

Which services are the ones I can disable in services.msc safely? As far as lowering the voltage on the CPU, I don't feel real comfortable doing that, as it may void the warranty on the laptop. The current profile isn't Balanced but set to Performance. and the GPU is always set to the nVidia GPU (let's be honest, the Intel HD 3000 isn't that great for gaming or emulation), so that would definitely give off more heat, but from what I've read thus far, these temps are nothing to be too concerned about and that's quite reassuring actually. As for setting up proper profiles what do you suggest I set it up as? For the fan spinning up/down or fluctuating, is that going to wear it out faster?

This list should prove very useful when it comes to editing services.
http://www.blackviper.com/service-c...dows-7-service-pack-1-service-configurations/

As far as not using the Intel HD chip, big mistake, you should only use the NVidia card when using graphics-intensive applications like games. The Intel HD chip is there for a reason - it's low-power and barely heats up. Using it during normal, everyday system use will lower down temperatures.

Fans will wear out faster if they're more intensely used, but that's of no concern as it's a lesser evil when compared to an overheating system.

Profile-wise, it's best to have a total Power Saving one and a High Performance one and use each accordingly, the built-in Windows Power Profile editor is really self-explainatory.

This article will show you how to create shortcuts to said Power Plans - it'll save you a good few mouse clicks when switching.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-switch-power-plans/

 

[Satangel]

My i7 Q720 CPU on my laptop runs at 60-70 degrees Celsius while just browsing/having a few programs open. Not really that big of a deal, really.
Will be much hotter when I'm gaming. It can go at 90 degrees according to Google.

 

[the_randomizer]

This list should prove very useful when it comes to editing services.
http://www.blackviper.com/service-c...dows-7-service-pack-1-service-configurations/

As far as not using the Intel HD chip, big mistake, you should only use the NVidia card when using graphics-intensive applications like games. The Intel HD chip is there for a reason - it's low-power and barely heats up. Using it during normal, everyday system use will lower down temperatures.

Fans will wear out faster if they're more intensely used, but that's of no concern as it's a lesser evil when compared to an overheating system.

Profile-wise, it's best to have a total Power Saving one and a High Performance one and use each accordingly, the built-in Windows Power Profile editor is really self-explainatory.

This article will show you how to create shortcuts to said Power Plans - it'll save you a good few mouse clicks when switching.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-switch-power-plans/

The reason I don't have the physical switch on the HD 3000 is nVidia optimus is very unreliable and when I force-enable program profiles like Dolphin, Skyrim, etc to use the nVidia GPU, it never actually uses it and uses the weaker HD 3000; I find it to be quite flaky. There's no refuting that the temperatures would stay much lower when it's not swapped on, but all the GPU swapping between the integrated and discrete...wouldn't that screw up the hardware by going back and forth all the time? Would it be better to make it use the integrated chip when doing basic stuff like \using Chrome/16-bit emulators and make profiles for the nVidia for more GPU-intensive programs? I would think all the GPU swapping would ruin the GPU faster. I could be wrong.

 

[Foxi4]

The reason I don't have the physical switch on the HD 3000 is nVidia optimus is very unreliable and when I force-enable program profiles like Dolphin, Skyrim, etc to use the nVidia GPU, it never actually uses it and uses the weaker HD 3000; I find it to be quite flaky. There's no refuting that the temperatures would stay much lower when it's not swapped on, but all the GPU swapping between the integrated and discrete...wouldn't that screw up the hardware by going back and forth all the time? Would it be better to make it use the integrated chip when doing basic stuff like \using Chrome/16-bit emulators and make profiles for the nVidia for more GPU-intensive programs? I would think all the GPU swapping would ruin the GPU faster. I could be wrong.

Choosing the GPU doesn't ruin it any faster or slower - the system doesn't literally swap them - it merely sends one to an Idle state while it uses the other, or in fact, uses both if you choose to do so (one for graphics, other for PhysX). Both GPU's are "active" at all times, they're merely under different kinds of stress depending on the setting.

If Optimus is giving you trouble, you should have the option of choosing the GPU manually by right-clicking an application or its shortcut. Alternatively, you can add an application preference in NVidia's Control Panel. Personally I never had any Optimus features - all applications using 3D launch with the GeForce chip unless specified otherwise.

 

[the_randomizer]

Choosing the GPU doesn't ruin it any faster or slower - the system doesn't literally swap them - it merely sends one to an Idle state while it uses the other, or in fact, uses both if you choose to do so (one for graphics, other for PhysX). Both GPU's are "active" at all times, they're merely under different kinds of stress depending on the setting.

If Optimus is giving you trouble, you should have the option of choosing the GPU manually by right-clicking an application or its shortcut. Alternatively, you can add an application preference in NVidia's Control Panel. Personally I never had any Optimus features - all applications using 3D launch with the GeForce chip unless specified otherwise.

Well, that's good and there are ways of adding applications to profiles to tell when to use the integrated and discrete GPU, so I can spare the CPU from betting super hot, not that it has thus far. Now, there are certain applications I want to force-enable the HD 3000 to, like Snes9x and other retro emulators, but it doesn't let me once I add the program, even though the global GPU is set back to the IGP. Is there a reason I can't change this. I've no way of specifying the GPU to use with 2D/16-bit console emulators.

 

[Foxi4]

Well, that's good and there are ways of adding applications to profiles to tell when to use the integrated and discrete GPU, so I can spare the CPU from betting super hot, not that it has thus far. Now, there are certain applications I want to force-enable the HD 3000 to, like Snes9x and other retro emulators, but it doesn't let me once I add the program, even though the global GPU is set back to the IGP. Is there a reason I can't change this. I've no way of specifying the GPU to use with 2D/16-bit console emulators.

I think that if the application makes OpenGL or similar calls, it automatically switches to the high-performance processor *unless* it's stated otherwise in the custom rules (NVidia Control Panel/3D settings (second option in the left menu)/Program Settings) - you have the choice between the Integrated Chip (the Intel one) or the High-Performance NVidia Chip (self-explainatory), and if that setting fails, right-click and launch with the Intel HD.

 

[the_randomizer]

I think that if the application makes OpenGL or similar calls, it automatically switches to the high-performance processor *unless* it's stated otherwise in the custom rules (NVidia Control Panel/3D settings (second option in the left menu)/Program Settings) - you have the choice between the Integrated Chip (the Intel one) or the High-Performance NVidia Chip (self-explainatory), and if that setting fails, right-click and launch with the Intel HD.

That's just the thing, I added the program profile to the list and it doesn't let me change it from the discrete to the integrated, as I see no reason why the HD 3000 wouldn't be able to handle a 16-bit console emulator. The IGP shouldn't have any trouble at all, or so I would think. There's no context menu that gives me the choice of running the program in the Intel GPU either when I right click, so yeah, I'm SOL as far as wanting to use that instead. Bollocks.

As can be seen in the screenshot, the option to use the IGP is grayed out, much to my chagrin. And yes, the GPU drivers are the most recent.

Spoiler

 

[Foxi4]

That's... mighty-weird.

Do you get the option to launch it with integrated graphics when you right-click on it? I suppose it depends on whether Optimus supports the application, but it darn should - I don't know why the option is grayed out. I'll download the same emulator and check on my build.

 

[the_randomizer]

That's... mighty-weird.

Do you get the option to launch it with integrated graphics when you right-click on it? I suppose it depends on whether Optimus supports the application, but it darn should - I don't know why the option is grayed out. I'll download the same emulator and check on my build.

I like how Dolphin and PCSX2 can be launched with the nVidia GPU, but why I can't change the Snes9x is beyond me....baffling indeed. Maybe it's because I use the 64-bit version instead of the x86/32-bit version. I can say the temps while using Chrome have been down at around 48-50 Celsius tops.


EDIT:

Figures, it was a PEBKAC error. I clicked "restore" to default the global settings and now Snes9x is a the IGP....weird. But now PCSX2 is set to the IGP...this is getting really weird. This is why I'm not a big fan of Optimus.

 

[Foxi4]

Well, I just checked Snes9x on my machine (build 1.53, NVidia Panel Version 4.8.750.0) and it allows me to use either the Integrated Chip or the High-Performance NVidia Chip...

Perhaps your Integrated Chip is set to PhysX or something? Double-check.

I'm glad to hear that your temperatures are down. Keep the optimizing up and you'll have a healthy machine with a long life span.

 

[Rydian]

Optimus and similar technologies don't actually work by detecting OpenGL and such calls, otherwise they'd fire up your GPU when browsing the 'net and such, since modern browsers can use hardware acceleration too.

It's not just emulators, this causes issues with things like Minecraft, which run through java.exe and so can't be directly detected (or, in the case of emulators, aren't on the list of recognized games).

Generally people go and set exceptions in the settings, but I don't have any machines like this so I can't help troubleshoot.

 

[the_randomizer]

Well, I just checked Snes9x on my machine (build 1.53, NVidia Panel Version 4.8.750.0) and it allows me to use either the Integrated Chip or the High-Performance NVidia Chip...

Perhaps your Integrated Chip is set to PhysX or something? Double-check.

I'm glad to hear that your temperatures are down. Keep the optimizing up and you'll have a healthy machine with a long life span.

The PhysX is set to Auto, but there are options of using the GPU or CPU for the physics. The control panel is the same version you have and yet, PCSX2 is now set to the IGP....What the hell is wrong with this thing!!!!? Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks. I'm pucking fissed right now and I can't figure out what's going on!

 

[Foxi4]

The PhysX is set to Auto, but there are options of using the GPU or CPU for the physics. The control panel is the same version you have and yet, PCSX2 is now set to the IGP....What the hell is wrong with this thing!!!!? Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks. I'm pucking fissed right now and I can't figure out what's going on!

...I suggest re-installing the whole thing, it's clearly not working like it's supposed to - the settings must be corrupt. Truth to be told, I have never had such problems with Optimus - it always worked perfectly fine. Maybe a reboot will help? I really don't know...

 

[the_randomizer]

...I suggest re-installing the whole thing, it's clearly not working like it's supposed to - the settings must be corrupt. Truth to be told, I have never had such problems with Optimus - it always worked perfectly fine. Maybe a reboot will help? I really don't know...

'
As in redownload the drivers? Something must have gotten corrupted as it's not behaving how it should. Is there an option to reinstall once I open the driver installer?

 

[Fishaman P]

80C is about right if the laptop is kinda dusty inside, and you're playing REALLY demanding games. However, that doesn't mean it's good, or even safe.