GTX 980m thermal throttling

[wussification]

I have an Nvidia GTX 980m in my Sager NP8268-S and recently upgraded to windows 10 from Windows 7. I have installed all recent drivers for the computer off of Sager's website. My graphics driver is 358.91, I am also using stock bios.

I have never noticed any heat issues but recently it has been horrible. Playing any decently intensive game on any settings (Battlefield 4, Witcher 3, BO3, etc.) causes the card to reach temperatures of around 87 degrees Celsius. I have turned the fans to max, cleaned out the laptop with an air can and even moved the laptop to various locations to try and increase airflow. When the computer is idle the temperature of the card hovers around 40 degrees Celcius. I have tried many different options. This is causing horrible stuttering and I am worried that it is also affecting the health of the card. I have included a screenshot of GPUZ while in game of Witcher 3 as reference and can post other statistics. I called tech support for Sager and was only told to wait for better Nvidia drivers, which doesn't exactly help since I'd prefer to use my system now... Thanks!

 

[wussification]

Did you do an upgrade from a 7 to 10, and then all this seemed to happen? Seen a few weird things from the upgrade, some drivers or old settings seem to get stuck and cause weird issues. A clean install of 10 fixes it all.

Yeah I hadn't noticed it in Win 7. It was an upgrade, not an install, but a clean install would suck... I have many important programs that would suck to have to reinstall, so that would be my last resort.

 

[getochkn]

Ya I know, it does suck. lol. Do you have another HD you could install to as a test? Install a new 10 on it, install drivers, game that gives you issues, test.

 

[wussification]

Ya I know, it does suck. lol. Do you have another HD you could install to as a test? Install a new 10 on it, install drivers, game that gives you issues, test.

Not a bad idea, I will attempt that when I have time. I should have a copy of Win 7 lying around xD

 

[getochkn]

Just an idea. I've done 12 or 13 7->10 upgrades in my house so far, and most resulted in a reinstall right after. One I like a clean OS now and again, but some did give weird issues that I couldn't pin down, despite everything looking good. I may be way off. lol.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Doubtful it's a power issue. That laptop model shipped with a 180W supply. Sager is correct in that it is a driver issue. NVidia was a little late to the table with Windows 10 drivers and there have been issues. First thing to try is an earlier driver. The latest available isn't always the best, especially if it's listed as beta.

 

[wussification]

So I guess no fix for a laptop with power issues xD I hope its just a driver thing.

 

[jimmysmitty]

As I said the most definitive answer would be to drop back to Windows 7 to see if it happens there. If it does then it wouldn't be driver related but hardware. If it does not then it is a driver issue in 10.