I5+Geforce 540M CPU/GPU temperatures when gaming?

[Peder_dingo]

Hi. I bought an Acer laptop about a week ago. It has an i5, 4 gigs of ram and a 2 gig Geforce 540M. I have been gaming on it, and I had some crashes in a particular game which lead me to believe that perhaps it is overheating. Downloaded real temp and I have recorded a maximum CPU temperature of 90 degrees while the GPU was 80 degrees. I shut down the game after that (it didnt crash and Windows didnt give me any warnings) because I was afraid I might melt it down. Does anyone have any advice on laptop gaming and what I should consider reasonable temperatures while gaming?

 

[WR2]

GPUs run hot and 80C on the graphics card seems pretty normal.

90C on the CPU is not and that's the range when you expect the CPU to throttle (slow down) to keep from overheating.

Apart from gaming - what CPU temps are you getting at idle and when the CPU is working with a moderate load? Are you seeing the CPU speed (CPU multiplier) drop when the load increase as the CPU throttles?

 

[WR2]

CPU-z will let you know what's going on with the CPU speed/multi.
http/www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

[Peder_dingo]

I read about that tool, and I guess I will have to install it now. Normal idle temperature is around 50-55 degrees for the CPU, and moderate work load around 60-65 degrees.

I was running a heavily modded Fallout 3 with the games basic graphics settings on max (including LoD and fades), added weather mod, super HD texture pack plus motion blur and DoF shaders when it reached 90 degrees. The strange thing is the framerate was good, but it crashed when loading new areas/textures in the game. I uninstalled the heavy-duty mods and I now get around 80 degrees when playing that game (I also read something about FO3 not being compatible with 64 bit win7. Something about a huge memory leak - dunno if that affected things).

So 80 degrees is alright for the GPU (it never went above that), but what should I expect from the CPU's?

 

[WR2]

If the CPU is staying around 70C max that's what I would expect if the cooling is working as it should.

 

[WR2]

Those 50C idle temps are looking very high though.
Something under 40C is about what I'd expect to see.

 

[Peder_dingo]

Wow that is pretty far from what I am getting. The fan doesnt go all the time though and I dont experience crashing (outside of gaming), but these are the temps I am getting on a constant basis on a brand new laptop. Do you reckon something is wrong with it?

The Geforce 540M has a pretty nifty feature that allows me to deactivate it (and its massive heat buildup) so the Intel HD can take care of all processes, except for those progammes (games) I designate for use with the Geforce. I didn't measure temperatures before using this option, but the fan started going even if I just opened a browser window with the Geforce switched on always.

Are there anything I can do in my end to improve things? I want to balance it so I can game without wearing out the computer completely - Acer build shabby but inexpensive laptops, and the last time I had one it was the fan that died first, so I prefer not to use tools that speeds up the fan drastically. I want the computer to last for at least a couple of years.

 

[Peder_dingo]

Edit: FYI the lowest all-time recorded CPU temperature on my computer is 47 degrees.

 

[WR2]

Talk to [strike]Lenovo.[/strike] Acer

 

[Peder_dingo]

Why Lenovo? You mean I should buy a new computer instead?

 

[WR2]

Have you seen any sign the CPU is throttling? Changing the CPU speed and multiplier to a lower number?

 

[Peder_dingo]

No, but I will install CPUID and test it while gaming. It only crashes to desktop in that one game (modded Fallout 3) but once at the desktop everything is back to normal. I played an equally heavy modded New Vegas and "only" got temperatures of around 80-85 degrees but no crashes.

I am going to start a Real Temp stress test (Prime95) in a minute or two to see if everything holds together - with the computer just being a week old I should be covered if it blows itself up, I would think. I'll post the results here.

 

[WR2]

That sounds like a good idea to me. Best to find out early on.
And it should slow down or shut down to protect itself before it gets to the damage stage.

 

[Peder_dingo]

Alright, here it what it says. TJ MAX is 100 although after reading the real temp documentation tj max should probably be 105 for Core 1. Nevertheless it gets super close to these values - a lot closer than the guy in the official documentation does in his example. How do I get data on whether or not my system throttles down while gaming? I installed CPUID but I don't know how to log and what to look for.


Real Temp Cooldown results

 

[Peder_dingo]

Btw the test was done with the Geforce GPU switched off. The CPU temperature peaked at 83, so the modded Fallout stressed the computer more than the stress test - I guess added heat from the GPU affected the overall temperature and thus the temperature of the CPU's cores.

 

[WR2]

CPU-z main screen. Clocks column, Core Speed, Multiplier

 

[WR2]

You'll need to watch it as you do the stress test - there is no logging feature.

Whats the local ambient temps while you're testing today?

 

[Peder_dingo]

Cold cold Scandinavia - even though it is summer it is not warm. I'd say dunno 18-20 degrees indoors. So I watch CPUID while I do a stess test in Prime95?

 

[WR2]

CPU-z

 

[Peder_dingo]

Hello again. It does not throttle down, but I haven't tried to push it to higher temperatures. Intel's documentation states that the Tj Max is in the range of 100-105, which is when it supposedly starts to throttle down. I contacted the manufacturer who told me to contact the retail store I bought it from, who told me to hand the computer over to them. I know this process of handing stuff in, waiting for weeks and then getting the exact same thing back without any improvement, so I am reluctant. But the general consensus here on Toms Hardware is that 90 degrees CPU temp and 80-85 degrees is way too much for a laptop with an i5 and a Geforce 540M 2 gig?