I'm grateful for any assistance here.
I used an electricity usage monitor to see how many watts my entire system draws from the wall outlet (see specifications below). I tested a series of games. For example, the monitor would read 210-225 watts during a session of Battlefield 5. Almost no game I tested would result in a power draw of less than 190-200 watts. My question is: since my power brick is only rated at 180 watts, could running the brick at this level have long-term consequences?
I don't know anything about power draw from the wall outlet vs. power supply rating, or if the discrepancy I'm seeing even matters.
As a second question, I have reason to suspect that some internal component(s) of my power brick have started failing. I'm getting sudden laptop shutdowns about once a day. They happen when I run taxing applications (e.g., games). There is no BSOD. In Windows event viewer, I get the somewhat cryptic 'Event ID: 41, Source: Kernel-Power' with no apparent further details in the log.
I have done a fresh reinstall of Windows 10 and feel relatively sure that potential driver and software issues are not causing this problem. I suspect that the issue is with the power adapter brick and not with any internal laptop components. My hypothesis, which is speculative, is that once the GPU and CPU were no longer constrained by thermal throttling, the power draw of the whole system increased accordingly and started taxing the power supply to such an extent that some of its components began to fail over time. Prior to applying Conductonaut, the undervolt, and using a cooling pad, the GPU and CPU would ramp up to 95-99°C and obviously get throttled as a result.
Primary laptop components (purchased new in July 2019)
i7-9750H (-110mv undervolt, Conductonaut liquid metal paste, thermal range of 67-75°C and it typically boosts to a continuous 3.7GHz to 3.9GHz throughout gaming sessions).
GTX 1660 Ti (Conductonaut liquid metal paste, core overclock 210MHz, memory overclock 870MHz, rarely exceeds 65-67°C).
Intel AX200 WiFi
16GB (2x 8GB sticks, 2667MHz)
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB
Peripherals: mouse, 'custom' laptop cooling pad with 3x Noctua NF-A12x25 5V USB fans connected to a USB hub which in turn is connected to one of the laptop's USB ports.
Power supply unit: Chicony 180W A17-180P4A
I should add that I have long had concerns about how hot the power supply can get. In the past, it could get too hot to hold for more than a few seconds. Ever since I noticed this, I started using a heatsink, which (surprisingly?) seems to soak up a lot of heat from the plastic casing. But importantly, the sudden shutdown problem I'm dealing with now happens even when the brick is not especially hot (on the spot where I get the highest reading, it is 40°C with a heatsink and an 80mm fan, measured with an infrared thermometer). The shutdowns never happen outside of taxing applications. Everyday use is fine (e.g., browsing, videos, documents) -- it is only when I start a game that a shutdown can happen, at a random point (sometimes it happens after 10 minutes, other times it won't happen for 8-10 hours).
EDIT: I should add that as a potential fix, I have ordered a compatible 230w power supply replacement. It will arrive next week and if anyone is interested, I'll come back with results. If the shutdown issue is resolved by this replacement, then it is safe to assume my current power supply is the culprit.
I used an electricity usage monitor to see how many watts my entire system draws from the wall outlet (see specifications below). I tested a series of games. For example, the monitor would read 210-225 watts during a session of Battlefield 5. Almost no game I tested would result in a power draw of less than 190-200 watts. My question is: since my power brick is only rated at 180 watts, could running the brick at this level have long-term consequences?
I don't know anything about power draw from the wall outlet vs. power supply rating, or if the discrepancy I'm seeing even matters.
As a second question, I have reason to suspect that some internal component(s) of my power brick have started failing. I'm getting sudden laptop shutdowns about once a day. They happen when I run taxing applications (e.g., games). There is no BSOD. In Windows event viewer, I get the somewhat cryptic 'Event ID: 41, Source: Kernel-Power' with no apparent further details in the log.
I have done a fresh reinstall of Windows 10 and feel relatively sure that potential driver and software issues are not causing this problem. I suspect that the issue is with the power adapter brick and not with any internal laptop components. My hypothesis, which is speculative, is that once the GPU and CPU were no longer constrained by thermal throttling, the power draw of the whole system increased accordingly and started taxing the power supply to such an extent that some of its components began to fail over time. Prior to applying Conductonaut, the undervolt, and using a cooling pad, the GPU and CPU would ramp up to 95-99°C and obviously get throttled as a result.
Primary laptop components (purchased new in July 2019)
i7-9750H (-110mv undervolt, Conductonaut liquid metal paste, thermal range of 67-75°C and it typically boosts to a continuous 3.7GHz to 3.9GHz throughout gaming sessions).
GTX 1660 Ti (Conductonaut liquid metal paste, core overclock 210MHz, memory overclock 870MHz, rarely exceeds 65-67°C).
Intel AX200 WiFi
16GB (2x 8GB sticks, 2667MHz)
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB
Peripherals: mouse, 'custom' laptop cooling pad with 3x Noctua NF-A12x25 5V USB fans connected to a USB hub which in turn is connected to one of the laptop's USB ports.
Power supply unit: Chicony 180W A17-180P4A
I should add that I have long had concerns about how hot the power supply can get. In the past, it could get too hot to hold for more than a few seconds. Ever since I noticed this, I started using a heatsink, which (surprisingly?) seems to soak up a lot of heat from the plastic casing. But importantly, the sudden shutdown problem I'm dealing with now happens even when the brick is not especially hot (on the spot where I get the highest reading, it is 40°C with a heatsink and an 80mm fan, measured with an infrared thermometer). The shutdowns never happen outside of taxing applications. Everyday use is fine (e.g., browsing, videos, documents) -- it is only when I start a game that a shutdown can happen, at a random point (sometimes it happens after 10 minutes, other times it won't happen for 8-10 hours).
EDIT: I should add that as a potential fix, I have ordered a compatible 230w power supply replacement. It will arrive next week and if anyone is interested, I'll come back with results. If the shutdown issue is resolved by this replacement, then it is safe to assume my current power supply is the culprit.
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