MSI GF65 Throttle and Thermal

[Pizzadeliver]

Thanks for accepting me, hello everyone. I got an MSI GF65 Thin laptop (i7-9750h + RTX 2060, 16gb RAM DDR4, 500m2 and 144hz screen, paid 1199 €). I state that I have not considered a desktop build because I am always away from home for work and I need maximum portability. By Tuesday I have to decide whether to keep it or not. What mainly worries me are the temperatures, the games I've tried so far (Doom Eternal and The Witcher 3 with hd texture pack) run smoothly. The problem exists in the fact that in the area above the keyboard the laptop gets pretty warm and according to HWINFO without undervolt I was traveling up to 98 ° under benchmark stress or in the most demanding sessions. I read that undervolt is practically mandatory in laptops with desktop CPUs, so I equipped myself with Throttlestop and played with the values, until I found a balance between not significantly castrating performance and lowering temperatures. At the moment Doom Etermal revolves around 80 ° and down (an average of 76/77 °) and from 120fps to 140fps (I put the graphics the maximum that the VRAM allowed). Considering that I would like to use it at least 5 years (you can increase the ram and I can add an m2 ssd) do you say that I have to worry about the temperatures and the relative wear of the components? Because I read that in the same price range also HP Omen and Asus ROG have more or less all the same problems as Thermal, because the internal space is obviously small. MSI service told me that the components are designed to withstand these temperatures and defend themselves in case of Thermal, they also told me I can change the thermal paste for a more performing one at my expense without voiding the warranty, but a technician told me that it is not worth it because the temperatures would improve very little. Sorry for the papyrus but for me 1119 € is not a little, and I would like to know your opinion if I should keep it or not.

PS: I already use Klim Cyclone cooling stand.

 

[AOne]

Make a Cinebench R23 test and TSBench test and see if there is any throttling in Limit Reason Box in Throttlestop. If there isn't any and this box remains black, and the temps are still the same as in the screenshot (under 90-95 C), you're perfectly fine.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

Make a Cinebench R23 test and TSBench test and see if there is any throttling in Limit Reason Box in Throttlestop. If there isn't any and this box remains black, and the temps are still the same as in the screenshot (under 90-95 C), you're perfectly fine.

The temps in the screen are with a config that give some Power error, I had to lower a bit.

 

[AOne]

The temps in the screen are with a config that give some Power error, I had to lower a bit.

I suppose you mean Power Limit, not error. This is when the CPU reaches the limits you've set to it through Throttlestop's TPL window - in your case 60W for PL2 and 45 for PL1. I'm with the same CPU and I've set mine to 90/70. Check these values and see what happens.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

I suppose you mean Power Limit, not error. This is when the CPU reaches the limits you've set to it through Throttlestop's TPL window - in your case 60W for PL2 and 45 for PL1. I'm with the same CPU and I've set mine to 90/70. Check these values and see what happens.

°
With your turbo limits and speed shift to 0 I get thermal throttling at 95°

 

[AOne]

Hmmm. The good thing is, the laptop is unlocked to undervolting and the price is pretty good. The bad thing is it's thermal throttling. For me it's 50/50. If you think, the heatsink is well designed and is capable of dissipating heat - keep it and repaste it. If that's not the case, maybe make another choice. Search the web for this exact model and see how the others are doing.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

well, Actually it went on thermal even with my config

 

[AOne]

Judging by the results in TSBench (which are almost identical to mine), the throttling is starting in the end of the test. Why don't you try a Cinebench test too? It's a free software and the test takes about 2-3 minutes, but the results could be compared with other and they might tell us a little bit more. Maybe repasting could do the job, but you should check if it voids the warranty (if you even care about it).

 

[Pizzadeliver]

Some reviews:
"Temperatures soared to 97 degrees max for the CPU and 81 degrees max for the GPU, but thankfully severe throttling was avoided with some judicious fan RPM—this is far from the quietest laptop going."
"
Temperatures: most of the time, the processor runs in the 80-85C range, but in demanding scenes, which require more tasks from the processor, it can jump 90C. The graphics card is in the 70-80C range, but in some places it reaches 85C.

In Blender, for example, we have the following temperatures: 86C processor, 80C for the graphics card, 54W processor consumption (!!), and 80W for the graphics card.

View fullsize
MSI-GF65-THIN-Cooling.jpg
The MSI GF65 Thin has an upgraded cooling - a complex heat pipe system: 6 heat pipes, 2 for the processor, 3 for the graphics card, and one for VRMs. All separate, just as we like to see. "

Judging by the results in TSBench (which are almost identical to mine), the throttling is starting in the end of the test. Why don't you try a Cinebench test too? It's a free software and the test takes about 2-3 minutes, but the results could be compared with other and they might tell us a little bit more. Maybe repasting could do the job, but you should check if it voids the warranty (if you even care about it).

It doesn't void the warranty, I can even add an SSD they told me. Just communicate to MSI the serial number and the work you are going to do. But my techincian told me repasting is almost uselss, I would get max 2-3° under.

Trying Cinebench r23 right now

 

[AOne]

Well, mine is like a plane taking off, when performing high demanding tasks (then I set it's fans to max performance), otherwise, it would thermal throttle too. That's normal. So, the second guy says he avoids thermals with maxed up fans, which is a good news.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

Well, mine is like a plane taking off, when performing high demanding tasks (then I set it's fans to max performance), otherwise, it would thermal throttle too. That's normal. So, the second guy says he avoids thermals with maxed up fans, which is a good news.

Well I have cooler boost Active still I get thermal
Doing One cinebench with my config and One with your turbo values... Should I leave EEP to 32?

 

[AOne]

Tell you're technician he knows nothing bout this specific issue. My laptop had thermals straight from new, but I was not aware for apps like TS. A week later I've sent it to RMA as a sensor on the mobo failed. It came back reassembled with new paste and same thermals a week after delivery. Finally, I bought a proper paste with max working temp of 200 C (not like the old ones with 100 C max) and the temps went down 10 degrees combined with TS which was good enough to avoid thermals and never exceed 90 C.

Well I have cooler boost Active still I get thermal
Doing One cinebench with my config and One with your turbo values... Should I leave EEP to 32?

I leave my EPP set to 0 all the time.






CB screenshot captured right after second run and yesterday I've made a new test, after windows update (to confirm something was not screwed up) with better points.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

Tell you're technician he knows nothing bout this specific issue. My laptop had thermals straight from new, but I was not aware for apps like TS. A week later I've sent it to RMA as a sensor on the mobo failed. It came back reassembled with new paste and same thermals a week after delivery. Finally, I bought a proper paste with max working temp of 200 C (not like the old ones with 100 C max) and the temps went down 10 degrees combined with TS which was good enough to avoid thermals and never exceed 90 C.


I leave my EPP set to 0 all the time.






CB screenshot captured right after second run.

Here's chinebench during and after with my TS setup, starting with your config right now

 

[AOne]

The red boxes means the CPU does exactly what you've told it do do - power throttle when reaching the set values. It's limiting it's performance, but is avoiding thermals. I would not be happy with that if it was my laptop.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

The red boxes means the CPU does exactly what you've told it do do - power throttle when reaching the set values. It's limiting it's performance, but is avoiding thermals. I would not be happy with that if it was my laptop.

And those are screen during and after cinebench with your config. 2 cores hit thermal... I see scores are also a lot lower than yours. I see also a difference of almost 10° between cores... Could it mean bad pasting?
So conclusions? Should I keep it or return it? My fear is that I have to wait another black friday for a decent priced laptop

 

[AOne]

I believe it's bad paste or its application. Why don't you just try repaste it and if it's still the same, turn it back?

 

[Pizzadeliver]

I believe it's pad paste or its application. Why don't you just try repaste it and if it's still the same, turn it back?

No time sadly, I've got two days and not know how to do It.

 

[AOne]

Than keep it and watch some videos to gain some courage in repasting. It's a really easy job, so don't be afraid of it.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

Now these are temps with my config on Witcher 3... Why this randomness? Yesterday they were under 80...

 

[AOne]

For how long do you have the laptop? It was the same with mine, after I repasted it the first few times with Arctic S, MX4 and some other paste left on the shelves at home. It was best with Arctic S - lasted for a whole 2 weeks with no change and after that degraded quickly for a few days. This is what happens with old generation pastes, which have max work temp of 100 C. I'm pretty sure MSI used such paste in your laptop too and this is where the problem comes from.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

For how long do you have the laptop? It was the same with mine, after I repasted it the first few times with Arctic S, MX4 and some other paste left on the shelves at home. It was best with Arctic S - lasted for a whole 2 weeks with no change and after that degraded quickly for a few days. This is what happens with old generation pastes, which have max work temp of 100 C. I'm pretty sure MSI used such paste in your laptop too and this is where the problem comes from.

I bought It 10 days ago

 

[AOne]

Exactly How was it the first days? I guess at least 5 degrees cooler.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

Exactly How was it the first days? I guess at least 5 degrees cooler.

Yes, with less undervolting

Exactly How was it the first days? I guess at least 5 degrees cooler.

Btw seriously, I don't get what Is happening, right now the Witcher Is working around 65°.... Maybe when i play with Throttlestop and benches Is Better to restart?

 

[AOne]

If you're just starting the laptop, everything inside is cool. After 2-3 tests all the components get heated up and radiate heat, which is added to that coming from the chips.

 

[Pizzadeliver]

If you're just starting the laptop, everything inside is cool. After 2-3 tests all the components get heated up and radiate heat, which is added to that coming from the chips.

Still uncertain if to keep It or not. Maybe Is Better to look for something with Ryzen series 4000? I fear this laptop May get worse in summer

And now it went thermal again while having witcher 3 reduced to icon and browsing net