Cooling solutions for Creator 15 (i7-10 + RTX2070)

[Captain Starbuck]

I'm very happy with my Creator 15 - it's great for intense development as well as gaming. But she runs hot.

Spoiler: The Creator Center software (v2.0.131.0) isn't very good for heat management, for reasons noted here...

When setting the User Scenario to High Performance we can adjust the fan speed - potentially a great feature.
The Cooler Boost is also a GREAT feature. It very quickly cools from 90+ down to 50 and below - but can't be activated with a hotkey.

When in High Performance, the Auto fan setting is completely inadequate, the area between the keyboard and monitor gets nearly too hot to touch, and the system has auto-shutdown a couple times. I must use Advanced fan settings.

The temperature gauge in Advanced is colored from blue to red, not numbered according to degrees. In order to keep the device cool, I need to set fans for the first "cool" temp at 100%, and all of the others at 150%. The end result is that all three fans always run at 150%. I've tried a progressive fan speed increase from 75% to 150%. But by the time the temp triggers the speed for the yellow zone, even 150% is too little, too late. My enhancement request for this would be : Don't use colors, use actual temperatures in degrees C/F so that we can see what this is really supposed to do. Though as noted, this won't make much difference anyway.

When in the Balanced Scenario, the default fan settings are not adequate - the system heats up quickly and the Fan Speed Settings aren't available! So to keep the system from burning up I need to keep it in High Performance mode all the time ... and thus, I need to keep the fans running at 150% all the time.

Yes, the fans do keep the CPU and GPU cool, but I'd like to keep the system from getting so hot :
Fan 1 8400+ RPM
Fan 2,3 4400-4600 RPM
Temp for CPU and GPU in the 46-52C range.

My concern is that with the fans running at full speed all the time, at some point I will need to replace them - or find the system fried when the fans burn out and the auto-shutdown fails.
If it's easy to replace the fans (maybe in a year or two), and the parts aren't tough to find, I'd be OK with replacing them. I'm just trying to delay that. I'd be happy to replace the stock fans with something else that has a higher max RPM, better airflow, different material, etc. ... if I knew what would absolutely work - and yes, I'd be OK with the warranty issue.

Air exhaust doesn't seem to be the problem. These fans seem to draw a significant amout of heat out of the chassis. The problem seems to be that the intake isn't cool enough, or that the fans don't dissipate the heat fast enough. ( I'm in a home office, common ambient temperature, not a cooled office. ) Aside from making the room cooler, is there something that I can do to bring cooler air into the chassis?

What can we do to keep these devices cooler, and ideally allow the fans to work less?

Standard air flow devices have 1-5 fans, running at 700-1900 RPM.

I just bought a single fan, 1900RPM base for the laptop that blows air up into the bottom of the system. It did absolutely nothing for the CPU/GPU temperatures reported in Creator Center.
I have another base like that with a single fan that draws air down and out - and also does nothing for this system.
Are multi-fan devices better? Would push or pull fans be better for this laptop?
I don't want fans that counter the air flow that's engineered into this device - but not knowing exactly how the air flows or the fan types, I have no information about where or how they are pulling air across the internals.

Any recommendations for devices that actually work to cool the CPU/GPU in their specific position in this notebook?

Thanks!!

 

[cthorson1014c002c5]

Have you tried re-paste the thermal paste and clean the fins of fans?

 

[Downey Rob]

There are some recommendations for reference.
1. Enable "Cooler boost".
2. Switch to "Extreme performance" and choose the advanced fan setting to adjust fan curve.
3. Decrease the laptop's performance or workload. Ex. Adjust Maximum processor state, close the applications that you do not need,.etc.
How to make your laptop cool and quiet

 

[Captain Starbuck]

Thanks to both of you so far...

@cthorson1014c002c5 :
I have not moved to the themal paste solution. I have not opened to clean fans but I think that would be a good move.
Does CPU/fan maintenance void the warranty? This system was purchased exactly 2 years ago.

@Downey Rob : If you look in the Spoiler dropdown that I provided you'll see how I've already been using the Creator Center features.
But yes, I did turn down max processor state to 98%. There is no "Extreme Performance" setting in this version of Creator Center for this device (i7-gen10).

At ambient/Idle with almost nothing running, CPU/GPU temps are 51/47C, which is great. But the fans are on all of the time. Fan1 drops from around 8400RPM to less than 4000 when CPU goes under 49 but then it goes right back up again as the break from cooling results in a temp rise.
Under moderate load the CPU runs in the 70's - still acceptable - and with extreme load in the 90's.
These numbers are fine, but the goal remains to get this same profile without relying on the internal fans running at 150% almost all the time.

Aside from modifying parameters or system usage, themal paste, and fan cleaning, I don't think there are any more options to improve the internal cooling. So I'm still looking for an external cooling solution, probably a common laptop cooling pad.

I believe the goal would be to cool the area around the CPU and GPU by up to 8 degrees (fingers crossed - dreaming?), to allow the fans to remain at lowest RPM during idle. Beyond that, I don't mind if they kick up to 100% or beyond on load.

What I've seen so far is an unperceptible change according to Creator Center, with airflow only "seeming" to cool the middle/bottom of the laptop, and doing nothing for the back area where all of the heat is.
I don't think the chassis location of the CPU and GPU is unusual, so a common pad should work - right?
Can anyone recommend a specific cooling pad, and quantify a temp drop on these devices by some number of degrees? : Brand, number of fans, fan location, RPM, CF/M airflow?

Without actual data to match the laptop and a pad, it's all guesswork and trial-and-error.
I have to believe Someone is using a pad effectively and of those who do so, Someone can/will provide some metrics here with the fans off and on.
This would be good info for all of us.
Hello ... MSI ??????

Thanks!

 

[Captain Starbuck]

And the winner is ... The Cryogen 2 cooler pad from Enhance: https://pc.enhancegaming.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=23264
I won't go into spec detail or provide a review, I just want to explain briefly why I believe (at this time) this is the solution for the current challenge.

The goal has been to lower onboard fan speed to get longer life from the fans, of course while keeping CPU/GPU at a reasonably low operating temperature.
With this cooler pad, I'm able to run in High Performance, Balanced, and Silent modes with low onboard fan speed while maintaining acceptable temperatures.
As an example, right now I'm running High Performance with fan 1,2,3 at 3000, 2680, 2400, while keeping temps for CPU and GPU at about (46-49)/44. Compare to my OP above,
8400, 4400, 4600. At times fans 2 and 3 shut off altogether ( 2750,0,0 ! ) and temps don't go above about 52.

Mission Accomplished. Solved. Satisfied.

Final notes:
- Advanced fan speeds are now set at 50%,60,75, 85, 90,150, compared to 100,150,150,150,150. In other words, the fans aren't always running at top speed when the system is at idle.
- The cooling pad has 5 fans, grouped as 3 and 2 with a separate manual control for each group. I encourage experimentation with this, with each group anywhere from minimum to maximum to fine tune metrics. Turning off either group does result in a warm up of course.
- The pad is adustable to many inclinations and has a bumper to stop the laptop from falling off the bottom when it's on an incline. If the pad is on the smallest incline, the bumper isn't necessary - the laptop isn't moving. I found that if the bumper is removed and the laptop is shifted down with the back end of the laptop getting more fan access, that the back part of the laptop is kept much cooler. That's a Huge bonus.
- While I include CPU and GPU in all of my notes here, with my kind of work as a software developer and occasional gamer, I'm not concerned at all about the GPU temperature which always remains within an acceptable range. My concern has only really been for the CPU. That said, yes, of course the GPU temp is also better now.
- No, liquid cryo cooling is not available for this laptop, I was looking.

- I keep saying the CPU and GPU are at the back. I actually don't know, though it would be easy to look at a spec to see. The side exhausts are positioned at the back and it's possible that the heat in back is mostly radiation of the heat from pipes on the way to the exhaust. All I know at the moment is that it's a helpful guide to simply put fingers on that part of the laptop to get an idea of how hot the device is overall, and when I keep that area cooler, the system is reporting lower temperatures. In a more professional effort I'd get specs and focus cooling where the circuits actually are.
- This Cryogen 2 is quiet. Specs for this device don't provide a dB but "some" other devices do, with ranges from about 16-22dB.
- This device rates at 70CFM. I think the Cryogen 5 rates at 75CFM. There are others that rate at 100CFM. I don't know if higher CFM is "better" because I'm happy with what I have now. YMMV
- Fan speed in RPM does not seem to be indicative of actual cooling performance. Nor does fan size. We can't really tell if a cooling pad with F fans at S speed with C CFM will work with laptop L until we simply try it, which is not simple at all.
- Higher Price does not translate to better cooling, but since devices in this area are only about US$25-55, this isn't a huge investment (like liquid cooling for a tower). Experiment - especially if you have a store with a "no questions asked" 15 day return policy.
- I still intend to replace the CPU paste and will report back here after that.
- I might also try sharing my iced tea with the laptop. Maybe it just needs a refreshing drink now and then, like all of us.

I hope this helps someone.