MSI Alpha 17 C7VF - any chance to make it a bit more silent?

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

Hey there,
since a few weeks I have a MSI Alpha 17 C7VF-055 with the 7845HX CPU.

Currently I am trying to reduce the noise.
I selected the silent mode in MSI Center, but the fans are still quite loud (>2000rpm) even if I am only logged into Win11.
There are no background tasks, all drivers and BIOS are up to date.
According to Coretemp the CPU draws about 30W and the frequency is >4GHz even if I do nothing and just look at the Coretemp Window.

Any ideas apart from "accept it, it is a gaming laptop"?

Is an EC reset helpful?
Any changes in BIOS?

Thanks in advance
S.

 

[drek4]

Hey there,
since a few weeks I have a MSI Alpha 17 C7VF-055 with the 7845HX CPU.

Currently I am trying to reduce the noise.
I selected the silent mode in MSI Center, but the fans are still quite loud (>2000rpm) even if I am only logged into Win11.
There are no background tasks, all drivers and BIOS are up to date.
According to Coretemp the CPU draws about 30W and the frequency is >4GHz even if I do nothing and just look at the Coretemp Window.

Any ideas apart from "accept it, it is a gaming laptop"?

Is an EC reset helpful?
Any changes in BIOS?

Thanks in advance
S.

If only in Windows and doing nothing, you can disable CPU TURBO in your power plan, this will keep it at base clock speeds,
just set maximum CPU to 97%.

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

If only in Windows and doing nothing, you can disable CPU TURBO in your power plan, this will keep it at base clock speeds,
just set maximum CPU to 97%.

Thanks for the tip...and if then I need power (for CAD or video editing) will it then ramp up or must I then do the change manually?

 

[drek4]

Thanks for the tip...and if then I need power (for CAD or video editing) will it then ramp up or must I then do the change manually?

You have to do it manually, I use ThrottleStop, so I just click on ''Disable Turbo'', but TS only supports Intel CPUs.
I also reduce PL1/PL2 to more acceptable levels than default, but you indicated that your CPU only draws 30W.

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

hmmm sad, that MSI does not manage this and that we customer must make manual stuff.....

what are your PL1/2 ? any suggestions for the AMD 7845hx

 

[drek4]

hmmm sad, that MSI does not manage this and that we customer must make manual stuff.....

what are your PL1/2 ? any suggestions for the AMD 7845hx

Well I got a R7 6800HS in both my G14s, so I know that they suck up quite a lot of power in games (55/75W), but in normal day to day stuff, needs a lot less (35/45W).
So since the recommended wattage use is 45-75W, for gaming PL1/PL2 55/75W, if not gaming 45/55W.

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

Hm I now checked the BIOS....unfortunately there is no option for PL1/2.
Should it be there for an AMD CPU or is this only visible for Intel?

And yes, I a activated the advanced options in BIOS with the keys ;-)

 

[drek4]

Hm I now checked the BIOS....unfortunately there is no option for PL1/2.
Should it be there for an AMD CPU or is this only visible for Intel?

And yes, I a activated the advanced options in BIOS with the keys ;-)

Well in my G14s, it's indicated as PPT Limit, so try something like PPT in your search.

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

which cpu has the g14 ?

 

[drek4]

which cpu has the g14 ?

Mine are the 2022 version with the Ryzen 7 6800HS with the RX6800S, all AMD laptop.

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

Okay I now checked the BIOS settings.
It seems as if I could only setthe PPT limit manually.

Well I think this should have the same effect as setting the max. power state in the windows energy plan to a value lower than 100%.
I will give it a try if for "normal" stuff like browsing and so I get a more silent system and for high power usecases I change it to 100% and then I accept the fans as it is their job ;-)

Additional info:
What made a big differece was a IETS GT600 cooling pad under the laptop.
No changes in BIOS or power plans, MSI Center set to silent and the fans of the laptops are really silent....maybe I also go for that.....

Keep tuned. I will come back after some days of experience.

 

[Raju]

I'm curious, did you not mention the advanced fan settings in MSI Center because you've already tried it and it didn't meet your needs?

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

Hey Raju,
indeed I tried them and set the first 4 sliders on each side to 20%, but I do not know why, the CPU temp went up to >80°C (Windows idling....) and fans ramped up.

So no success for me.

Then I changed to silent and added the cooling pad and since then it is more silent than before.
The hearable fan of the cooling pad is much better than the Alpha´s fans.

 

[drek4]

Hey Raju,
indeed I tried them and set the first 4 sliders on each side to 20%, but I do not know why, the CPU temp went up to >80°C (Windows idling....) and fans ramped up.

So no success for me.

Then I changed to silent and added the cooling pad and since then it is more silent than before.
The hearable fan of the cooling pad is much better than the Alpha´s fans.

If you want to only use the laptop fans, you need to have more than 20%, in the BIOS the fail safes will override when the temperature rises to a certain temperature.
(In BIOS Trip Point 0 & 1)
You should try something similat to this if gaming, left 20%, center to right 30-70-110-150-150, if not center to right 30-50-70-90-110.

 

[Raju]

Hey Raju,
indeed I tried them and set the first 4 sliders on each side to 20%, but I do not know why, the CPU temp went up to >80°C (Windows idling....) and fans ramped up.

So no success for me.

Then I changed to silent and added the cooling pad and since then it is more silent than before.
The hearable fan of the cooling pad is much better than the Alpha´s fans.

There are two possible reasons for the CPU temperature increase. One is that although you mentioned Windows is idle, there might still be background programs running, causing the temperature to rise. I usually use Process Explorer to observe which programs are occupying my CPU. The other reason could be the cooling system; you might need to replace the thermal paste if your laptop's cooling capability has deteriorated compared to before. You can use Cinebench R23 to test your laptop's performance and cooling system.

 

[Sven.Tejck0f850266]

There are two possible reasons for the CPU temperature increase. One is that although you mentioned Windows is idle, there might still be background programs running, causing the temperature to rise. I usually use Process Explorer to observe which programs are occupying my CPU. The other reason could be the cooling system; you might need to replace the thermal paste if your laptop's cooling capability has deteriorated compared to before. You can use Cinebench R23 to test your laptop's performance and cooling system.

Hey Raju,
well I bought the Notebook 7 weeks ago and so I think a repasting should not be necessary and may viod the warranty?

I will make a deep analysis in the next weeks (currently I have to install 15 WIN11 machines and prepare a new SIMracing season...so little time).

As already mentioned currently the game changer seems ti be the cooling pad.

S

 

[Lechus]

On the topic of high temperatures MSI Alpha 17 C7VF...

For those interested,

Yesterday, ~14 months after laptop purchase, I decided to replace the thermal paste and also clean the fans, and let me tell you - it was definitely a good move.
While the factory thermal paste laid on the inductors and capacitors surrounding the CPU and GPU was still in fairly decent condition the same cannot be said for the main RTX die or the Ryzen die - in both cases the paste there was dried to stone (!). Ryzen CPU CCD2 for example had places where the dried paste “shrank” or changed shape in a way that it did not fully touch the surface of the die anymore. RTX and its memeory looked equally bad.

I have no idea if mine is an isolated case.... but if you're noticing rising temperatures - especially more and more often millisecond temperature spikes to above 100C, and dropping clocks (average) at prolonged heavy loads, and fans running louder and more frequently and starting to be a pest in silent mode - then it's probably time to clean the fans and replace the thermal paste.

 

[Bai]

On the topic of high temperatures MSI Alpha 17 C7VF...

For those interested,

Yesterday, ~14 months after laptop purchase, I decided to replace the thermal paste and also clean the fans, and let me tell you - it was definitely a good move.
While the factory thermal paste laid on the inductors and capacitors surrounding the CPU and GPU was still in fairly decent condition the same cannot be said for the main RTX die or the Ryzen die - in both cases the paste there was dried to stone (!). Ryzen CPU CCD2 for example had places where the dried paste “shrank” or changed shape in a way that it did not fully touch the surface of the die anymore. RTX and its memeory looked equally bad.

I have no idea if mine is an isolated case.... but if you're noticing rising temperatures - especially more and more often millisecond temperature spikes to above 100C, and dropping clocks (average) at prolonged heavy loads, and fans running louder and more frequently and starting to be a pest in silent mode - then it's probably time to clean the fans and replace the thermal paste.

Sounds informative, did you only change the thermal paste? What was the condition of the thermal pads? Did you by any chance take a photo of the state of the thermal paste?

 

[Bai]

On the topic of high temperatures MSI Alpha 17 C7VF...

For those interested,

Yesterday, ~14 months after laptop purchase, I decided to replace the thermal paste and also clean the fans, and let me tell you - it was definitely a good move.
While the factory thermal paste laid on the inductors and capacitors surrounding the CPU and GPU was still in fairly decent condition the same cannot be said for the main RTX die or the Ryzen die - in both cases the paste there was dried to stone (!). Ryzen CPU CCD2 for example had places where the dried paste “shrank” or changed shape in a way that it did not fully touch the surface of the die anymore. RTX and its memeory looked equally bad.

I have no idea if mine is an isolated case.... but if you're noticing rising temperatures - especially more and more often millisecond temperature spikes to above 100C, and dropping clocks (average) at prolonged heavy loads, and fans running louder and more frequently and starting to be a pest in silent mode - then it's probably time to clean the fans and replace the thermal paste.

For example, the laptop is standing with the keyboard facing up, the processor is on the right side, yes?

 

[Lechus]

Sounds informative, did you only change the thermal paste? What was the condition of the thermal pads? Did you by any chance take a photo of the state of the thermal paste?

I applied thermal paste Arctic MX-6 on CPU and GPU. (next time I'll go with Noctua NT-H2)
For capacitors, inductors and GPU memory I used custom cut Honeywell PTM7950 thermal pads.

You can see on photo the state of factory thermal paste after 14 months. Fans were quite dirty as well (though reminder I use cooling pad)

For example, the laptop is standing with the keyboard facing up, the processor is on the right side, yes?

Ekhm.. if you don't really know what you're doing.... then you'd better complain to the manufacturer that temps are too high and for example the silent mode - it's not silent, they should replace the paste for you under warranty.