HP Omen 17 - GPU running too hot

[GJJ1]

I have just bought a HP Omen 17-cb1003 with a 2080 Super RTX card (and 10750H CPU).

When I check temperatures in benchmarks and games, the GPU seems to run very hot vs. what I've seen people discuss in other forums.  It gets up to 83-85C, and then appears to thermal throttle.  The CPU seems to run relatively cool (usually staying in the 70s but sometimes getting into the 80s, and it doesn't seem to be throttling under load).  Idle temperatures for the CPU and GPU are high 30's / low 40's.  It doesn't seem to matter whether I run in default or performance, and either auto fans or max fans - the GPU temp gets up to the 80s after a few minutes under load.

From using hwinfo, it seems that my system can handle up to about 100w to the GPU before it starts to heat up to those levels, which is a long way short of the 150w rated power limit.  When I've watched youtube videos of people reviewing this laptop, they seem to run at at 150w on the GPU with temps in the 70s for both the GPU and CPU (e.g. Bob of all trade's channel).

I am wondering if there might be a problem with the thermal paste on the GPU, but wanted to check what kind of temperatures other people are seeing and/or what I should expect to see.

Mods - I originally posted this in the notebook hardware forum, not realising that there is a dedicated gaming notebook forum.  I will ask for that post to be deleted from that forum.

[Ellusive]

Hi,

What ever you do, don`t update to the new BIOS firmware, I have some suggestions for you, that you can try to lower the GPU and CPU temps

 First off , Open Nvidia Control Panel - go to adjust image settings and select the Performance tab, click apply. 

On the Manage 3d settings where it says Low latency mode : select Ultra  - apply, power management mode - maximum performance - apply, Also put your Power management options on Balanced and go into advanced options and where it says change advanced power settings - go to the hard disk - turn off harddisk after - plugged in - never  - apply

Disable game mode - click on the start icon - open settings - click on gaming and disable the game bar tab , record game clips, screenshots and broadcast  - turn them all to off

Optimize google chrome if you are using it , go to settings in chrome - advanced  - system tab - uncheck continue running background apps when google chrome is closed 

Also disable Acronis Active Protection - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy9k2jKc1uY follow the instructions on the link 

Also u can try to undervolt the cpu with throttlestop and try also undervolting the GPU with MSI afterburner

The temps from my understanding and from experience should be arround 70-80 degrees in most demanding games, You can always open the laptop and apply better paste for the CPU and GPU. I`ve done it and saw a huge difference in temps. Try buying a good paste like Kryonaut Grizzly (the original not the fake chinese stuff)

Hope this helps you get some low temps for your laptop 
I have an RTX 2070 and it never goes beyond 75 degrees in titles like Red dead Redemption 2 , all on ultra. 

If everything else  fails, you can always RETURN it to HP , might also be a hardware problem. 

[GJJ1]

Thank you for the detailed suggestions - I've updated settings accordingly to see if they make a difference.

I can't undervolt the cpu (10th gen intel, which I think are locked out of undervolting).  As a temporary measure, I tried limiting the gpu clock to 1575 and setting as low a voltage as I could whilst keeping the system stable; this resulted in a much lower average power output (around 120-130W) during benchmarks which helped with temperatures.  However, as soon as I try a stress test (e.g. Firestrike) the temperatures climb up to 83-85 if the GPU power output is above about 110W.

In games, the only thing that really helps to keep temperatures below 80 is to use the frame limit option and g-sync together, but this is not making full use of the GPU.

When undervolted and with max fans, the firestrike stress test completes 20 cycles, but at stock settings it fails (i.e. under 97% stability).

Based on the fact that other reviewers of this laptop have been able to run the 2080 GPU at full power over long periods, I think it could be a thermal paste issue (particularly as there don't seem to be problems with idle temps, which are under 40C most of the time).  However, I'd want HP to confirm if me doing this would void the warranty. 

[Ellusive]

Hp support is clueless of the problems users face with these laptops. 

My opinion to you from MAN to MAN is to return the laptop, get the money back and go for other product. The laptop is a beast, I`ll give it that, but you have to wonder why it costs less than any other machine out there.

Let me explain why...

First, the GPU and CPU  are power limited and thermally limited by default  , NO matter how much undervolt you do on your CPU , if the undervolt it`s not locked, you can`t get good temps, THE CPU will get hot and the max fans won`t help. Thermal repaste should be done from birth with every machine, stock thermal paste is rubbish and doesn`t help. 

But HP doesn`t care about that, yet they release a BIOS that breaks your LAPTOP. How is that possible ? 

before the last bios update, I ran the stock bios F25 rev A, which was released on April, my laptop`s date of birth was also in April, I was able with stock bios to undervolt the cpu by -150 mv , undervolt the GPU to hit 1950MHz at 950w and had a the thermals of a desktop machine - CPU 75 degrees celsius and GPU 65-70 degrees celsius. Two weeks ago, they rolled out BIOS , F30 rev A , undervolt is locked, CPU never goes beyond 3.4 Mhz clock speed, GPU never goes more than 1520 in Unigine, thermals over 80 degrees celsius. 

What they did , they power limit the cpu so it gets less power and lower clock speeds, that means if u have like I do an i7-9750h with a boost clock of 4.5Ghz , you will never get it. Intel wants you to get it , but HP doesn`t. They will also disable the posibility to undervolt with latest bios updates, they will also limit power the GPU. Less power, less Mhz , lower temps , but with the cost of performance. 

Have a look on these forums, how many people complain about their BIOS updates ruining laptops , about their lack of understanding how a product you payed 2.400 $ should work since it`s  a gaming laptop and actually you can`t even hit 60FPS in most games because the CPU and GPU won`t allow it. So why pay for something so expensive if you are going to brake it during it`s lifetime.

There is no answer from HP , only stupid suggestions and not a single straight answer.

 MY ADVICE to you is this : return the laptop, get your money back  and stay away as far away from this company as you can

Buy an alienware, MSI are also good laptops , Acers or Asus

Look on forums, learn about what people on those forums complain about and make up your mind on what kind of laptop you want to buy , but HP ...never again. This is the last time I buy from them. 

Lowering the frame rates, locking the CPU in throttlestop to function less than it was designed to is not good for you as a customer, because you payed for that 4.5Ghz  clock speeds on CPU or that 2000 Mhz clock speed on the GPU and you are not getting them, because the BIOS is locked and HP is forcing you to lock the performance of the laptop so it won`t blow up in 2 months of usage. 

GO a different direction bro, get your money back and stay away 

[GJJ1]

So a quick update for anyone who faces a similar issue.

I spoke to HP Support yesterday and they offered that I could send the laptop back for a replacement, or for repair.  I asked if I could repaste it myself but was worried about the warranty.  I was told (and sent an email as well) that as long as no damage was caused by the process, the warranty would continue to be valid.

I repasted using arctic mx-4 (as a sidenote, the original paste had been put in with what looked like a trowel - there was so much of it that it took me longer to clean the stuff off the dies than everything else put together).

On rebooting, my laptop's GPU now is much more stable - max performance, full fans and it stayed at 70C for an entire Firestrike stress test; default mode and default fans meanwhile saw the GPU get up to 75C.  In benchmarks themselves, it sits mid-60s (haven't tried gaming yet).

I'm quite happy with this result.  The CPU temps have gone up a little, but I suspect that's because the cooling system is now venting the full 150W that the GPU is putting out, so there is slightly less capacity for the CPU, but its still running in the 70's to mid 80's, with very short spikes up to 95C for a second or two in some benchmarks.

The GPU has now shown itself to be the beast it is - 25k graphics score on Firestrike stock, along with 10100 graphics score on the Timespy benchmark.  The average clock speed reported on these tests is now showing in the 1650 - 1700 Mhz range.

HP could really use a bit of QA on their top-end gaming laptops so that they go out of the door like this.

[october3]

this thread is really helpful, thanks to both of you

I am re-pasting too, but for goodness sake HP, work on a bios update too......should be top priority

[Ran_Echelon]

After returning my Lenovo Legion 7i (due to horribly whiny fans) I have been considering this laptop so this is very interesting! 

I had a few questions if you wouldn't mind, - GJJ1, how did you find opening the laptop, did you need a pry tool? Any delicate plastic clips to watch out for? What bios are you on now? How do you like the laptop in general, any problems now that you've improved the performance? 

Ellusive, I saw your other thread, it's ridiculous it wont let you downgrade the bios. 

Many thanks! 

[GJJ1]

HP has some videos that show how to do various upgrades at

https://supportvideos.ext.hp.com/category/videos/parts-replacement-and-upgrades?q=HP%20Omen%2017

which are worth a look at before you start.  I'd also suggest having a look at the maintenance and service guide manual for the machine (again, its on the HP site under documentation).  I didn't use a plastic tool (but in retrospect it would have been useful), but you have to be careful and go round the cover slowly so that you don't break anything. Once you take off the cover, make sure you remove the battery before doing anything else, to avoid the risk of shorting out components that are drawing power from the battery. You also need to ensure that the fans power cables are unplugged, and that the dc power cable and wireless network cables are out of the way before you remove the heat sink.  I didn't need to unplug either of these, but you might want to.

I'm on the latest bios for the Omen 17 (F.12).  I haven't experienced any issues, however the 10th gen cpus are locked out of undervolting by Intel / HP.  In terms of the power curves, from running cpu and gpu benchmarks I think HP has set up the machine as follows:

Max GPU TDP: 150W (can peak a bit higher than this)

Max CPU TDP without any GPU load: around 85W, so I think it might be set at 75W and spiking higher sometimes.  Note that you need to run in performance mode to sustain this level of boost; under comfort or default you get 75W for about 8 seconds and then it comes down to 45W.  Running a heavy multicore benchmark such as cinebench in performance mode will see CPU temps at about 95C, whereas in the other modes 45W TDP translates to about 70C.

Max CPU TDP with heavy GPU load: seems to be 35W, but its possible that I haven't tested games which are very heavily CPU dependent

When I run cinebench r20 single core, the cpu only pulls about 25W.

GPU temps max out at 77C with default performance / default fans, but in general use and max fans they stay around 70C.

CPU temps gaming range from 80-90C, with some spikes up to 95C.  However, some games (e.g. Shadow of War) run the CPU hotter than this, to about 90-95C on average unless you lower some of the options.  I think this is because that game only hits two cores and runs them hard.  I'm still trying to work out how to lower the temps on that, because I'm not really comfortable with CPU temps running above 90C for long periods of time (even though I suspect it won't actually be all that harmful to the chip).

In general, I like the machine and think that it is extremely good value for money - you simply can't find a laptop with a full power 2080 RTX super for £2000 from any other make (even bespoke outfits seem to be more expensive when you spec them up equivalently).

[Ran_Echelon]

Very informative, thank you.

Regarding games like Shadow of War, I would try using Throttlestop to limit your max. turbo multiplier on the cpu. On my Lenovo previously, I was getting very high cpu temps in Skyrim SE and I could see the cpu was running at 4ghz+. Limiting it to 3.2ghz brought temps down a lot without affecting fps.

One other question, how is the fan noise? Personally I find a smooth wooshing noise fine even if it's loud, but the high pitch whine on my Lenovo was just horrible. 

[GJJ1]

Full fan is quite loud (I think reviewers have stated around 50dB) but is a constant medium pitch noise, so not too bad.  For long periods gaming though I think I'll be using earphones.

Comfort mode and performance mode default fans spin up to about the same noise level as full fans under load, whilst default mode / default fans max fan noise is a lot quieter (but the temps are higher). 

My preference would be to use default mode / default fans where possible as the machine is very quiet under this set up, but of course that doesn't work if too much heat is being generated and you need to vent it.  I also use a laptop cooler, which I'm sure helps keep temps down.