HP Omen throttling at low temps

[quackers95]

I've had an HP Omen laptop for about a year and a half now. For the last 6 months, my HP Omen has been throttling whenever I try to play a game. This started only a few days after my warranty expired. Go figure. I can't think of anything that I installed or changed that would have caused this sudden change. Many games are unplayable unless I update the BIOS immediately before opening a game. If I open the game quickly enough after updating the BIOS there won't be any throttlilng, but waiting too long causes the game to drop frames and lag like crazy. 

The throttling may be caused by high temps, but my laptop generally doesn't get hotter than 70-80C during gameplay and I use a fan base to keep it cool. I've seen the throttling happen when the laptop was at only 50C too. There may be some dust or gunk inside the laptop, but I'm a bit nervous about opening it myself. It's not as accessible as my old HP Envy. I do blow out the vents with canned air regularly. 

What should I do to prevent this throttling from happening? Updating the BIOS every time I want to play something has gotten really irritating. 

PS: Some other owners that have opened the Omen noted there was poor-quality thermal paste inside, and replacing it improved their performance. Would taking it in to get the thermal paste replaced be a good idea?

[Echo_Lake]

@quackers95
Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.

I see that you're experiencing CPU throttling while playing games issue, I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue.

• Which games are causing these issues and are they online games or installed on your PC? 

In the meantime, you may try the below steps, as even if the game is compatible with your system hardware it may have a slow performance because you are using the windows 8, 8.1 or 10 as the OS uses most of the CPU & graphics card usage, you might want to reduce the visual effects for windows to save the amount of CPU & Graphics card usage required to run your game properly. 

  

Here's how you do it: 

• Go to Start Menu > click on Settings. 

• Type performance > choose to Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.  

• In the new window, go to the Visual Effects and select Adjust for best performance. 

• click Apply and ok...this should do the trick. 

If the issue persists, The best way to resolve the issue is to follow the suggestions of the HP Guided Troubleshooter:  

Click here to access it (simply select your description of the issue from the bottom of the screen to gain access to the next set of steps that should resolve your concern). 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE STEPS AND INSTRUCTIONS. 
(by the end of this document, all the issues should be resolved) 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
If I have helped you resolve the issue, feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below, Followed by clicking on "Accept as solution" from the drop-down menu on the upper right corner, Thank you for posting in the HP Support Community.  Have a great day!