CPU overheated and now I'm experiencing worse performing games

[AlpinoX]

Hello there,

Recently I was gaming on my Pavilion laptop which I connected to my TV with a HDMI cable. Because I didn't need to see my laptop's screen I closed as far as possible without the laptop going into hibernation. When playing my game I started noticing frame drops and suddenly the game dropped to 6 FPS. I have CPUtemp installed on my laptop and decided to boot it up. It said my cores were all around 90 degrees or above. I think this was caused by the almost closed screen. It blocks the airflow from the vent between the screen and keyboard. The next day I gamed normally on my laptop with my screen fully open, so the airflow was as good as it could get. Still, whatever game I tried to run, they all didn't run smooth at all. I experienced lower frames (sometimes not 60fps but around 30fps). Again I looked at my CPU temperatures, they were above 85 degrees. Before this all I've never had overheating problems or framedrops because of it. 

Now, I tried to unscrew the back cover to see if any dust has built up in the half year I own and use this laptop, but I couldn't get it off so I gave up on that. 

At this moment (in an idle state), my cpu temperatures are 50-60 degrees, way above the temperatures a cpu should be. I also noticed a buzzing/zooming noise coming from inside the casing, presumably from my cpu fan. I'm not sure if this occured before my overheating problems but I thought it's worth mentioning. Now, my question is: Did the closing of my screen during gaming damage my cpu in some way and if so, is there anything I can do about it myself or should I send my laptop back for inspection (I still have a warranty)?

[Raj1788]

@AlpinoX

Thank you for joining HP Forums.

It's a pleasure assisting you in finding answers to your technical queries.

Follow the below steps to increase to FPS

Right-click your desktop background and select NVIDIA Control Panel. You can also find this tool by performing a Start menu (or Start screen) search for NVIDIA Control Panel or by right-clicking the NVIDIA icon in your system tray and selecting Open NVIDIA Control Panel. 

  

To quickly set a system-wide preference, you could use the Adjust image settings with the preview option. For example, if you have old hardware that struggles to play the games you want to play, you may want to select “Use my preference emphasizing” and move the slider all the way to “Performance.” This trades graphics quality for an increased frame rate. 

  

By default, the “Use the advanced 3D image settings” option is selected. You can select Manage 3D settings and change advanced settings for all programs on your computer or just for specific games. NVIDIA keeps a database of the optimal settings for various games, but you’re free to tweak individual settings here. Just mouse-over an option for an explanation of what it does. 

  

If you have a laptop with NVIDIA Optimus technology — that is, both NVIDIA and Intel graphics — this is the same place you can choose which applications will use the NVIDIA hardware and which will use the Intel hardware. 

Click on this link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c01657439 for the overheating issue.

Keep me posted, how it goes!

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Have a great day!

Cheers:)

[AlpinoX]

First of all, thanks for your reply.

I did change the Nvidia settings in its control panel as you recommended. This didn't really change anything in terms of fps or cpu temperatures. I am pretty sure all necessary drivers I have are the latest available version. I just tried to play a game which ran fine on 60fps before all of my problems. After about 5-10 minutes in game the frames dropped to about 6fps and went back up after a few seconds. Then I alt-tabbed out of the game to respond to a message I got and when I went back in game the fps maxed out at about 10. I closed the game, restarted my laptop, tried a few other games as soon as it restarted but all games are affected now. Nvidia's settings are on the highest performance settings. Sounds stutter and my whole laptop gets slow when I try to run a game. CPU temperatures are still of the charts and I am guessing that that's the problem causer.

Now, there is a BIOS update available  (which mentions that the update will help lower CPU temperatures in rare occuring cases) for my laptop but I haven't yet updated it as the following guide told me that I need a bitlocker key: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c00042629. I can't seem to find that and I read online that there isn't such a thing for Windows 10 Home, the Windows version I am using on my laptop. Should I proceed to the next step or will that cause even bigger problems? 

I'm looking forward to any replies.

Kind Regards,

AlpinoX.

[Raj1788]

@AlpinoX

Use the following steps to open the System Tests menu when Windows won't start.

1. Hold the power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.

2. Turn on the computer and immediately press Esc repeatedly, about once every second. When the menu appears, press the F2 key.

3. On the main menu, click System Tests.

   

4. The System Tests menu displays.

1. Then click Extensive Test.

   

2. Click Run once, or Loop until error.

   While the test is running, the time remaining and test result for each component are shown on the screen. The test can take 2 or more hours to complete.

   

3. If a component fails a test, write down the failure ID (24-digit code) so you have it available when you contact HP Customer Support. The information is also available in Test Logs on the main menu.

Keep me posted with the test results!

Have a great day!

Cheers:)

[AlpinoX · Accepted solution]

Hey, a bit of a late reaction but I managed to fix my issue a few weeks ago. As it often goes with help threads, the creator doesn't tell what actually solved his issue. Well, here I am telling you guys 😛

So after a week of trying various stuff to fix my overheating issue I still didn't know what it could be. I was sure that my graphic driver was up to date. Then, somewhere on a page I read that a clean install from Nvidia's site could solve it. So I went on to try it: I deleted all nvidia software from my laptop and restarted it. Then I went to Nvidia and downloaded the same version I just deleted. When it was installed I restarted again and tried to run a game. I can tell you that I was quite happy when I saw the FPS counter back on a constant 60fps 🙂 So far I haven't had any problems since, although my CPU still seems a bit hot. I think my bad ventilation caused an error in the software or something and with the update I ran in Nvidia Experience it didn't debug it. I have no idea if that could be what was happening but at least my laptop is fine now. Thanks for the help @Raj1788! This thread can be marked solved and closed.

[Jeet_singh]

@AlpinoX,

It looks like you were interacting with @Raj1788, but he is out for the day & I'll be glad to help you out, 
I'm the Jeet_Singh & I'm at your service. 

I'm glad you got this issue sorted out.

Do visit our HP Forums and drop us a message anytime you need help.

Thank you 😀