HP Omen 17 - CPU temperatures up to 100 °C during gaming

[klosch]

Hey there 🙂

I bought an HP Omen 17 CK1777ng in February 2023. I am just wondering if its normal that the CPU temperature reaches up to 100 °C as soon as I start gaming? Doesnt these temps damage the laptop over time? The screenshot of HWMonitor I attached shows the temperatures during playing Battlefield 2042. In addition, I checked the battery status and the wear level is already at 9% - in just 4 months. Thanks for your feedback folks 🙂

BR

klosch

[Huffer]

100 C is right at the upper end of normal and according to Intel will not damage the hardware. Intel processors are set to throttle back at 100 C. Make sure you keep the laptop elevated in the rear if possible allowing max airflow. Gaming laptops are based on a lot of engineering compromises and have a lot more difficulty than desktops in dealing with thermal issues. Looks like yours is creeping up to 100, the system likely throttles the speed back a bit and then the fans drop the temp down to 97 or so which is what you want it to do. Keep an eye on it but as it is you are not causing harm. 

[TzortzisG]

Hi Klosch.

Exactly what Huffer EXPERT Level 18 said. Although if you want to limit your CPU a bit so as to achieve slightly lower MAX temps, there are ways..... Also, buy yourself a powerful laptop cooling pad. For gamers this is a must-have.

Your battery wear level is normal. Modern batteries (unfortunately) have very high energy densities and this, along with the raised temperatures inside the laptop case, causes a slightly faster (than usual) degradation of the cells. If you calibrate your battery, the wear level will most likely be reported as even less. However, I don't generally suggest calibrating, because it causes some extra wear during the process. If your battery is over 80% it's fine. What you really have to look out for is battery swelling. You have to actually take a look at the battery every now and then. Gaming laptops (due to the heat produced) often have this problem!

[klosch]

Thank you both for your feedback 🙂 glad to hear these temps will not damage the system.

I elevated the rear of the laptop using a cooling pad with 4 fans (each 2.000 RPM). To be honest I still reach the 100 C in HWMonitor (btw I didnt reach 100 C in the Omen software), so I see no cooling effect for now. Anyways I ordered and will try a more powerful one with 5.000 RPM. Do you have any recommendations regarding cooling pads?

The temps during gaming were always quite high since the first boot in Feb 23. Due to the heat wave within the last days I started to double check on the temps. I didnt feel any throttle before the heat wave (which makes sense).

What about the thermal paste? Is it possible to have too much or too less on the unit which causes the higher temps/throttling?

[TzortzisG]

These are good questions!

- glad to hear these temps will not damage the system.

Well....... To be completely honest, high temperatures and dust ARE the true system killers. Read this thread: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/90-degrees-CPU-when-idling/m-p... It's impossible to "hurt" your CPU. Other components of your motherboard do "suffer" however. But you did buy a gaming laptop to be able to push it to its limits, which is pretty much what we call a "torture test". This is why it's a good idea to use laptop pads, so the rest of your system gets ample cooling....

- Do you have any recommendations regarding cooling pads?

I can give you some hints if you like. But I have to say that this is pretty much a matter of personal taste. "One man's trash is another man's treasure" so to speak. Personally, I buy the ones that are made of metal and have 1 (one) fan of large dimensions -instead of many small ones. The metal base has better heat dissipation, and the large single fan is quiet yet cools every single inch of the laptop. On the other hand, I HAVE read good things about the "Spirit of Gamer" products, especially the Air Blade 500, and these are multi-fan products.....

- The temps during gaming were always quite high since the first boot in Feb 23. Due to the heat wave within the last days I started to double check on the temps. I didnt feel any throttle before the heat wave (which makes sense).

Just like you said. Ambient temperature changes everything. This is why most servers are located near the Arctic circle.

- What about the thermal paste? Is it possible to have too much or too less on the unit which causes the higher temps/throttling?

Difficult question. Definitely and most emphatically YES. You have to research this stuff yourself I'm afraid. But this is what Kevin Glynn (creator of Throttlestop) has to say about this (after a lot of feedback from gamers): "Some popular thermal pastes only last a few weeks before temperatures start to go up and up. If you think you did a bad job then do it again or try using a different thermal paste. Noctua NT-H2 works well for many laptop owners. Some users have reported long term problems with MX-4 when used on mobile CPUs. Did you spread the paste so it covers the entire CPU die? The pea size blob method works well on desktop CPUs that use an integrated heat spreader but this same method might not work so well on mobile CPUs. A thin even layer usually works better when applied direct die on mobile CPUs. Do some research and consider trying again."

As I said, good questions....

[Huffer]

Did you apply thermal paste or are you still working with the factory build? It's done correctly at the factory so that is not the problem. 

[klosch]

No, I didnt apply new thermal paste due to warranty (I also do have the HP Care Pack). So its still the factory applied paste.

Okay, then I can dismiss the thermal paste theory 😉

[TzortzisG]

Quite true! I assumed he had already tried to re-paste.

[klosch]

Sorry, maybe I wasnt specific enough.

I have another question 🙂 ... and I think my questions reveal that I was a gaming desktop user in the past (thats why the temps made me a little bit nervoues :P)... this is my first gaming laptop at all.

So, I just tried Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 1, Modern Warefare 2, Battlefront 2. And in all of these games I lost about 10-30 FPS since the last time I played them. Maybe (or obvisiously) the reason is the throttling of the CPU, the clocks of the cores drop while running the games. The last time I played these games, it was like 20 °C in the room. Today / currently its like 25-26 °C. Could the 5-6 °C temperature difference be the reason for the throtteling / FPS drops?

Sorry guys if thats a dumb question, still trying to understand the characteristics of a gaming laptops 😛

[Huffer]

FPS drop has to be throttling of some kind and yes a 5-6 C increase in ambient temperature could put you into the CPU throttling zone. Only way to know for sure is to try it in a cooler environment.