# Undervolt and cool down Aero 15 X9 (2019) with i7-8750H



## onekanaka (Jul 3, 2021)

Hello guys! Long time lurker but posting for the first time, because I really need your help. I have a Gigabyte AERO 15 X9 laptop 2019 edition, with a i7-8750H cpu and a 2070 RTX Max-Q gpu, and for the life of me I have not being able to reduce the heat when gaming since I bought it.

I have tried everything for years to make it run cooler, some times it works depending on the game, but basically playing anything really heavy like Doom Eternal with graphical settings maxed out with the latest Ray Tracing patch makes it reach around 90c degrees and it really drives me crazy. I also tried to use MSI Afterburner to undervolt the GPU, but it looks like it doesn't care and runs hot regardless. 

Some other games and configuration with a previous ThrotteStop made it even get a blue screen when getting at 90c (I had Speed Shift EPP enabled with value as 0 and I think this was the cause but not sure, I don't have it like that anymore). Since I updated TS to the latest version however, it runs at 90c top but no performance issues or blue screen whatsover.

Here are some screenshots of ThrottleStop 9.3.1 and Afterburner while playing Doom, any advice regarding this laptop and CPU/GPU cooling will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!


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## unclewebb (Jul 4, 2021)

Many laptops are poorly engineered. Inadequate or barely adequate cooling is common. Games that try to fully use more of your hardware will run hot and cause constant thermal throttling. 

Have you ever disassembled your laptop to clean it out? This is normal maintenance. Replacing the thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink can also reduce heat. Nothing you do though is going to magically fix the problem if the real problem is an inadequate heatsink and fan.

Open the ThrottleStop Options window. There is a value called PROCHOT Offset on the right side. This controls when your CPU starts thermal throttling. The Intel default is 0. Your laptop is set to 10 which means it will start slowing down at 90°C instead of the full Intel rated value which is 100°C. If you do not see a lock icon near this setting, that means you can adjust this. Most laptops set this to about 3 which raises the thermal throttling temperature up to 97°C. This is still within the Intel spec. Setting the thermal throttling temperature to 90°C is way too conservative. 

When you undervolt the Intel GPU, you also have to undervolt the iGPU Unslice equally. The way you have this setup, this part of your undervolt is probably not doing anything. I recommend leaving both of these at +0.0000. When gaming you are not using the Intel GPU so undervolting this can cause instability without improving power consumption or temperatures any meaningful amount. 

Turn the Log File option on in ThrottleStop and go play a game for at least 15 minutes. Attach a log file to your next post if you want me to have a look.


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## onekanaka (Jul 5, 2021)

Hi @unclewebb, thanks a lot for the response! Yeah I have cleaned it but no repasting yet, I kinda wanna see how much I can push the undervolt before having to do that. I know undervolting is not a magic solution, but I have read lots of posts and videos and I feel I still haven't reached the right ThrottleStop config.

Actually I think I lied, I in fact found some undervolt success for example with Tony Hawk and other newer games, which I manage to drop between 10-15 c with some TS configs, but I guess in the case of Doom with Ray Tracing the GPU is probably the one ultimately driving my temps up over time.

Also are the IccMax values in the FIVR popup the correct ones? Here are the attached logs and screenshots for the last changes and tests as requested, thanks!


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## unclewebb (Jul 5, 2021)

The log file looks great. I will assume that you figured out how to raise the thermal throttling temperature. During the entire log there was only 3 seconds where the CPU needed to thermal throttle which limited the peak temperature to 98°C. That is on the safe side of the Intel 100°C specification so that is perfect.

The only way to improve performance further is to reduce your temperatures. Replacing the thermal paste might allow you to run a couple of hundred MHz faster but this might not make any significant difference to your gaming experience in the game you are playing.

The IccMax values are not causing any throttling issues. I prefer to set the core and cache IccMax to the maximum, 255.75, so it does not interfere with performance. I do not know if there are any default values. Different manufacturers seem to use a variety of different values. You can delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file and shutdown your computer. When ThrottleStop starts back up, it will read the default values from however the BIOS setup the CPU. Whatever the default values are, they are not that important. Set them sky high for best performance.

Your undervolt is the same as what most others are using with the 8750H. Don't waste too much time looking for better values. There is next to nothing further to be gained.


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## onekanaka (Jul 5, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> The log file looks great. I will assume that you figured out how to raise the thermal throttling temperature. During the entire log there was only 3 seconds where the CPU needed to thermal throttle which limited the peak temperature to 98°C. That is on the safe side of the Intel 100°C specification so that is perfect.
> 
> The only way to improve performance further is to reduce your temperatures. Replacing the thermal paste might allow you to run a couple of hundred MHz faster but this might not make any significant difference to your gaming experience in the game you are playing.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for the help @unclewebb! I am not too concerned at the end with performance but I am willing to sacrifice it if I can get it to run cooler, these laptops especially the AERO ones have such a bad cooling system but at least now I have little bit more peace of mind, thanks a lot!


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