Optimus Series: 15.6 - System Lag Fan Constantly On

Hello, Could do with some advice regarding an issue of lag on new win 10 install. The system appears to be struggling to render things like system icons, google chrome loads white screen with quite a delay before page contents are rendered. A game that prior to wipe was functioning great is now nearly unusable when intensive in-game action is going on. There is a very loud sound coming from the fan. It’s on virtually constantly.

The context was I did a clean install as for some strange reason my keyboard was not working on login and intermittently kept breaking while in windows. Also right menu click on mouse would disappear. Hence new install from USB – these are now working.

Tried quite a lot to stop the major stuttering so have made progress but it’s still notable.

I believe it's a graphics card issue which is a nvidia 860m but am far from sure. So far I have done the following:

HARDWARE

1) Cleaned out dust from fan outlets
2) Taken off old thermal compound on CPU & GPU and replaced with new thermal compound (good stuff) cleaned as well.

SOFTWARE

Windows 10 Related

1) Completely clean windows 10 latest version
2) Disabled cortana
3) Disabled superfetch (now called sysmain) - https://tunecomp.net/cant-find-the-superfetch-service-on-windows-10-now-it-is-called-sysmain/
4) Disabled prefetcher HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters - Double click on EnablePrefetcher - value is 3 I set to 0
5) Turned off unnecessary win 10 theme effects like transparency.
6) Used both balanced and high performance power schemes with passive mode set (as suggested). Gone back to auto now on high performance.
7) Ran diskcleanup to remove GB of win updates
8) Replaced Task Manger with Process Explorer - https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-cpu-but/00c92238-9382-4946-bc6a-bbc451888b96
9) Turned off unused services like xps printer, windows player etc
10) Ran sfc /scannow and it repaired any errors
11) Using Bitdefender antivirus free to replace Windows defender (turned realtime scanning off) and currently disabled everything to do with Defender.
12) Set paging size as recommended on https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...chugging/dddfa9a1-6873-49d9-bfd1-63688ddd7010
13) Clearing Page File at shutdown https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/high-cpu-usage-issue-in-windows-10-fall-creators.html
14) WmiPrvSE.exe on startup takes over 50% CPU - https://appuals.com/wmi-provider-host-wmiprvse-exe-high-cpu-usage-on-windows-10/
15) Ran Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Hard Drive Related

Optimised SSD Samsung evo 840 with https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/
Ran https://crystalmark.info/en/download/ to verify health of SSD. Came back as good.

Drivers Related

Updated intel chipset, onboard graphics and ethernet. - https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28425/Intel-Driver-Support-Assistant
Updated nvidia geforce 860m drivers and software to very latest drivers 417.71 - WHQL - Release Date: 2019.1.15 (It's WORSE - much much worse) so uninstalled going back to windows chosen driver.

I tried latest ubuntu live CD fan was still going constantly.

NOTES

Downloaded http://www.evga.com/precision/ but not used as not sure what doing yet.

About to install linux mint in Virtualbox (not replaced win10). It came up with notice about "something" related to graphics not working. It was vague but have access to linux tools if someone is knowledgable in that OS (i'm not).

Not updated BIOS as not sure what version to replace with. Sys specs show "American Megatrends Inc. 4.6.5, 08/04/2014" - https://ami.com/en/products/bios-uefi-firmware/

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Let me know if I can provide anything else. Full system specs attached along with Windows error log.

Many thanks for any advice your time is appreciated.

Phil

Congrats on your extensive troubleshooting.

One thing you've not done, or at least not showed us here, is what your resource utilisations were. I can see from your sys info report that RAM doesn't appear to have been under pressure, but what was you CPU utilisation, and what processes were contributing to that? What was you HDD/SSD active time and what files were contributing most to that? The Details tab on the Task Manager will show you this but the Resource Monitor will give you much more detail. It's always important with system slowdowns to know what the resource utilisations are so you have a better idea of what to focus on.

A sluggish system and a loud fan would tend to point towards a CPU issue, so I'd want to know what was using the CPU and what temperatures the CPU (and GPU) were reaching. It's entirely possible the CPU is being throttled because it's running too hot, that would explain the loud fan.

For me the most important test you've done is this; I tried latest ubuntu live CD fan was still going constantly because that strongly suggests that the problem isn't with Windows but with the hardware. Given that it's the same under Linux I'd want to see the CPU temps (under Windows or Linux). From the sys info it would appear to be an oldish Optimus (?) [I just noticed you said that in the title!] so a repaste might be required...?

Thank you for your response - really appreciated.

As I'm writing this it's a little loud, but not terribly loud.

Will focus on what you said:

"CPU utilisation, and what processes were contributing to that
What was you HDD/SSD active time and what files were contributing most to that
what was using the CPU and what temperatures the CPU (and GPU) were reaching"

Got resource monitor pinned to taskbar to see.

Got that new attachement message when running in linux mint in virtualbox. Not helpful diagnosing anything though.

I used arctic silver thermal paste (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01I74QON2/ exact item) on cpu and gpu.

Edit:

Was running loud again with cpu all over the place in %. Even loud at 7% at times with virutally no tasks apart from writing this to you. Bizarre.

Downloaded https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html zip version so no install needed to monitor temperatures.

Core Processor temp is around 64-70 which is apparently normal. However, I had virtually nothing running and yet the noise is constant again. Not sure if you can hear it in video attached (as it's loud now).

It's as if intermittently some horrendous background process is turning on/off.

phil_c64 said:

Core Processor temp is around 64-70 which is apparently normal. However, I had virtually nothing running and yet the noise is constant again. Not sure if you can hear it in video attached (as it's loud now).

It's as if intermittently some horrendous background process is turning on/off.

Click to expand...

That's way to high!

Right so cpu is overheating hence why the fan is on constantly. I put new thermal compound on. What would you do more then?

Thanks

phil_c64 said:

Right so cpu is overheating hence why the fan is on constantly. I put new thermal compound on. What would you do more then?

Thanks

Click to expand...

The pasting must be off a bit, perhaps a bubble formed or something or the heatsink isn’t making proper contact, but temps on idle should be nearer 45. Those current temps should be when it’s under full load such as gaming.

FWIW I agree completely with SpyderTracks, 60-70 is too high for idling and if you're not seeing constant high CPU usage then overheating is the most likely cause. That's supported by the fan being loud on Linux too, which pretty much eliminates it being a Windows issue.

I'm wondering if the compound I put on is not good enough. It's fine if it didn't set correctly as suggested above I can redo, but honestly, it's behaving identically to before repaste.
Arctic silver 5 thermal compound
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01I74QON2/

Any ideas why when installing the latest grahpics driver the problem be enhanced about 400%?

phil_c64 said:

I'm wondering if the compound I put on is not good enough. It's fine if it didn't set correctly as suggested above I can redo, but honestly, it's behaving identically to before repaste.
Arctic silver 5 thermal compound
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01I74QON2/

Click to expand...

The evidence you have at present points strongly to overheating, so assuming the fan and heat exchanger vanes are clean then a repaste is a wise next move.

Any ideas why when installing the latest grahpics driver the problem be enhanced about 400%?

Click to expand...

Perhaps the GPU needs a repaste as well?

I'll try thanks ubuysu - great dog picture too. From one dog lover to another.

phil_c64 said:

I'll try thanks ubuysu - great dog picture too. From one dog lover to another.

Click to expand...

That's Rudy, my basset hound.

ubuysa said:

That's Rudy, my basset hound.

Click to expand...

Respect to the Pup

SpyderTracks said:

Respect to the Pup

Click to expand...

He's 10 years old!

Right repasted cpu & gpu, another fan clean. Thanks for more advice.

Battery was dead so took out until new ordered. Most likely unrelated.

Guess i will see.

Wanted to share a great program I found for monitoring and tweaking performance. **removed url**

I enabled performance mode - instantly the screen lit up and the lag decreased. Since the power mode was already set and tested in different modes quite a few times in Windows I'm beginning to think there is some kind of windows system setting bug (on my system anyway).

There's still a little lag as I suspect there is a hardware issue but it's much better.

Try this little gem out **removed url**

phil_c64 said:

Wanted to share a great program I found for monitoring and tweaking performance. **removed url**

I enabled performance mode - instantly the screen lit up and the lag decreased. Since the power mode was already set and tested in different modes quite a few times in Windows I'm beginning to think there is some kind of windows system setting bug (on my system anyway).

There's still a little lag as I suspect there is a hardware issue but it's much better.

Try this little gem out **removed url**

Click to expand...

Sorry, but I’ve removed the link as that’s one of those pieces of software that is actually useless since about windows xp days and even then it wasn’t that useful.

It's gimping your processes, that's not a good thing and windows is more than capable of managing system processes extremely well. The core issue needs to be dealt with.

I'm with SpyderTracks 100% on this. There are no magic bullets and if you've found some bit of software that appears to help then it's most likely masking the original issue. Tips to 'just try this software' are avoided by the wise because there are no performance or reliability issues that can be fixed by a piece of 'magic' software, and there are most certainly no hardware issues that can be similarly fixed either. If things look better it's because that bit of 'magic' software is masking the problem.

You might want to run the Windows Resource Monitor with your bit of 'magic' software running and take screenshots of the CPU, Memory and Disk sections - sort the CPU section on the Average CPU column, the Memory section by the Working Set column, and the Disk section by the Response Time column. Then uninstall your 'magic' software and take similar screen shots of the sorted Resource Monitor sections again.

What I'm trying to do with the above is collect some data. When troubleshooting, information is everything and actual resource usage measurements by each process are invaluable. My gut feel is still that you have a cooling issue, but unless and until we can see some real measurements when your system is lagging and when the fan is loud all we (and you) can do is guess.

Okay thanks for the replies. I'm not sure what gimping the processes means? I suspect you mean manipulating processes to the longterm detriment of the system?

I still think there is an issue however I have noticed that software is playing some part in performance lag. Trying the latest graphics driver (official) slowed system down horrendously. Going backwards with the driver massively improved the lag - which in theory should be less effecient? I've been suspecting that power settings within windows isn't playing it's part correctly so believe this software may be just managing the resources better. I can only point to the fact that the performance is significantly improved and the machine is quieter.

I do agree on the masking the issue though so will do the monitoring suggested. Thanks again for the advice. Will collate data over the next few days and post.

phil_c64 said:

Okay thanks for the replies. I'm not sure what gimping the processes means? I suspect you mean manipulating processes to the longterm detriment of the system?

I still think there is an issue however I have noticed that software is playing some part in performance lag. Trying the latest graphics driver (official) slowed system down horrendously. Going backwards with the driver massively improved the lag - which in theory should be less effecient? I've been suspecting that power settings within windows isn't playing it's part correctly so believe this software may be just managing the resources better. I can only point to the fact that the performance is significantly improved and the machine is quieter.

I do agree on the masking the issue though so will do the monitoring suggested. Thanks again for the advice. Will collate data over the next few days and post.

Click to expand...

If your CPU (or GPU) is overheating then almost any process that stresses the CPU/GPU will cause lags and poor performance because of thermal throttling. You seem to be chasing symptoms rather than the problem.

So far in this thread we have established the following...

1. The loud fan issue happens on both Windows and Linux (so it's not a Windows issue)
2. The idle temperatures on your CPU are too high.

I would suggest therefore that overheating is the most likely cause. Unwelcome as it is, I think a repaste of the CPU and GPU is your best next course of action. At least you will then know that the hardware cooling is working properly - though it is of course possible that the CPU (and/or GPU) is already damaged by earlier overheating and that no amount of repasting will help. You have to try though, so I'd advise a repaste and another double-check that the heat exchanger next to the fan is spotlessly clean. I would then do a completely clean reinstall of Windows and all the drivers (and nothing else for now) and see how the temperatures look in that pristine state.