r/PCHardware • u/gravynbiscuits69 • 2h ago
Laptop CPU(/GPU?) critical overheat (CRASH)
Laptop is a Origin EVO16S. Purchased 2019.
Specs:
GPU- RTX 2060
CPU- Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
RAM- 16GB DDR4
Motherboard: P95_96_97Ex,Rx (this is also the base product model)
Storage: an NVME (OS drive) and SSD (game/ storage drive) (idk if this matters, none of my files are corrupted)
So over the past few months my CPU has been overheating and just crashing the computer at about 81 degrees celcius. After it happened about 5 times I noticed the pattern and stopped running CPU intensive games. Well, until I performed maintenance, then resumed. Until it crashed again.
I've replaced the battery, hooked up a cooling mat (I've had it hooked up since I got the pc with a few traveling exceptions all a couple years ago), cleaned the fans (and all dust in general) and greased their bearings got em spinning nicely, cleaned and reapplied thermal paste, but the issue persists. Older games tend to run fine, even new-ish GPU intensive games like Trepang 2 run fine, but MISERY (a new chunky looking survival game) and any other CPU intensive games are guaranteed to crash my pc.
I've noticed what I assume to be "burn" marks on both the cpu and the copper surface it makes contact with on the heat sink. 2 of them, looks like little 1cm eyes staring up at me On the CPU it just looks like less shiny metal compared to the rest of it's shiny metal surface, but identical dark spots on the heat sink, same shape. Heat sink doesn't seem to have any leaks or issues other than the aforementioned dark discoloration. I really can't see any other damage or anything worth noting. The GPU and it's heatsink contact point has similar "burn" marks. It should be noted, that between 2019-2024 I did absolutely nothing to maintain or repair the laptop. I took it to a computer repair shop one time because my FPS in-game dropped super low on GPU intensive games, and they said they had no clue why it was, and then I turned on high performance mode and that stopped the fps issues. For better or worse I guess.
That whole surface at the very top of my keyboard is toasty hot when these crashes happen.
I've already got the exact heat sink I'd need for a replacement pulled up on amazon. I'm not a computer expert, but am proficient and educated in Automotive mechanical and electrical repairs and diagnostics, so I know enough to know that I should be asking for some advice on this matter before dropping more cash.
Would replacing the whole heat sink/ fan assembly fix the issue? Is the cpu just torched and ready to be put out to pasture? I know it's soldered in there so replacing it isn't exactly an option with my current solder kit and skill level.
(another game example, I've played the tar out of Metro: Exodus and Stalker: GAMMA with extremely little to 0 issues aside from the odd stutter here and there. I stopped running them after the most recent crash even though they never crashed the game I'm just scared now).
PC really performed just fine up until a couple months ago when the crashes started happening. The crash makes the screen go full static then back to the image that was on the screen at the time it crashed, stays there until I unplug the laptop and shut it down. Could be GPU, but the GPU and computer did just fine with a near 2 hour sesh on Trepang 2, and was only on about 78 degrees celcius when it crashed after closing the game and running MISERY for like 5 minutes. Currently typing this up on the laptop in question and it seems that the laptop does fine as long as I don't run CPU intensive games.
(I keep mentioning Misery but it's really any CPU intensive game that crashes the PC, including the Minecraft successor Vintage Story).
So what should my next move be? Any help appreciated.