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Question

Lenovo Legion Y520 CPU overheating

Jun 5, 2019 4:06PM PDT

About a year and a half ago I bought a Lenovo Legion Y520. It has a Intel Core i7 7700 k, 8 GB of ram, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with Max Q (only 3 GB of vram). It was working great without any problems until about a month ago when I noticed the performance was starting to drop. I downloaded a computer monitor and discovered that my CPU was reaching temperatures of 93-97 Celcius regularly while gaming. And it would idle as high as 65 Celcius. It would overheat even when i used extreme cooling. At first I thought that maybe it needed new thermal compound so I (carefully) cleaned off the old stuff and replaced it with high quality paste. It brought down the temperatures by 2 or 3 degrees but my CPU was still running way too hot. So I tried undervolting it a little bit hoping that it would prevent thermal throttling. I undervolted by 50.8 mV. It worked for a little while but then the CPU would just overheat again so I undid the undervolt. I even cleaned out the inside of the cooling system. I feel like I've tried everything and I would appreciate some ideas as to what I can do to restore the CPU to normal temperatures.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I have a y510p
Jun 5, 2019 4:13PM PDT

And CPU temps do run very high like that. You can't expect low temps like a desktop.

As these age such does happen and the repair is as you noted plus new fans and deep cleaning. If that doesn't fix it, a new motherboard, CPU, etc.

Be sure there is no HDDs in the machine as ... you don't want that heat as well.

Finally do not rely on Windows for drivers. Get them from Lenovo and for the GPU, Nvidia's GeForce Experience. Be sure to disable Windows driver updates (I use google for that step.)

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Jun 5, 2019 4:20PM PDT

There is a hard drive in the computer but because it is a laptop i can't really remove it, and that also means I'm stuck with the CPU because it's soldered to the motherboard. I could try replacing the fans but it's a fan module and heat sink that is custom fitted to the laptop so I don't think that's possible. If replaced the motherboard, I would be replacing the GPU and the CPU and that would be very expensive to do.

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Why can't we use SSD instad of the HDD?
Jun 5, 2019 4:49PM PDT

Also I can't tell why you can't replace parts that wear out like that fan unit. Once in a while an owner wants a fix that doesn't take parts. I wish that was always true or possible which is why I noted some free areas to work.

It appears you have some work to do before you call it the end of this laptop.

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There are both
Jun 5, 2019 5:03PM PDT

There is an SSD and an HDD in my computer but the SSD isn't big enough to hold all my stuff. And my HDD has been functioning without any problems so i don't think it's the source of the problem.

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Not calling it out as source.
Jun 5, 2019 5:08PM PDT

Just a source of heat which you want to reduce. It appears that none of the ideas I've shared are acceptable.

Can you share what you think will fix it?

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Jun 5, 2019 5:12PM PDT

If i remove the HDD, i will have minimal storage in my laptop and will not be able to access many of my files and applications. I have tried deep cleaning and my windows auto update has been turned of when i got the computer, I double checked all of my drivers and downloaded all the latest ones including graphics drivers directly from GeForce experience. I'm on this forum hoping to find some new ideas but i don't want to spend an obscene amount of money on repairs that may or may not work.

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Not what I wrote above.
Jun 5, 2019 5:24PM PDT

1. Replace the HDD with SSD for less heat production.
2. Not suggesting "latest" drivers. And certainly not what Microsoft offers for drivers.
a. Machine drivers. Get them from Lenovo.
b. GPU. Use the GeForce Experience (you did this one.)
c. Disable Microsoft's Driver Update. You wrote Windows Auto Update so I can't tell if you got this done.

3. Repair in shops can be obscenely expensive which is why I have little issue with replacing parts that wear out or slow and cheap things like a 1TB SSD to replace the HDD. Last week laptop 2.5 inch 1TB SSDs were snagged for 99USD. That's not obscene and you can get 480 to 512GB drives for about half that.

4. The fan unit. These do slow and I can't understand why an owner pushes back on this one. Mechanical things wear out, slow and you need them to work like new.

As I noted these above, these aren't new. Can you share an example of new or novel ideas?

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Thank you for the suggestions
Jun 5, 2019 5:36PM PDT

I would replace the fan unit however i don't know where to find a replacement or how to install it. If possible please link where i can get this. I will look into SSDs. What driver versions should i use if not the latest? Thank you

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Where I get parts.
Jun 5, 2019 5:45PM PDT

For most things I check on Amazon then the maker. There are new techs that want it all online. But sometimes I have to research more and call the maker to get the parts.

Be sure to try a google like this: Lenovo y520 Service Manual

If they issued such, it will have their part numbers.

There's some old tech advice to be shared here. Ready?
"REPLACE THE CHEAPEST PARTS FIRST."

You have a lot of free things to complete before you replace the heatsink and fan unit or the HDD to SSD heat reduction work.

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thanks
Jun 5, 2019 6:25PM PDT

thank you for advice

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Answer
come on
Apr 30, 2020 9:21AM PDT

just open the laptop and clean the fan, do not do nothing else, just clean the fan with a brush