Framework 16 Thermals

Wanted to see what kind of thermals others are seeing with their FW16s.

7940hs + 7700s (Haven’t tested dGPU temps yet, as those had been pretty tame at around 70c when I was trying out stellaris.)
All core stress with balanced/performance profile set, plugged in. Clocks seem to stay at a constant 4.3-4.4ghz while sitting at 100-101c (Tctl, 0)


All core stress with powersaving profile set, plugged in. Clocks seem to stay at a constant 4.2ghz, while sitting right under 92c

All core stress with performance profile set, on battery. Clocks seem to stay at a constant 3.9ghz, while sitting around 77c

Loading the iGPU seems to have it around 82c (Edge, 1)

For me personally, it would be nice to get a cTDP option in bios to limit the max all core TDP as the bottom of the laptop gets far too hot personally if doing anything intensive.

8 Likes

Thanks for the report! I would love to help you giving my data, but my Batch 15 is still very far away. I can point you to the Notebookcheck review, where they got 96° from Prime95. Others reviewers are getting 100C°, so your temps look normal on a torture test on the CPU.
Did you tested temps with the dGPU or Shell fans? Does it make a difference in noise/temps when running a CPU only stress test?
EDIT: since the BIOS does not support TDP customization yet, please report back if you plan to use Throttlestop or FanControl to undervolt and/or make custom voltage curves.

3 Likes

Tested with dGPU fans, I had passed on the Shell fans this go. Everything but the last one was a CPU-only test, and yeah, for the most part that link mirrors what I was seeing. I say for the most part, but with my thermal camera, I recall seeing hot spots of ~43-45c on the bottom, and my clocks seem to be staying higher than the ones they had. Temps and noise are definitely more manageable when it stays ~0.2ghz lower, but I had to have it unplugged for that. Plan is to use something to either limit the TDP or undervolt (Zen archs are already pretty good at tuning themselves, so I’d rather go the TDP route), maybe by 10w or so. Just need to figure out the proper way as I’m on Linux so different tools. I’m also considering trying to find a way to isolate the heat of CPU mount plate from heating the bottom chassis, as that’s where the hottest spot is (Holding hand against it for a short bit is enough to turn hand red, but I also might just have more sensitive skin), but I do understand that would reduce thermal capacity of the system so hesitant to do that.

Thank you for the reply and testing.
On Windows, Hardware Canucks stated that the OS limits the TDP available to the CPU based on Windows’ power profile.
I would like to know:

  1. if the limit is editable somewhere (being at the OS level could mean that there is a regkey or something else we could edit and customize the TDP via the Windows’ power plan)
  2. what could be done in Linux to do the same? this program lets you easily manage cpu frequency. Any chance to tell the governor how much power to draw?
1 Like

Is the fan very noisy when playing AAA games at 1080p 60fps?

Can the fan curves be customized?

2 Likes

Yeah both of those should be possible, the Linux side I’ll have to do some more research on, but afaik on the Windows side AMD should have a control panel with the needed controls, but I wouldn’t quote me on that as it has been half a decade since I really used Windows.

It was decently loud while I was playing Stellaris on max setting/native resolution, moreso when using the iGPU as it had temps at 100c. Playing with the dGPU ironically made the system quieter.
Any kind of game you want tested? Depending on the game, it would load the CPU differently. (I should note as I game on Linux, the ones I could test are more limited, but maybe someone else could come along to test if I’m unable to)

2 Likes

Could you try cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p 60fps on medium and high?

This way we could know what the sound is with an average performance in both configurations

thank you

1 Like

This should be the same as the ACPI platform profile in Linux.

3 Likes

All of these are at 1080p and on the dGPU. It was fairly loud, but something I would still use. Sounds like a jet when framerate is uncapped and a higher load on CPU.
1080p Medium uncapped refresh rate


1080p Medium capped to 60

1080p High capped to 60

I ended up breaking the EPR cable that came with my charger in an accident a few hours after testing. So I won’t be able to do full thermal load again until next week when a replacement comes in. I do however have an extra cable rated for up to 100w. It would appear that when you don’t have an EPR capable cable, the TDP/power budget is set to the same as if it were on battery. As a result the system is significantly cooler and quieter, something I personally prefer as I’m not chasing absolute performance, so I might just stick with using a non-EPR cable for when I don’t want to do heavy gaming.

3 Likes

Ended up being able to adjust the limit with RyzenAdj. If anyone else comes across this thread and finds that they are having issues running it, you may need to add iomem=relaxed to your kernel boot parameters.
Based on the table from RyzenAdj, it seems like the TDP was set to 60w with no tctl limit, but if there’s something wrong with that conclusion, let me know.

CPU Family: Phoenix Point
SMU BIOS Interface Version: 14
Version: v0.14.0 
PM Table Version: 4c0008
|        Name         |   Value   |     Parameter      |
|---------------------|-----------|--------------------|
| STAPM LIMIT         |    60.000 | stapm-limit        |
| STAPM VALUE         |     4.652 |                    |
| PPT LIMIT FAST      |    60.000 | fast-limit         |
| PPT VALUE FAST      |     6.277 |                    |
| PPT LIMIT SLOW      |    60.000 | slow-limit         |
| PPT VALUE SLOW      |     5.090 |                    |
| StapmTimeConst      |       nan | stapm-time         |
| SlowPPTTimeConst    |       nan | slow-time          |
| PPT LIMIT APU       |       nan | apu-slow-limit     |
| PPT VALUE APU       |       nan |                    |
| TDC LIMIT VDD       |       nan | vrm-current        |
| TDC VALUE VDD       |       nan |                    |
| TDC LIMIT SOC       |       nan | vrmsoc-current     |
| TDC VALUE SOC       |       nan |                    |
| EDC LIMIT VDD       |       nan | vrmmax-current     |
| EDC VALUE VDD       |       nan |                    |
| EDC LIMIT SOC       |       nan | vrmsocmax-current  |
| EDC VALUE SOC       |       nan |                    |
| THM LIMIT CORE      |       nan | tctl-temp          |
| THM VALUE CORE      |       nan |                    |
| STT LIMIT APU       |       nan | apu-skin-temp      |
| STT VALUE APU       |       nan |                    |
| STT LIMIT dGPU      |       nan | dgpu-skin-temp     |
| STT VALUE dGPU      |       nan |                    |
| CCLK Boost SETPOINT |       nan | power-saving /     |
| CCLK BUSY VALUE     |       nan | max-performance    |

I set mine to a 45w tdp and tctl limit of 80c, but I won’t be able to see how that goes until next week when new cable comes in.
sudo ./ryzenadj --stapm-limit=45000 --fast-limit=45000 --slow-limit=45000 --tctl-temp=80

4 Likes

Ryzenadj tuned values will be discarded by the EC when you change power adapters in/out or change state from the OS.

If you want to tune these values the best thing to do is modify the EC.

3 Likes

Thanks for the reply. I wonder if framework will release a dedicated program with different power modes and fan control.

2 Likes

I REALLY hope they do. Full software customizability is a major point for me, and fan profiles & thermal control on a workstation laptop do wonders for quietness.

2 Likes

We hope they do. While I imagine you can use programs like msi after burner…

It is known if the framework is going to release a program to manage the tdp, the fan curves…

Technically all of that already exists but it is definitely lacking a nice UI XD

1 Like

I looked though this thread and didn’t see this question answered (if it was already my apologies) but I was wondering how hot the exterior gets (top and bottom of the chassis, keyboard, etc.) Thanks!

I don’t have a Framework Laptop 16, so I can’t measure it. However, it’s an AMD Advantage Premium Laptop, and those are required to meet the following temperature limits: a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius on the WASD keys and 52 degrees Celsius on the bottom panel. I hope this information helps, at least a little.

1 Like

Check this review : The Last Gaming Laptop You’ll Ever Need? Framework 16 Review (youtube.com)

2 Likes

At 1080 p and 60 fps was the sound higher than 40 dB?