So I recently did a benchmark in preparation for a potential eGPU upgrade and noticed that I was only pulling 38w. I had to replace the mainboard in 2026, so I’m fairly certain that my CPU is using PTM7950.
The only remaining culprits I can think of are:
Skin sensor throttling. I was using it on my lap, so it could be unhappy about that.
I need to clean out my air vents. Not terribly upsetting, given how easy it is to access the fans for cleaning, and it’s been a while since I last cleaned it.
So I have several questions:
How can I deal with the skin sensor throttling? Not using it on my lap would probably be a good start, but I demand more advice.
Anything I should bring to a cleaning of my vents? I know tweezers and canned air are a good start, but I want to know if I should bring anything unintuitive.
No need for investigation, the problem is commonly investigated. The Heatsink itself limits the Performance. Uneven CPU thermals! - #303 by PSierra117 Check this Thread in Sep/Oct 24 i developed a modification which gives you the full headroom. You need to remove the Shim from the Vaporchamber and put a 20x20x0,8mm Coppershim sandwiched in PTM on there and Done.
You can disable STAPM (Skin Temperature Aware Power Management) in this BIOS settings. I did this on my unit and have had no ill effects.
Honestly neither of those are necessary. With the provided screwdriver alone you can relatively easily remove the fans. All the dust I’ve found has been easily removed with just my fingers. I highly recommend cleaning the vents regularly, as the FW 16 is highly sensitive to lint build up in my experience.
This is exactly what I was looking for. My laptop is eventually going to be sitting on a desk, but it’s going to be connected to a eGPU dock over Thunderbolt, so disabling STAPM would be a no brainer.
And I can definitely agree on the vulnerability to build up. My laptop once started making an annoying noise because one of the vents had a single solitary hair stuck in it. That’s why I needed tweezers.