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2018 MacBook Pro cooling mod
- Thread starter 1096bimu
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I am the happy owner of a 2018 MacBook model A1990, with an i7 8750 and an AMD 555x. I've noticed that in Boot Camp, even without reaching critical temperatures (CPU and GPU are blow 80 degrees Celsius), my performance in games still drops during long sessions. Interestingly, if I open a window, giving the laptop a cool breeze, the CPU and GPU frequencies quickly return to normal. This raises the question: could something else in the laptop be overheating? Maybe the voltage regulators? Something without a sensor but whose heat affects the power output of the hardware?
Here is the screenshot. The top one is with the laptop just on the desk and the room temperature is around 24-25 degrees Celsius. The second screenshot shows the laptop after I placed it on a stand. The third screenshot is after I opened the window, allowing cool air to flow in.
Here is the screenshot. The top one is with the laptop just on the desk and the room temperature is around 24-25 degrees Celsius. The second screenshot shows the laptop after I placed it on a stand. The third screenshot is after I opened the window, allowing cool air to flow in.
It's entirely possible something else like the VRM, is getting hot and causing throttling. The only way to know would be to get additional sensor readings, or probe temps yourself. BUT, as long as your thermal pads are non-conductive, just cram a bunch more in there and see how you go 
Having owned a 6 core 15.4" and 16" both with AMD GPUs, it's almost certain that's the issue. I used thermal pads to close the gap from the VRM to the bottom case and those FPS drops became nonexistent for me.It's entirely possible something else like the VRM, is getting hot and causing throttling. The only way to know would be to get additional sensor readings, or probe temps yourself. BUT, as long as your thermal pads are non-conductive, just cram a bunch more in there and see how you go
I'm throwing up my hands. Over the past year, I've gone through three MacBook Pro models with 15-inch screens: from 2012, 2015, and now 2018. I've tried working and playing games (under Windows) on all of these machines, and the results are consistently the same. When both the CPU and GPU are under simultaneous load, such as in games, the laptop gradually reduces the frequency of both, even though there's no obvious overheating issue. I just can't figure out why this is happening. Naturally, this leads to FPS drops. Through experimentation, I've found that if you cool the laptop forcibly, for example, by placing it next to an open window, the drop isn't as dramatic or might not happen at all. Meanwhile, I repeat, the temperatures of the CPU and GPU are always within the normal range, and by the open window, when the frequency increases, they are even higher! It seems that some other component in the laptop is heating up, possibly the VRM area. I tried adding thermal pads there to use the bottom as a heat sink, but that didn't solve the problem.
That's all with games under Windows, but what about macOS? Well, I worked there, and when you're conducting conference calls, the situation is similar. The GPU and CPU get loaded, the frequency decreases over time, and everything slows down.
That's all with games under Windows, but what about macOS? Well, I worked there, and when you're conducting conference calls, the situation is similar. The GPU and CPU get loaded, the frequency decreases over time, and everything slows down.
Is the bottom case heating up where it touches the VRM? i.e. is it making contact properly? Have you tried adding a laptop cooler so that the heat going to the case can be taken away? Otherwise the extra "heatsink" of the bottom case will still get "full" or saturated with heat in time.