Accidentally raised the voltage on my laptop. Could this have caused any harm?
Accidentally raised the voltage on my laptop. Could this have caused any harm?
My Inspiron 7567 (i7 7700HQ) is experiencing overheating problems that can be reduced by lowering the CPU voltage to -0.110mv. Last night I re-applied the value and left the laptop idle overnight without any BSOD. In the morning, the idle temperature was 50C, which was slightly high. After reviewing the XTU program, I mistakenly overvolted it (+0.110mv) instead of undervolting. I also checked the maximum temperature reached overnight, which was 81C during its scheduled virus scan and maintenance. I am now very concerned that I might have caused damage with the increased voltage. Could this be true?
Verify the suitable temperature and voltage intervals.
Even at high levels, they might still be within acceptable bounds and everything could remain functional.
If they strayed beyond these ranges, there could have been some issues, though not severe enough to stop the laptop or cause a complete failure.
It’s difficult to confirm precisely what happened.
To verify the suitable temperature and voltage ranges, follow the standard procedure outlined in the manual.
I find it hard to believe only 110mV could have caused such stress. Most laptop CPUs are built on desktop CPU chips but are optimized for reduced power use in their specific uses. That means the need for lower power directly influences the voltage they run at, not the silicon's inherent safety. The bigger concern is temperature; laptops lack sufficient cooling even under ideal conditions. I’m not very familiar with Intel components, but I can’t think 81C would be harmful either, as most current silicon can handle temperatures above 100-110°C without issues—though stability remains a separate issue. But clearly, this will lead to poor battery life, and using it on a lap isn’t practical.
No, the laptop was not harmed in any way. The important temperature range is 100-110 degrees, and even at that point the throttling would occur, which would safeguard the device from further damage.
I began undervolting since temperatures consistently hit 100C during operation, ensuring no intentional over-voltage. My concern was whether additional voltage could harm components, especially given existing laptop problems.
Takes awhile to degrade a CPU. You have to put silly voltage into it and then load the CPU to degrade it quickly and/or kill the cpu outright. The voltage has to be really very silly to degrade or kill the cpu by just having that voltage set. So there is a good chance you will be okay.
You will need to replace the thermal paste (clean out all the dust) to fix your overheating issues and hopefully avoid touching the vcore at all.
You're asking about what it means to avoid the vcore during the thermal paste application process.