I found a way to tweak the Armory crate manually for optimal results.
I found a way to tweak the Armory crate manually for optimal results.
I have had a zephyrus G16 for about 2 years now and I have just recently been brave enough to try and tweak the settings in armory crate to get the best performance out of my gaming laptop. And I wanted to share cuz I was really surprised at home much better manually adjusting the settings yourself improve things.
There's really no trick to it besides turning the fan speed up and adjusting what's called a "Dynamic Boost" for pcs that run nvidia cards. (Obviously, you want to turn up base clock/memory clock of the GPU as well.)
With these settings the goal is to create as many fps as refresh rate your gaming laptop can produce meanwhile keeping temps under 90c and hovering around 80-89c.
It's merely a program or app, not even a complete system swap like removing Windows for Linux, which some users attempt daily on fresh PCs just to experiment. More often, people install aftermarket or specialized software for their new vehicle or high-end machinery, since it addresses needs the factory software doesn't cover.
It seems helper manages similar tasks, such as adjusting lighting and monitor refresh rates on the same display. That’s pretty convenient. I didn’t see any unusual tweaks in power settings beyond GPU power control, which I assume isn’t adjustable in Armory crate. It would be helpful to know how performance mode and turbo mode affect scaling, since it looks like manual adjustments are mainly needed only for temperature limits that cap at 95°C. I’m still trying to figure out how to directly manage CPU temperature by reducing wattage, as it still keeps me at 95°C.
The factory fan curve aims to maintain the CPU temperature at its maximum operating point of 100°C, selecting the minimum fan speed needed to achieve this while reducing noise. For those prioritizing durability over quiet operation, a cooler curve is preferable, offering more airflow for longer life. These curves resemble those in vBIOS editors—white squares can be adjusted to fine-tune performance.
you won’t harm the CPU by maintaining a high temperature, it’s built to handle that
Without thinking about noise, which toggles do I change to keep temperatures near 85°C? In Windows mode I only manage around 100 FPS at 165Hz. In Turbo mode I maintain solid performance at about 165 FPS at 165Hz. But the temperatures quickly rise to 95°C and then it stops working. I can push a bit to bring them down, but I’m unsure where to begin. It responds to whatever adjustments I make, then it instantly returns to 95°C. I’d like to lower the CPU settings, or should I reduce the GPU settings to cut heat overall? For example, maybe lowering both would help.
Also, I see that the "thermal target" is mainly for the GPU. My GPU rarely exceeds 80°C. That’s acceptable since the CPU is just 5°C away from overheating and I’d prefer to drop it from 95°C to around 82°C without reverting to Windows mode.
Edit: It makes sense that the GPU settings in MHz are all overclocked. Ignoring them helped me grasp the overall behavior. After adjusting and throttling the GPU to 75°C (even though it doesn’t exceed 60°C), I found the best CPU setting to be 60 watts with no strict two-minute limit for optimal performance. Keeping consistently under 90°C is my goal, regardless of in-game activity. I might revisit dynamic boost later, but I understand it better now.
Again, the GPU speeds are overclocked and can be reset to stabilize performance.
Zephyrus G16 features distinct fans and fan shapes for CPU and GPU. Maintaining CPU temperatures near 95°C while fans run at full speed by 80°C clearly indicates the cooling system is operating at its limit. You might consider shifting 65°C and 70°C to full speed, though this could increase noise sooner. For the GPU, simply lowering the thermal target slider to 85°C should cause a slight delay in downclocking while keeping temperatures lower without significantly affecting performance.
For the CPU, the PL2 controls power under maximum boost, allowing two minutes of operation if thermal headroom permits. Reducing it slightly will enable more frequent boosts, achieving higher performance at the cost of higher temperatures—but overall results remain similar. Moving the slider fully left would prevent boosting altogether, severely hurting performance.
According to the Arrhenius equation, a 10°C reduction in temperature doubles the expected lifespan of your CPU. Thus, a temperature drop from 95°C to 85°C could extend its life from 10 years to about 20 years. Would you really accept such a long wait until 2043? Most users would have upgraded their 2023 laptop well before that point.