[Q] I want to fix the cooling issues with my Galaxy Nexus

[ExEvolution]

Basically I've had a Sprint Galaxy Nexus since it launched and I've been plagued with heat issues under even light load, but under heavy load its so bad that it is thermal throttling about 90% of the time after only 2 minutes of use.

And by that I mean it is running at 65c after less than 2 minutes of any 3D game, where it begins thermal throttling to control the temperature, and every game becomes unplayable. The device can easily heat to 60c by simply scrolling a webpage but 65c is the threshold where the device is simply unusable. I know we should expect some heat due to passive cooling rather than active cooling, but in this state, my phone is only good for email and music.

So I'm ready to take it into my own hands and modify my phone. I have no idea what type of heatsink is in this thing as I have not taken it apart yet. I am hoping the issue is simply that the heatsink didn't have proper thermal compound on it and I can just treat it like a PC, but if thats not the problem, I'm wondering if this is going to be beyond my ability.

Are there improved heatsinks for phones on the market? I don't even know where to start

 

[DroidOnRoids]

Basically I've had a Sprint Galaxy Nexus since it launched and I've been plagued with heat issues under even light load, but under heavy load its so bad that it is thermal throttling about 90% of the time after only 2 minutes of use.

And by that I mean it is running at 65c after less than 2 minutes of any 3D game, where it begins thermal throttling to control the temperature, and every game becomes unplayable. The device can easily heat to 60c by simply scrolling a webpage but 65c is the threshold where the device is simply unusable. I know we should expect some heat due to passive cooling rather than active cooling, but in this state, my phone is only good for email and music.

So I'm ready to take it into my own hands and modify my phone. I have no idea what type of heatsink is in this thing as I have not taken it apart yet. I am hoping the issue is simply that the heatsink didn't have proper thermal compound on it and I can just treat it like a PC, but if thats not the problem, I'm wondering if this is going to be beyond my ability.

Are there improved heatsinks for phones on the market? I don't even know where to start

I'm pretty sure smartphones especially this phone don't have heatsinks lol

If you're going to modify, just try out some kernels. Most, if not all custom kernels have Smartreflex control to calculate how much voltage the CPU needs in order to run a certain frequency at the lowest possible stable voltage. Undervolting will help some heating issues.

Remember, this phone can take heat up to 100+ Celsius before needing to reboot automatically to cool down. And the TI-OMAP is not the most heat efficient processor to begin with. It is from 2011.

 

[ExEvolution]

Really disappointed with under volting after spending 4 hours rooting my device and putting paranoid android my temps have only gotten worse. 75c after 3 minutes of a game

 

[Feimitsu]

Really disappointed with under volting after spending 4 hours rooting my device and putting paranoid android my temps have only gotten worse. 75c after 3 minutes of a game

what are your values? here are mine:

 

[DroidOnRoids]

what are your values? here are mine:

I think his problem is the hardware itself. He said this was a problem see he got the phone from launch. I'm scratching my head as to why he still kept the phone and didn't have it replaced. My phone runs around 55 Celsius on higher load so I think the phone's cooling isn't working right and he should have gotten a replacement.

 

[Feimitsu]

I think his problem is the hardware itself. He said this was a problem see he got the phone from launch. I'm scratching my head as to why he still kept the phone and didn't have it replaced. My phone runs around 55 Celsius on higher load so I think the phone's cooling isn't working right and he should have gotten a replacement.

Actually it depends mine, with a TPU cover and 35 degrees outside, heats up pretty quickly. Right now i'm indoor with air conditioned, Gnex undervolted and fixed at 350MHz, only playing some music + usb charging, and CPU temp hovers around 41C. I'll try to play with it once at home and see if the undervolt actually helped.

Also noticed that some well programmed games (such as Mini Motor Racing), despite the great smooth graphic, they heat up the phone very little. On the other hand, simple card games made my Gnex almost untouchable, go figure.

 

[ExEvolution]

Here. Also attached is the temperature reading from TempMonitor right after closing the game in the top left

 

[ExEvolution]

Ok so after being completely unimpressed with paranoid android, I'm torn on which rom I should try next. I had no data on PA but got that fixed thanks to a topic on here

Feimitsu, which kernel are you running? I'm using what I guess is franco kernel that came with PA

 

[mrgnex]

Ok so after being completely unimpressed with paranoid android, I'm torn on which rom I should try next. I had no data on PA but got that fixed thanks to a topic on here

Feimitsu, which kernel are you running? I'm using what I guess is franco kernel that came with PA

I'm on A.S.K.P. and my gnex is much cooler...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app

 

[Zanera]

Basically I've had a Sprint Galaxy Nexus since it launched and I've been plagued with heat issues under even light load, but under heavy load its so bad that it is thermal throttling about 90% of the time after only 2 minutes of use.

And by that I mean it is running at 65c after less than 2 minutes of any 3D game, where it begins thermal throttling to control the temperature, and every game becomes unplayable. The device can easily heat to 60c by simply scrolling a webpage but 65c is the threshold where the device is simply unusable. I know we should expect some heat due to passive cooling rather than active cooling, but in this state, my phone is only good for email and music.

So I'm ready to take it into my own hands and modify my phone. I have no idea what type of heatsink is in this thing as I have not taken it apart yet. I am hoping the issue is simply that the heatsink didn't have proper thermal compound on it and I can just treat it like a PC, but if thats not the problem, I'm wondering if this is going to be beyond my ability.

Are there improved heatsinks for phones on the market? I don't even know where to start

What is the average temperature in your country ? Because 60 degrees while scrolling a webpage is impossible for me to recreate. These temperatures you are having is not strange when the average ambient temperature is around 30 degrees. If that's not the case then try Slimbean alpha 3.1 which comes with LeanKernel 8.0. Make a full wipe if possible !

 

[ExEvolution]

I think his problem is the hardware itself. He said this was a problem see he got the phone from launch. I'm scratching my head as to why he still kept the phone and didn't have it replaced. My phone runs around 55 Celsius on higher load so I think the phone's cooling isn't working right and he should have gotten a replacement.

What is the average temperature in your country ? Because 60 degrees while scrolling a webpage is impossible for me to recreate. These temperatures you are having is not strange when the average ambient temperature is around 30 degrees. If that's not the case then try Slimbean alpha 3.1 which comes with LeanKernel 8.0. Make a full wipe if possible !

I'd say the average outdoor temperatures are around 75f or 24c in the summer,