Help! RetroArch fries my CPU

Hey guys! The instant I launch RetroArch, my laptop’s CPU temp jumps from 48 to 64° C. From there, it climbs to around 70, where it stays while my fans scream like a jet engine.

Anything I can do about this? I used to have this problem when this laptop was new (last August), and I resolved it by disabling hard GPU sync. That’s not it now, though. :frowning:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Running 1.8.4 on LInux Mint 19.3. My system info: https://termbin.com/ojgb

Have you tried changing the menu driver?

Hi hunterk! I tried Ozone and XMB. I also tried removing my retroarch.cfg and launching RA with a blank, new one. Same results.

I just disconnected my external screen and ran RA on the laptop’s own screen. Now, the temperature doesn’t change at all, it stays at 47°. Is there any known behaviour that RA has when running it on a second screen?

Is your second monitor running at 144 Hz? If so, does it help to drop it down to 120 Hz instead?

It’s running at 60 Hz, 1440p.

I don’t know why, but I just managed to solve the problem! I had my laptop connected to 2 external screens, with the laptop’s own display switched off.

I switched the laptop display back on and now the temperature spike is gone, regardless of which screen I have RA open on.

I’m not really sure who the culprit here is: Nvidia’s or Mint’s handling of multi-screen setups or something in RA’s code. Either way, for some reason it’s now fixes.

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Very strange. Thanks for posting your solution :slight_smile:

Thanks to you for your quick replies!

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