Legion Go 1 overheating and abrupt shutdowns

Bazzite
1

Hi everyone,

I have a first-generation Lenovo Legion Go, and during the last couple of months I’ve started experiencing serious overheating issues. In almost every gaming session, the device gets hot enough that it suddenly shuts down.

I do not think this is related to the Fedora 44 transition, because I was already encountering the same issue in June and July. However, I have been using Bazzite on my Legion Go 1 for more than a year, and until recently it had been running flawlessly. I had maybe once or twice only experienced thermal shutdowns before.

For troubleshooting, I tested every available TDP option, from the lowest power mode up to Performance mode. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any difference: all profiles eventually show the same behavior.

The issue usually follows this pattern:

  • The game suddenly begins to lag heavily.

  • Performance keeps getting worse for roughly another minute.

  • Then the Legion Go shuts down abruptly.

Is anyone else with a Legion Go 1 experiencing similar overheating, severe throttling, or abrupt shutdowns at the moment?

While looking into it, I found several reports suggesting a BIOS thermal-policy setting may help. Possibly changing the thermal policy from STAPM/STAMP to STT. Has anyone here tried that on Bazzite? Did it improve temperatures or prevent shutdowns, and would you consider it the recommended approach?

I am a bit hesitant to change BIOS settings because the device worked well for a long time without any BIOS tweaks. Before changing anything, I would also appreciate suggestions on what logs, temperature readings, fan checks, or settings I should investigate.

In any case, thank you to everyone working on Bazzite. Apart from this recent Legion Go issue, my experience with it has been excellent.

2

Hi, there are 2 ways it could have gone to extreme overheating.

  1. The cooling has failed cause of time/power.
  2. The taps for the screws has melted/broken off the board, and no longer make contact.

In case of first, try setting power mode to either balanced or low (Click on the ‘power and battery’ on taskbar, and drag the “power profile” slider to the left), and have the computer cleaned of dust. As a principle, you should have the thermal paste replaced, as some of them can burn with enough heat. Also setting power mode from BIOS, undervolting are a good solution for longevity, and to check fan curve and speeds.

In second case, there is nothing you can do, as the taps are glued on to the mainboard on Legion laptops. Which has happened to a person I know, and he was so happy to get an good laptop for cheap.

As a warning, do not keep using it when it is overheating. That person’s laptop nearly blew up, as the battery was 3 times the pillow when we discovered it.

The easiest way to find out which it is, is to just remove the bottom panel. And see if any of the cooling brackets feet/taps are detached from the board.

Edit: I just noticed that you were talking about a handheld, but most of the solution/fixes stand.

3

Hi @Arkalim, thanks for the suggestions! Since this is a first-generation Legion Go handheld bought new only about a year ago, it seems a little unusual that the thermal paste or heatsink mounting would already have deteriorated, especially because it ran flawlessly for most of that time and I used it not very often.

Also, I was slightly incorrect earlier: the shutdowns do not happen in every session. For example, they have never occurred in lighter games like Slay the Spire or in desktop use, which initially made me think the issue was tied only to certain “heavy” games.

That said, I will check the fan, airflow, dust buildup, and any visible issues inside. I’d rather avoid opening it, honestly.

I was more leaning on trying to monitor temperatures/logs and testing the STAPM versus STT BIOS thermal policy to see whether it is a firmware or power-management issue, although I would have preferred a suggestion first from someone who experienced the same problem firsthand.