Hi.

Just after a quick opinion - I took our laptop apart after getting temperatures of upto 84 degrees C. This doesn't look dusty enough to me to be causing problems so what else should I check?

Thanks, Luke.

Check the fan spins and the heatsink arrangment has good contact with the CPU.

Fairly bad but like you say doesn't seem enough to cause overheating.

I cleaned Sven's mum's laptop some time ago and it was totally clogged with dust and cat hairs... no air was getting through at all!

If I clean a laptop up like this I almost always take the heatsink off too and change the thermal goop!

Phil

Thanks for the replies.

It is indeed an acer Simbo! The fan spins - sounds like its going to take off most of the time! Everything looks to be in order as far as the heatsink contact goes - to the untrained eye anyway. Is there better thermal compound that I could use? Or is it the way its applied thats important? Can there be anything wrong with the heatsink?

I was thinking about getting a dual dore chip while its in bits - would 1.7/1.8 x 2 be better/more efficient/cooler than the single 2Ghz thats in it?

Luke.

It is normally very poorly applied thermal paste and usually very thick. Some silver stuff is usually pretty good.

Other than that not much else to be wrong if fan is spinning.

Check compatibility with CPU's and the laptop but yes a 1.7/1.8 core2 or similar would munch through work a hell of a lot faster than a single core CPU.

Phil

My 3 1/2 year old laptop hits 90 degrees sometimes.

Its a HP DV5201 I Think.

worth taking it apart?

What CPU is it as that will determine it's operating spec.

Many laptops let the CPU get hotter than usual to keep fan noise down.

It's worth cleaning that out any way as any small disruption to the airflow can drastically reduce cooling efficiency.

If you're bored get a desk fan above the open laptop and see how hot the CPU gets with that running.

To the above poster, the general solution to a warm/hot laptop is to get a can of air duster and apply it to the air intakes and outlets and see if things improve. That way you're not taking it all apart.

Update...

I thought I'd get it all back together after a clean before trying a dual core and/or re-pasting just to see if it gets any cooler. Its not too difficult anyway so I don't mind taking it apart again if I need to - Also means I can put the two spare screws I have now back in next time too!!

Anyway, along with the clean I removed a few bits of 'webbing' that were covering ventage - I assume they were there to decrease dust intake... but I don't care.

At the moment it's running at 63. The fan is idling but not trying to hover - which is nice! I'll leave it on for a few hours and run iTunes and a few other things that I usually do and see what happens.

The CPU in this is the AMD Turion 2.2Ghz 64MK-38 thing...

PS - just as I'm finishing this the fan has got faster and the temp has hit 75! Grrr!

75 isn't all that hot for a modern CPU and well within the operating limits of many CPU's

75 isn't all that hot for a modern CPU and well within the operating limits of many CPU's

I found the spec for it and the max operating temp stated is 95!

Seems to be pretty stable at the moment - certainly not as loud or hot to the touch as it had been getting.

If max is 95 then it wouldn't surprise me if in a laptop it is permitted to get to around 70 before the fans kick in full.

You may find a setting in the bios that allows you so have the fans set for acoustics or performance.

The latter will be noisier as the fan will be on more, but will run cooler.

What background software is running, it could just be something taking up lots of processor time causing the temp to rise. If you are running at 100% CPU then the laptop is bound to get VERY hot. Whilst the processor is hot, look in task manager and report back what the CPU usage figure is.

If max is 95 then it wouldn't surprise me if in a laptop it is permitted to get to around 70 before the fans kick in full.

You may find a setting in the bios that allows you so have the fans set for acoustics or performance.

The latter will be noisier as the fan will be on more, but will run cooler.

I'll have a look - I'd like a setting that keeps the fan on a medium setting for constant cooling instead of cranking up when it gets hot.

What background software is running, it could just be something taking up lots of processor time causing the temp to rise. If you are running at 100% CPU then the laptop is bound to get VERY hot. Whilst the processor is hot, look in task manager and report back what the CPU usage figure is.

I've noticed Firefox being the top process when the CPU hits 100%. I've just swapped AVG out for Avast... sure I read somewhere it was less power hungry.

i would also recommend a new application of thermal paste, providing that:

1: you clean the old stuff off 1st from the CPU and heatsink,

2: when you apply the new stuff you apply no more than a small PEA size amount of paste and ensure that you coat the top of the CPU evenly.

3: make sure you plug the fan back in after replacing the heatsink.