Computer Overheating

[Daxis]

Well I just had my laptop overheat (twice) today while playing a brief mmo this afternoon. Was sorta surprised by it, seeing as I've never overheated before (or blue screen of death'd, although at least I know of it).

So, I'm just looking around to see what's happening, and I've been noticing that my laptop is generally always having the fan on, sometimes as a general hum, others at a time when it's obviously working. (It's ALWAYS noticeable, however).

I've been getting a tad concerned, so I got this core temp program, as well as speedfan. I've check out that the average cpu/comp temp is about 40-55 Celcius, and running these two programs, my computer average been 60 c (with generally nothing active) to about 70/75 C with firefox open. When I ram Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials at once, several of my cores touched at the 95 C to even 100 C every now and then.

This is sorta ridiculous IMO, seeing as my comp has barely had any issues whatsoever before, and I've been doing the same stuff as always- hell, I was just playing the game fine 20 hours ago.

I DO, however, leave the laptop on extended, extended periods of time (maybe a week sometimes), and general play pretty heavy games (crysis, oblivion, mmos both 2D and 3D). I'm not sure what's up, but the several factors seem to say that something is really, really off.

http://bb.ohsk.net/uploads/specs.png

 

[Gubid]

You may simply want to get a thing of canned air and blow it out after its been able to cool down and remain off. This is always a good practice to perform on your computer every so often anyway. Aside, from that, you might want to look at replacing the fans. Many local computer shops will do this for a minimal fee.

 

[Citizen86]

In additioin to what Gubid said, since it's a laptop (a pretty nice one at that), I don't know if you have it lying flat or not. I always have mine propped up though. It's fine if it is not working too hard, but if my video card starts to get worked and it is lying flat, there is a good chance it will overheat. Even something as simple as a decent sized book near the back to prop it up and get some more airflow will help a lot. It's the same idea as a cooling pad you can buy.

 

[Daxis]

actually, it has something like that built into it, which keeps the back of the laptop about an inch off the surface. The only surface it does meet are even, level surfaces as well, although p much every day i take it with me to school in a light bookbag.

 

[Citizen86]

As long as it's getting decent airflow. Other thing I would try then is like Gubid said, get some compressed air and get the dust out of it. If that doesn't help then you might have to open it up and see if a fan isn't working or take it to a computer shop.

 

[Perihelion]

Hey, we have a forum for this, so I went ahead and moved it. Good luck with your machine!

 

[Venetia]

suuuuuuuuuuper common for laptops to overheat. their cases are small, barely ever cleaned out, and are often used on warm laps or on blankets or carpets or anything organic that traps warmth. plus they are rattled about a lot, and fans can easily become unseated or destabilized (and fans are not always reliable themselves--they may give out unexpectedly, even when well-maintained).

pop the bottom of the chassis and give it a good few squirts of canned air. make sure the cards & fans are seated & connected properly. kick it on & off a couple of times to ensure all fans are running.

then do yourself a favor and invest in a laptop cooling stand.

they are not expensive and can make up to a -10C difference. (significant.)


if it's still overheating, you'll have to systematically test what is causing it, by checking temps over and over while doing things that overtax the CPU or the vid card, etc. if it's giving out during games, it's likely the vid card. it may have improper clocking or have a clog in its own gpu fan, or any number of things. if the warranty is still good, you can probably exchange it for a new one.

 

[e]

DYI laptop stand: http://www.instructables.com/id/Ergonom ... at-Hanger/

I recently cracked open my laptop, dug out the heatsink and re-applied the thermal paste over the CPU/GPUs. Worked wonders, knocked off 20 degrees during heavy use: there was so much solid thermal paste on the copper cores, and much of the silicon tablets around the CPU/GPUs was also battered in the stuff. Moral: don't trust chinese assembly line kids with thermal paste.

Otherwise, other people's advice is good: clean your fans and so forth.

 

[Daxis]

and oh fuck it would seem as if my dad moved all the screwdrivers to the other house.
:\
Cool idea for a laptop stand. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna check out the fans and stuff, seems strange that's the only major problem that causes over heating, lol. We'll see what happens as i unscrew stuff apart.

and to etheon: sadly enough, none of my coat hangers are 17 inches.