Laptop Cooling Help
'aight so rather than build my own desktop and get a small netbook for college I did what any reasonable idiot would do and bought myself a relatively powerful laptop (In my defense, my parents bought me a laptop as a sort of graduation gift and probably wouldn't have let me get that sort of combo). Super satisfied with the performance and what the laptop is able to do, except for a minor problem...it overheats. A lot.
Brand: HP (neveragain) dv6
Processor: AMD A8 3510MX @1.8 GHz (amd fanboy reporting in)
RAM: 6 GB (Pondering an upgrade to 8, doubting I'll need it)
Vidya Card: AMD Radeon HD 6620G
If I'm running it at 100% (while rendering a video) it shoots to a core temperature of 80C within seconds (lord knows what I'd do if I were running an Intel powerhog). I average about 60C when just browsing the web and watching videos, somewhere between 65 and 75 if I'm playing a game. I'm fully aware that's NOT cool, but I'm wondering a few things:
1) What's an effective way to cool my laptop? I recently purchased [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834997872&Tpk=Cooler%20master%20U3]this nifty pad[/url] and am hoping it helps somewhat, but I'm not sure if I should go ahead and pop this sucker open and replace the heatsink or at the very least apply some thermal paste (or, knowing HP, move the cords so they aren't blocking vital air flow or something).
2) What temperatures are gonna be safe to run? I know 80's too hot, and I'm aware I'm probably cutting it close most of the time, but I need a good baseline for when I should lower my CPU's clock speed.
3) Any general tips? I mean, aside from taking a large hammer to my computer and getting a Toshiba Netbook (with sleep and--)
Note: I'm not overclocking or using any sort of turboboost (The advertised turboboost didn't even come with the BIOS, which is kinda lame). I'm actually forced to underclock to keep my CPU from catching fire while I render files. I checked around online and apparently most people with my processor hit no higher than 60C when running the most intense of processes (then proceed to get 30C while idling where I clock 55)
7 Comments • Newest first
I would buy a laptop fan for around 40$. I bought one and it keeps my laptop around 5~10 degrees cooler. 60 should be an acceptable temperature for idling, 75~80 is minecraft and intense gaming. anything above 90+ isn't good
Yeah Minecraft is awful. xD
It mighta been the Desktop A8, but I coulda sworn I was reading around on a laptop thread on some forum. Either way my concerns are mostly addressed. Thanks all~
Rarely 55C? Are you sure you are not getting this mixed up with the desktop A8? Desktop version will have a better cooling system than a laptop.
If my understanding of the game is correct, Minecraft hitting higher temperature is understandable. Dead Island is GPU-bound, whereas MC is a poorly optimized game that is base off of Java which is more reliant on the CPU.
@Jazzman: When just browsing around doing random stuff it's usually 50-60C, as I mentioned. Gaming generally peaks at 70-75 (Minecraft ironically is the only game that gets me to 75, I can run Dead Island on max settings and only hit 70) whereas video rendering capped my cores at 81.
Main reason I was worried is because, after some research, I found that this particular processor rarely goes above 55. Apparently AMD processors also tend to fry at 90 degrees or some such -- either way I'm not too hot on keeping my laptop on that high temp (or even at 65) for long periods of time.
[quote=qwan456]Stuff 'n things.[/quote]
Fair enough, will call HP sometime later this week and see if I can get some answers. Good to know that 80C isn't too worrysome.
As for where my laptop is positioned, I usually keep it halfway off my desk so there's maximum airflow.
Thanks all!
Due to the different designs of laptops and it's cooling system, they don't don't make an aftermarket HSF for a laptop. You basically will need to stick with what you got, so an external cooler will be your best bet. Even attempting to raise the back of the laptop up allow more airflow may help a little. As for changing your TIM, people do this often, but if I'm not mistaken, this may void your warranty and you just got this laptop not to long ago.
Also, rerouting the wires is unneeded as well. It's either going to be a ribbon cable for the keyboard and monitor or a thin cable for the wireless card - which is generally routed out of the way onto the plastic interior of the case.
Regarding the temperatures, though. Seeing how you are video editing on a laptop, If it is maintaining that temperature and this is on stock speed, I believe it should be normal for it to hitting 80 on these laptops. So unless a more higher-end laptop with a better cooling system, you likely will see similar temperatures if you were to get another laptop with the same components in the same price range. While I would expect the temperature to be more close to 45C-50C during web browsing though.
While 80C is high, you don't have to freak out about it, but it is something to be wary off, as depending on how well you maintain your laptop, it is subject to raise due dust build up. So keep it on a clean flat surface when you are doing your video editing.
If I'm mistaken and it is a quality control issue that is causing it to get that hot, then I would agree with Jazzman on calling up HP, as it is still under warranty.
Possibly defective, have you sent it in or called HP?
1) i rarely see anyone replace laptop heatsinks (cpu coolers, etc. etc.), let alone reapply thermal paste...cause i mean, thats the thing about laptops, they're small and portable and very limited in terms of parts replaceability...what u see is what u get, with the exception of the hdd and ram. Buying those cooling pad thingies like u posted are usually the best option for cooling ur laptop.
2) if ur running ur laptop on 100% then ofc its gonna be hot, i wouldnt say 80C is absolutely 'system shutdown' hot, but if ur laptop is shooting to 80C more often than not, then that might be a problem. when playing games, surfing internet, etc. whats the avg temp of ur system?
3) bios, driver updates, etc. etc. Jeez man, u had to underclock? ._. if its hitting 80C when underclocked, then yea there might be something wrong with the cooling...