Cooling a hot laptop

[wemorgan]

Yet another IT question from me, sorry.

My laptop gets quite warm when it's crunching its numbers. The software says CPU temp ~80C. When it gets to 80C the fans go very fast, making quite a noise, but reducing the temperature to 70C. The fan then slows down and seconds later the temperature rises again and so it continues.

I also find that the top of the case gets quite warm, making it uncomfortable for me to rest the palms of my hands on it when typing.

So I bought a Zalman laptop cooler, this ZM-NC3000U

The reviews claimed that temperatures reduced by 10C. But whilst I can feel the cool air coming out of the 220mm fan the laptop software still gives a peak of 80C.

Is this just a nature of the Intel i7 mobile processor? But it could also be the HD, which is located beneath the touch pad?

Searching the web, the Alienware M15x gives a few owners complaining about heat, but no solutions so far.

It's all very well having a fast laptop, but if it's too hot to handle it becomes a bit of a white elephant.

Any suggestions?

 

[Dryce]

Is this just a nature of the Intel i7 mobile processor? But it could also be the HD, which is located beneath the touch pad?

Searching the web, the Alienware M15x gives a few owners complaining about heat, but no solutions so far.

It's all very well having a fast laptop, but if it's too hot to handle it becomes a bit of a white elephant.

Any suggestions?

The CPU can reduce its power consumption by dropping its work throughput using various internal methods. If the fans were coming on and the temperature still rises then the CPU will slow down.

If the cooler you bought has any effect then it may be offset by the fact that the CPU is simply using the extra heat dissipation to allow it to increase its work throughput - keeping the temperature up.

You could prove this by benchmarking it - does it take longer to do all the number crunching without the additional cooler?

 

[wemorgan]

My test is quite odd as the opposite conclusion is shown.

Fan OFF
Starting CPU temp = 62C
Max CPU temp = 79C
Run time = 14min 50s

Fan ON
Starting CPU temp = 60C
Max CPU temp = 79C
Run time = 19min 15s

There must have been other HD or memory issues for the second run to be so much slower.

Also, I've found a picture showing the laptop internals. My left hand rests on the top left of the photo. That area feels warmer than the right.
I suspect the left is where the GFX card is as the external ports are on that side of the laptop. (GFX temp was always 53C in my tests)

 

[Dieselman]

Double post.

 

[Dieselman]

Those copper tubes are the heat pipes which take heat from the CPU. As long as the fans are clear and the temperature never continues to creep upwards then it will be fine.

If it really overheats the lappy will either freeze or shutdown.

Walking into a server room that was at 80c was interesting.

 

[Colin_b]

Laptops tend to get too hot because the vents get clogged with fluff and other detritus....

A good blast of compressed air through the vents should clear out the debris, and cool it down a bit...

 

[wemorgan]

I must admit that I was more concerned about my hands getting too warm than the laptop

The i7 processor has a 100C shut off temperature, so 80C is still well within technical spec, just not my human tolerance spec.

The vents and fans have all been recently cleaned.

 

[markjay]

If it's an i7, it would be fairly new and probably still under warranty - have you considered contacting the manufacturer's support and see what they have to say?

 

[WDB124066]

There was a heat sink Gel I noticed the lads using at the repair shop, would that help if it was put in the right place.....??

 

[markjay]

Also, under power management you can decide if you want performance to be optimised towards longer battery life or better performance. The former should cause the laptop to heat less - as heat is wasted energy and a drain on the battery. Perhaps it is worth running the PC in lower-performance mode, even when plugged-in, to see if this helps?

 

[markjay]

Also... I don't know which model laptop you have, however Intel usually makes two versions of their processors, the mobile version runs cooler and consumes less power to allow for longer battery life on laptops, the desktop version runs hotter and faster. I know that manufactures of some gaming laptops were using the faster desktop processors on purpose in order to achieve gaming performance, and these laptops are known to seriously overheat - if this is the case with your laptop then I doubt there will be much you can do?

 

[wemorgan]

Perhaps it is worth running the PC in lower-performance mode, even when plugged-in, to see if this helps?

That's a nice idea. Problem is, I want to have my cake and eat it. I like the performance, I just don't like the heat.

I think I'll try the lower power modes tomorrow and see what they show up.

Cheers.

 

[Whitey]

Do you use this on the sofa/bed ?

Alienware are known to get hot/noisy but they are among the best.

 

[wemorgan]

This is all whilst at work with the laptop on a desk.

 

[Whitey]

I remember there being a piece of software called Speedfan. I used to run the fans at low but all the time.

 

[grober]

If your laptop has run very hot over a prolonged period in the past its possible the heat sink compound between the processor and its associated heat sink has dried out. The only solution is to renew it- preferably with a high performance metal containing type [aluminium or silver] This would mean a lot of dismantling of course and would nullify any warranty. If such damage has occurred then using a dedicated cooler is not going to help much since the damage has been done.
I am also given to understand that for less graphics intensive use it possible to switch to the onboard graphics processor rather than the graphics card which should markedly reduce case temperature. It would appear that switching from performance mode to normal is more likely to effect graphics processing than the CPU.

 

[Whitey]

It is normal temps for an i7 especially in a laptop. They have a Turbo Boost mode as well which increases speed when carrying out tasks.

Depending on the year of the Alienware, the graphics switching you describe should be automatic.