PC Overheating

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Samball49

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My laptop keeps overheating when I stream video or video chat for too long. I tried cleaning everything out but I need help!
 

cbenoi1

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My laptop keeps overheating when I stream video or video chat for too long. I tried cleaning everything out but I need help!
It's normal for a laptop to become warmer than usual when the GPU - the Graphics Processing Unit - is fully solicited, which happens with graphics-heavy applications (full-screen video, 3D games, etc).

If the laptop becomes hot to the point that you cannot keep it on you lap for any length of time (we're talking close to boiling temp here), the laptop is overheating. This is bad. You need to clean all the vents with a can of compressed air. Dust finds its way into the cooling system and it needs cleaning from time to time. Have your laptop inspected by a tech if the overheating problem persists or worsens despite the cleaning.

If you do use your laptop for graphics-heavy applications often, you might want to consider a laptop cooling pad. Microsoft, Logitech and many other good brands of cooling pads out there.

-cb
 

Tirjasdyn

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Also many laptops require a hard surface to rest on in order for the cooling to work properly. Does it happen when on carpet and in your lap? Does it happen when set on a table?

If it's fine on a table, get a lapdesk.

Get it checked out if it happens regardless and doen't get a cooling pad until it's check out as that will not fix anything if the laptop has cooked itself.
 

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What kind of laptop is it? How old is it?

What software are you using?

I'd be interested in hearing the answer to this as well. If it's an older machine and you've never opened it and cleaned it out that could explain the problem. It could also be that the fan is clogged or even non-functional, a friend of mine had his notebook fan die on him this summer and the machine was only a year old.

As others have said running hot when processing graphics is not uncommon. On one of my notebooks, a MacBook Pro, I installed a temperature monitor and was astonished to see that some of the internal components get as hot as 98 degrees Celsius - that's only 2 degrees below the boiling point of water! This usually happens when I'm processing video with Final Cut Pro, I also just installed a new graphics tablet on this machine yesterday and I see that when I draw on the screen the temperature goes up dramatically. You can hear the fan in the Mac kick into high gear when this happens and it quickly brings the temperature down below 60 degrees Celsius.

If you're curious you can also install a temperature monitor. The one I just spoke of is for the Apple and is called (amazingly enough) "Temperature Monitor". It's a free download from the Apps Store.

For Windows machines you can try Core Temp, a free application you can download from http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/. I've used it on a few of my Windows machines, it's a bit challenging to configure but if done properly it allows you to actually change the temperature at which the computers internal fan is activated. This might be very helpful for you as you could have your fan kick in at a lower temperature to keep it from overheating.

Linux users have a bit more of a challenge, but we're used to that! I found a good resource for installing a Linux temperature monitor at this site - http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/howto-linux-get-sensors-information/ . I'm planning on trying this on my Ubuntu workstation, although I don't really suspect it has any problems as it seems to run pretty cool.

Hope this helps, again please let us know the details regarding your hardware so we can be of further assistance.

Bill
 

John Chapman

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It may have the cooling vents clogged with dust. Shut it down and use a vacuum cleaner hose to clean them out. While you are doing this put a stocking over the hose end and vacuum the keyboard also.
 

EMaree

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I'd be interested in hearing the answer to this as well. If it's an older machine and you've never opened it and cleaned it out that could explain the problem. It could also be that the fan is clogged or even non-functional, a friend of mine had his notebook fan die on him this summer and the machine was only a year old.

Personally, I don't recommend opening up a laptop if you're unfamiliar with PC hardware repairs.

I'm voting for:

  • Clean the fans and vents with a can of compressed air when it's turned off.
  • Make sure you're operating the laptop on a solid surface, like a table or a desk. A lot of laptops, especially cheaper Windows machines, can't handle being used on your lap or on a bed.
  • Are in particular programs open when it starts overheating?
  • What browser are you using when streaming videos? Try switching to a different one. If you're using internet Explorer, try Firefox. if you're using Firefox, try Chrome.
The laptop lap desk and laptop cooling pad recommendations are also good ideas.
 

Reziac

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It may have the cooling vents clogged with dust. Shut it down and use a vacuum cleaner hose to clean them out. While you are doing this put a stocking over the hose end and vacuum the keyboard also.

DO NOT TOUCH THE COMPUTER WITH THE VACUUM HOSE!
DO NOT GET CLOSER THAN ABOUT AN INCH!!

Yes, I'm shouting!!

Vacuums build up static, particularly on the end of the hose, and it's quite sufficient to short out a computer. As in kill it dead.
 

Torgo

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DON'T use a vacuum cleaner to clean out a computer. You can suck chips right off the motherboard. If you're using compressed air, use a pencil to immobilise any fans so that they don't spin when you blow the air through them - you can generate a charge that way and damage stuff.

If you have had the laptop for a few years and have never cleaned it, consider taking it in to the repair shop and having them give it a clean. It won't cost a huge amount and it should help out with the overheating.

Cooling pads seem like palliative care to me. A grungy laptop is only going to get worse, even if you're cooling it a bit.
 

Reziac

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Laptops are such fragile things inside, with so many tiny screws and hair-thin wires, and everything crammed and layered together tighter'n sardines -- taking 'em apart is not an amateur operation. I've been gifted several that folks killed that way... I was able to resurrect one, but it's still touchy because of it.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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My laptop would overheat to the point that it just shut off. Without warning.

In my case, cooling pads were worthless. I had to Get one of those cooling stands that have fans (two are better) in them to help cool it. They usually plug into the USB port, so you'll lose on permanently.
 

Samball49

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I tried compressed air and it worked pretty well but I don't think I cleaned it thoroughly enough.
 

Sheila Muirenn

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I used the blower from my shop Vac on my old Dell and forced the air through the intake vent. It's easy to tell which is the intake and which is the exit if you try both, because if you do it right, air blows out the other end. This did not require me to take anything apart.

Worked well. Almost like a new machine afterwards.

Compressed air would be okay if attached to a big compressor that has to be plugged in. Not so much from one of those little cans. (I know, I know, no one agrees, but my friend who had been a computer nerd since 1970 told me to try it).
 

Reziac

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I used the blower from my shop Vac on my old Dell and forced the air through the intake vent. It's easy to tell which is the intake and which is the exit if you try both, because if you do it right, air blows out the other end. This did not require me to take anything apart.

Worked well. Almost like a new machine afterwards.

Lucky you didn't fry something (I can make sparks with my shopvac's nozzle!) or jam all the dirt into where it least belongs.

Usually when a computer is overheating, the main culprit is that the CPU's heatsink and/or fan is clogged with microdust, which adheres like glue. (And if you smoke, it will REALLY build up.) You can blow out some of the surface accumulation, but that won't clean out between the heatsink's fins.

Desktop Dells have VERY poor cooling (they are designed to fail from heat death about the time they run out of warranty). Dunno about now but even just a few years back they had an intake fan and cowling, but NO fan on the CPU's heatsink. This arrangement is almost worse than nothing.

About 5 years ago someone gave me a top-of-the-line Dell because he could NOT keep the thing running (overheated all the time)... I jerked out the Dell fan-and-cowling setup, got rid of their inadequate heatsink on the CPU, and substituted the most ordinary of CPU heatsink/fan units. The machine's running temperature immediately dropped by 40F degrees, and after that it ran perfectly (well, til it died of bloated capacitors, but that's a different problem).
 

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I have to blow mine out regularly (not opening it up, just blowing vents and trying to keep keyboard clean). I also bought two large rubber door stoppers and prop the back end of my laptop up on a hard surface which has helped considerably in keeping the temperatures at a manageable level.
 

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DON'T use a vacuum cleaner to clean out a computer. You can suck chips right off the motherboard. If you're using compressed air, use a pencil to immobilise any fans so that they don't spin when you blow the air through them - you can generate a charge that way and damage stuff.

If you have had the laptop for a few years and have never cleaned it, consider taking it in to the repair shop and having them give it a clean. It won't cost a huge amount and it should help out with the overheating.

Unless you're already intimately comfortable with the innards of a computer, especially a laptop, this is really the best approach.

It means as well that the tech can spot things like glue rot/capacitor bloating.

The problem with the cans of compressed air is that the move the dust, they don't remove it.

You want it gone.
 

Reziac

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Unless you're already intimately comfortable with the innards of a computer, especially a laptop, this is really the best approach.

It means as well that the tech can spot things like glue rot/capacitor bloating.

The problem with the cans of compressed air is that the move the dust, they don't remove it.

You want it gone.

'Zactly... moving the dust around may make matters worse.

But not every tech is competent about this stuff. About 10 years back someone sent me a machine that had a problem with locking up after just a few minutes' use. Her tech guy (whom she had loyally used for years) had worked and worked (and billed and billed) on it and it STILL had the problem. I opened it up and the issue was obvious: the CPU heatsink/fan was one solid clot of cigarette smoke residue (which greatly resembles dirty cobwebs, only thicker) and the fan assembly had been so hot that it crumbled at a touch. The motherboard was so heat-warped that I had to pull the CPU card out of the slot with vise-grips, I shit you not. (The CPU survived this abuse and, with a good cleaning, is still in use today. The rest of the machine was toast. Literally.) This was all flamingly obvious at a glance, yet her tech guy hadn't thought to open it up and take a look. (Or was taking her for a ride, perhaps...)

Back when I was doing PC repair, one of my clients brought me a machine that was having issues... opened it up and found about 2 inches of solidly-packed desert sand in the bottom. Hey, you might want to plant potatoes in this thing... amazingly, it too survived this abuse.
 

Reziac

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Those cooling pads came into existence because there are some laptops that ALWAYS run hot no matter what you do with them (I haven't used one but reports are they work well). Heat is the enemy and will eventually kill your hard disk, and shorten the lifespan of other components (most of which otherwise can last indefinitely).
 

Torgo

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One of the cheapest solutions that could potentially work is a cooling pad http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Laptop-...04/pcmcat238900050004.c?id=pcmcat238900050004

I still don't really understand the logic behind the cooling pad.

The most likely reason your laptop might be overheating and shutting down is that you have a laptop full of grunge, and air isn't moving through it like it ought to. You buy a cooling pad and keep the laptop going, with extra fans and stuff, but the airways are still grungy and getting grungier. Eventually you'll get to the point where the cooling pad can't compensate any more, and you've got a problem you can't deal with in any other way than by getting the laptop cleaned out properly. The cooling pad just lets you keep it barely wheezing away until you have to pay the money that would have sorted it out for you six months ago.
 

Reziac

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I still don't really understand the logic behind the cooling pad.

Some laptops just run too hot, and do so from day one (design problem). That's what the cooling pads are designed for.

BTW I have not seen grunge inside a laptop at nearly the level that desktop machines acquire. Less circulation actually means less inhaled crud.

When I build a machine, I always put one more intake fan than outgoing fans. This keeps air pressure high inside the case and actually helps keep dirt out (as well as keeping it cooler), and most especially it helps keep optical and floppy drives clean. If you only have an outgoing fan, you have negative air pressure inside the case, and it's constantly sucking thru these dirt-sensitive devices too. You should see the hairballs I've pulled out of some that lacked the extra intake fan.

Speaking of heat, I've seen two fanless Macs catch fire. :eek:
 

kuwisdelu

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Some laptops just run too hot, and do so from day one (design problem). That's what the cooling pads are designed for.

Why would you buy a computer with that bad of a design problem?

And if you did, why wouldn't you return it and get a better one?
 

Reziac

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Why would you buy a computer with that bad of a design problem?

And if you did, why wouldn't you return it and get a better one?

I doubt anyone would on purpose. The folks I've heard complain of this didn't realise it was an issue til they'd had it a while. And returning isn't always an option, especially if it was ordered online, or came from somewhere with a large restocking fee.

[Good reason to buy laptops from Costco. Great return policy.]
 

Torgo

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Some laptops just run too hot, and do so from day one (design problem). That's what the cooling pads are designed for.

Then you've got a laptop that is not fit for purpose out of the box. I'd rather just return the thing and get one that doesn't melt than mess around with cooling pads.

BTW I have not seen grunge inside a laptop at nearly the level that desktop machines acquire. Less circulation actually means less inhaled crud.

Sure, though I have found that my last couple of laptops were prone to getting gummed up. The last one in particular went on a few painting and decorating jobs and filled up with fine dust. When my brother cracked it open to clean it (he's the practical one in the family) it looked like it was fur-lined.
 

EMaree

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The problem with the cans of compressed air is that the move the dust, they don't remove it.

You want it gone.

I'm going to be the fool who asks the obvious question -- what's everyone's recommended way to get the built-up dust gone for good?
 
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