overheating????

[sleezeep]

i have been having a problem with my laptop for a couple months now. It overheats anytime i am streaming video, whether it is youtube, hulu, or netflix it overheats everytime. When it first started i attributed it to the fact that i live in California and when it was happening it was always at least 95 ambient temperature. but it seems to have become more frequent. I downloaded speedfan, and i am idling with temps around 35-40 C. but when streaming video it is more like 70-75 C. I always keep it elevated and have had to resort to putting it next to a box fan to keep the temps down. Also it always either on a wood desk or even concrete. For regular use however i havent had any problems. Im interested to know if i should put new thermal compound on it or if there are any better heatsink/fan combos that would work better then the stock one. The laptop is a Gateway NV78.

 

[Skull_Angel]

you could try reapplying thermal paste. I'd also suggest returning to stock speeds if you've done any overclocking (or may be even try underclocking), it's generally not worth it for notebooks if you take battery life into account.

 

[Dangman]

Make sure that you clean out the dust in the laptop. That's another big cause of laptop overheating besides the obvious one

 

[sleezeep]

is it safe to use a shop-vac to clean it out? or would canned air be a better recommendation? Also i have not done any overclocking whatsoever, so perhaps ill try under clocking it a little bit.

 

[limitedaccess]

There are buy able laptop coolers, but are really more like platforms you put under your laptop. They provide elevation (easier air access to vents) and have fans.

But in terms of the actual heatsink you can try certain mods. Some laptop sinks do not full sit on the components and instead use a thick thermal pad to cover the gap. I for instance replaced those on mine with a copper shim.

From the software side try undervolting your cpu with rmclock -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/235824-undervolting-guide.html

For instance I dropped my gateway by 0.15v I think, it dropped my load temps by about 10C and is better for battery life. I actually use rmclock to manually lower the multiplier as well when I do not need the performance.

 

[sleezeep]

There are buy able laptop coolers, but are really more like platforms you put under your laptop. They provide elevation (easier air access to vents) and have fans.

But in terms of the actual heatsink you can try certain mods. Some laptop sinks do not full sit on the components and instead use a thick thermal pad to cover the gap. I for instance replaced those on mine with a copper shim.

From the software side try undervolting your cpu with rmclock -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/235824-undervolting-guide.html

For instance I dropped my gateway by 0.15v I think, it dropped my load temps by about 10C and is better for battery life. I actually use rmclock to manually lower the multiplier as well when I do not need the performance.

thank you very much, im downloading it as we speak ill let you know how it goes. plus i may tear this thing apart this weekend and see if there is anything to be done about the heatsink.

 

[sleezeep]

hey guys. thank you for all your input. I cleaned out my pc, and did some underclocking, and i managed to shave a whole 15 C off my load and idle temps! so i would recommend this as a first for trying to get cooler temps out of a notebook!