RobinJI Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 Hi guys. I've had an issue with my laptop a few months now, but I've had no joy sorting it, so I thought you fine people may have some advice. Basically my laptop sometimes runs really hot, right now the CPU temp's ~50deg, which seems fine, fans making no real noise and it's staying stable, but occationally it'll run hot enough to trip the protection thing and cut out, which is at 105deg. The odd thing seems to be when it happens. After about a year of owning it, it started occationally cutting out when being worked really hard (rendering CAD drawing for uni for example), but it'd be fine if I lifted the rear edge up off the desk so it had some air-flow. Not ideal, and it hadn't done it when it was new, but oh well, it was running 100% CPU load for hours at a time. With the rear lifted it'd run at ~95deg, but it was pretty stable and wouldn't cut out. The trouble is, it's started doing it even when it's not really being worked so hard. It's still the same rendering, will run for hours at a stable ~95deg, as long as there's an air-gap under it, but it's started occationally cutting out even when I've only got web browsers open. It seems that the temperature will shoot up from ~50 normal running to enough to cut out in a matter of minutes, even with an air-gap, the only pattern seems to be that it tends to be when I've got a few video tabs open (youtube, vimeo etc.) Still, that's nothing I'd expect to cause issues if it's happy rendering for hours on end. The laptop's a standard Acer Aspire 5742 (4gb ram, intel i5 processor), running windows 7 and tends to also be running a 22" external monitor as a second display (as an extension of it's screen, not instead.) I've stripped it down hardware wise, as I was suspicious that it was full of dust what with it being something that's started over time, not since new (it gets used a lot away from home, occasionally in very dusty conditions), but nope, couldn't have asked for the insides to be cleaner, no buildups or anything, air-flow path was clear and good. So I'm starting to think that maybe there's something up with the fan control, as it doesn't seem like it's running flat out a lot of the time when the temps are higher than I'd like. So yeah, any tricks to getting it to run cooler besides messing with hardware? Any (free) fan control software I can try out to see if that's the issue? (I tried, but struggled to find anything that actually did what it claimed to.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalf the Yellow Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 Probably not much help, but I always clear out the path of the air flows by occasionally blowing hair dryer and Hoover it, and also always use a USB powered cooler master stand with external fan to keep things cool... They're not expensive either! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsmax04 Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 I clicked on this as my computer does this occasionally, turns out we have the exact same laptop. Must be a fault with this model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashbanggg Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 I bought one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-fan-Laptop-PC-Cooling-Cooler-Pad-Folding-New-/320433267809?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccess_RL&hash=item4a9b4fa461 which helps to massively reduced the temperature of mine, and has made it noticeably quicker when doing things like rendering videos and stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 Which operating system are you running? I also ran into the same problem, and it seemed like ubuntu doesn't play nice with i3 processors. But I guess your running windows. Cleaning the insides (laptps nowadays are very easy to open up without messing everything up, check the underside) can make a massive difference. Ecspecially the fans. This might seem silly, but check if you're missing any of the rubber thingies on the underside. I managed to lose one and now the laptop is very slightly tiled which blocks a small part of the ventilation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 Did you actually unscrew and remove the fan unit? I remember when I had the same problem with my Acer and it looked like there was just the odd bit of dust on the grill of the fan but when I actually took it out there was a good 3 square inch piece of built up dust packed inside. Sucked that out and it worked like a dream! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trials owns Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 Did you actually unscrew and remove the fan unit? I remember when I had the same problem with my Acer and it looked like there was just the odd bit of dust on the grill of the fan but when I actually took it out there was a good 3 square inch piece of built up dust packed inside. Sucked that out and it worked like a dream! Yup, Same as me! Mines a advent though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete.M Posted August 25, 2012 Report Share Posted August 25, 2012 I use one of these: http://www.xpad4laptop.com/ I didn't want a cooling stand with fans, so this seemed like a good, if expensive, option. It's a useful item to have because you can rest your laptop on soft surfaces like a bed without blocking the laptop's fans. I think there is fan control software available, but I'd be surprised if it works with many computers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Robin, have you tried replacing the thermal compound on the CPU cooler? Any pre-builds are generally built using shit compound, because the more expensive stuff you get in syringes is messy and attracts dust. They use pads of much cheaper, harder stuff because it isn't as messy and therefore much faster to assemble. If you remove the cooler, wipe off the old stuff and apply some higher quality compound (I favour Arctic Cooling MX4) you should see a decent drop in temps. Especially if you find any dust lodged in the heatsink at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted August 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 (edited) Hey, sorry for the slow reply, thanks for the suggestions guys, this gives me something to try at least. I'm pretty sure I checked all around the fan when I stripped the laptop down, and it all looked good, but I'm tempted to try again just to make sure, it was pretty straight forward to do once I worked out how the key-board came out. I remember taking the fan its self out for a good look. I've also blown through it with a dusting gun on an air-line at work, so it should be pretty damn dust free in there. I've seen the stands with a fan in them, but I just don't think they're practical enough. I'd expect a product like this to work in an 'out of the box' state, the whole idea of a laptop is that it's portable, if I have to start carrying extra bits with it then it starts defeating the point of it somewhat. I wasn't that bothered about it happening rendering, as that was a hell of a lot to ask of it for a cheep laptop, but when it happens just web browsing even with a decent air-gap under the fan it's not really acceptable in my eyes. Thermal compound makes sense, and could be a good shout if I strip it down again. I'm pretty sure I've got some reasonable stuff lying around from when I built an ECU for my old car, there may not be enough left though. I was a bit surprised when I stripped it that all the cooling's done through a heat-sink, I was kind of expecting there to be some air-flow over the CPU and other bits, but nope, the only air-flow path is through nothing but the heat-sink, it relies solely on it, so I guess the thermal compound could make a decent difference. In fact I'm tempted to cut a few extra slots in the casing to let some more air flow over the components that actually cause the heat, rather than relying 100% on the heat-sink. Does this sound like a really bad idea to you computer guys? No fan control software out there then? That's a bit of a shame, as I'd be curious to see how much of a difference it made. It almost seems to be a random thing, just every now and then the temperature sky-rockets, which can catch me by surprise. If I'm rendering or something then it's expected, but when it just shoots up it's as if the fans not kicking in properly or something, it's a quiet fan at the best of times though, so I've not noticed if it actually is running flat out or not though. Edit: omgnoseat - I'm running windows 7 and an i5 processor, I wouldn't expect there to be any issues there as it's a pretty common set-up, and just as it came from PC world (I needed it in a hurry!) Pete.M - It still happens even if it has a decent gap under the base of the laptop, so I can't imagine one of those stands helping. There's plenty of air available to the fan. Oh, and a couple of the aforementioned renders, done to 3840x2160p, not terrible given the laptops basic spec (all modeled by myself): Edited August 31, 2012 by RobinJI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronmc Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 Cant help much with this, however i had an advent laptop a few years back that did this (common fault) Left it into pc world to get them to test it and they couldnt get it to do it, got it home it happened again. eventually I managed to video it and showed them the evidence and got a full refund. Now only use a mac and cant fault it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted August 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 Cheers, but I'd rather fix it than return it, I know there will be little issues with cheep products like this, and it's been a very good laptop other than this. I could return/sell it and buy a more up-market model that'd be less likely to have issues, but I simply don't have the money, and if a few extra holes and some thermal compound will fix this one, there's no point really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronmc Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 I only had it a month and it was a disaster lost so much work cause of it. New thermal compound can help alot, the slightest crack /air pocket in it and it doesnt perform as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 Robin, I wouldn't mod it because then it has been "obviously" tampered with. What is the stuff you got for your ECU? Believe it or not the make/model can make a huge difference. If it's just no-name paste, I'd recommend buying some posh stuff. It's normally around £5-7. In theory you could replace the thermal paste with better stuff, make sure the heatsink is free of dust and if there are no VOID stickers to break, you could still return it if that doesn't sort it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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