any way to fix an overheated HP-Compaq laptop

[imported_blablabla]

I have a Presario R3065US Notebook (3.06GHz Pentium 4, 512MB, 80GB, DVD-RW, Windows XP, 15.4" TFT), and it gets really hot... if I am not working in a ac room, or with a fan(literally) running next to the pc, it will get so hot that it will shut down.

Its a year old, and I think the processor is a "simple" P4(meaning no HT technology, or centrino, nothing). Can I change any of the settings, like underclock, undervoltage, under-something in the computer settings so that the processor doesnt have to run the way it does, and therefore the computer doesnt get as hot as it does?

As you can tell from reading the paragraph above I dont know much about messing around with the hardware settings of a computer, and I dont expect someone to guide me step by step, but please tell me what I should read into, possible even where, and I will do my homework....

Thank you

 

[Ionizer86]

Yeah, P4's in a notebook run mad hot. Here are some things to try:
Use NHC program to undervolt your laptop. Just install .net 2.0 and this program. There will be a tab for undervolting your chip, and if your chip does undervolt, the settings will be there.

To make sure your computer is underclocking, speedstep needs to be on (if your chip has it). Also set your computer to the portable/laptop power profile in Windows.

By now, your heatsink may have collected lots of dust. If it's easy to get to, run some canned air through it to remove the dust buildup.

Oh, and elevate your laptop on a rack or on some books so there's circulation underneath. Especially helpful if your laptop has heat vents underneath.

 

[imported_blablabla]

what I have been doing now is place a little piece of wood in the back part of the "bed" of the laptop(where the battery is located)... it raises the unit on an angle... and it is still comfortable to type and lets air(from the fan I keep next to it..) flow thru....the temp of the air that comes out is equivalent to putting ur fingers next to a hair blowdryer(no kidding)....

I will look into the stuff you suggested. although I will sell this system in the next 3 months, I want to set the comp in a way that it doesnt overheat for no reason.. and let the other person know how to change this.

Thank you

 

[bacillus]

could also be cause be dust & debris buildup on the cpu heatsink.

a can of compressed air liberally blown thru your air vents should help matters if the above is true.

 

[cheesehead]

I'd open up your laptop, and clean it out with a Q-tip and some tweezers.
Then, undervolt as described above. (Undervolting is not terribly likely to kill your processor, but I'd be careful with it. A "burn-in" application is a good idea).
In addition, it's possible to improve your heatsink's thermal ability. Remove the processor heatsink; it's usually very rough, with lots of thermal epoxy. Nasty stuff. Using fine-grain sandpaper, sand down both the aluminum heastink, and the processor itself. (Your should only sand down the CPU until the thermal crud is off, and no more.) Rubbing alcohol can help with this. Be VERY careful not to sand down to the die; this will kill the processor. (Hopefully, you'll have a big metal heatspreader on top, in which case you have nothing to worry about.)
Once you have done this, re-attach the heatsink with Arctic Silver thermal epoxy, and you're done.
I've only done the above once, and only reccomend it if you know what you're doing. It can help temperatures a good bit, though.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Cheesehead is on the right track.

Get the maintenance instructions for your laptop from HP's site. Open it up and get to the CPU. Remove the heatsink from the CPU. Overall I do not recommend lapping (using sandpaper) on the heatsink and DEFINITELY not on the processor. This will make a minimum of difference, what you need to do is get the HSF back to factory operating condition and you'll be fine. Get some rubbing alochol (the higher the % alcohol the better) and a soft, lint free cloth. Get all the goop off the heatsink side and clean the CPU as well as you can. I believe the P4's in those laptops did not have a metal heatspreader on top, so the CPU die will probably be exposed; be careful with that! While the laptop is open, use a can of compressed air to blow out all the dust. Do not allow the compressed air to spin the fan(s), this can damage the fan motor. Use a pencil or pen to hold the fan in position while you blow air through it.

You will need some new thermal goop to apply. Any old stuff will work, but you might as well get Arctic Silver 5 since it is only $6 with free shipping:
http://svc.com/as5-3g.html
Go to Arctic Silver's website and follow their instructions for applying AS5. Once you are done, reassemble everything and boot it up.

Use NHC like the previous poster described to check your temperatures. I'm not sure if you'll be able to undervolt you CPU with NHC, as I believe it has to support Speedstep and I don't know if your P4 does.

The previous steps should have fixed your problem. If it hasn't, something is wrong with your laptop's cooling system. Undervolting won't really help that, but if you want to give it a try anyway then take a look at this guide:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=13
The guide is a little dated as there is a new version of RMClock and the interface is slightly different, but it should get the point across.

GL

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I'd open up your laptop, and clean it out with a Q-tip and some tweezers.
Then, undervolt as described above. (Undervolting is not terribly likely to kill your processor, but I'd be careful with it. A "burn-in" application is a good idea).
In addition, it's possible to improve your heatsink's thermal ability. Remove the processor heatsink; it's usually very rough, with lots of thermal epoxy. Nasty stuff. Using fine-grain sandpaper, sand down both the aluminum heastink, and the processor itself. (Your should only sand down the CPU until the thermal crud is off, and no more.) Rubbing alcohol can help with this. Be VERY careful not to sand down to the die; this will kill the processor. (Hopefully, you'll have a big metal heatspreader on top, in which case you have nothing to worry about.)
Once you have done this, re-attach the heatsink with Arctic Silver thermal epoxy, and you're done.
I've only done the above once, and only reccomend it if you know what you're doing. It can help temperatures a good bit, though.

Be aware, some systems may rely on a thick thermal pad to establish contact between the heatsink and the processor, similar to the shimmed ATI 9700 cards - without the thermal pad, a gap existed between the heatsink and the GPU core.
I have a Presario 1700 at home that was like this - the themal pad was thick. I'm talking like slightly thicker than 1mm. I replaced it with a small square of thin copper sheeting that I sliced specially for this application, with Arctic Silver on either side. Works fine. Better than before in fact. The heatsink gets much warmer, indicating better thermal transfer.