Enigmatic systemwide overheating

Vandermeer

Junior Member
Feb 26, 2014
5
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0
Hello again, I recently made a post in the video cards subforum about how my graphics card was overheating and unable to deal with any kind of complex graphic program anymore. (For reference, here it is: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2371081)
I was able to solve the most scathing problems, namely my computer slowing down so much that even the audio began to echo and scratch, but despite my good hopes at the end of that post, it did not end my problems. I can savely say now that I have to generalize the issue to a total overheating problem, where I am almost 100% sure that it isn't the graphic cards fault at all (and this is why I felt a new topic someplace else was in order).

Since those problems got so mystical, I figured I might as well format the whole computer and set up a fresh installment of everything (..hadn't done that since I got it 2 years ago, because it worked flawlessly so far).
At first the new system seemed to have solved it with the GPU resting at 60° idle, but then the issues reappeared, and now I get this here: ..
burningcore6gqst.png

...when doing nothing but browsing a videoless and gif-less internet.o_O In fact, even when I do literally nothing, it burns my processors and the gpu up to 85°C, even so GPU reports 0% work, and processors 5... . I mean, where does the heat even come from?
Mind you, this is a laptop that is known for running incredibly silent and efficient. Before that I could do office and browsing work, and the fan wouldn't even start. All that I would hear for hours was some clicking of the hdd occasionally, and that was it. Now the fan is constantly at work on, I would say, mid-high levels (judging by ear), even so there is nothing to do. A few months ago I would only have those noise levels whenever Skyrim was running, but nowhere else, and now it supports the idle state... .

So, since this reappeared after a fresh system install, it must sadly but very likely be a hardware issue of some sort. The question is what is it really? The graphic card is not even active here (in fact: I can switch it of and everything stays the same), the CPU is low too, so I would normally bet on the fan, but again - this used to work on idle without a fan before, and also the fan is still working. I cannot confirm if it is really the same power level (-air exhaust seems rather slow, but I have no real memory on what would be normal, so that does not have to mean anything), but even if not, it should still not overheat when doing nothing. I mean, in battery mode the fan is even set to only activate in emergency by default.(had to change that now)

This is a riddle to me I cannot solve. I hope somebody has some clues.


P.S.: The speedfan program above does not work for me btw. . The fan is not selectable on my Asus, and even if it was: that would only be treating the symptoms not the cause.
 

Vandermeer

Junior Member
Feb 26, 2014
5
0
0
Thanks, ya, I thought so and just found a dissemble video for my laptop on youtube and will look to see this done.
Still strange that it would happen even so the laptop should be able to operate with limited cooling capacity still as long as I don't run anything major. But since no other suspects are left, it kind of has to be, hopefully.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,311
1,052
136
Thanks, ya, I thought so and just found a dissemble video for my laptop on youtube and will look to see this done.
Still strange that it would happen even so the laptop should be able to operate with limited cooling capacity still as long as I don't run anything major. But since no other suspects are left, it kind of has to be, hopefully.

Laptops are so cramped that the heatsinks used are very limited. As a result, the cooling really depends upon the efficiency of the internal fan(s) and it doesn't take much in the way of dust for significant overheating to occur. You'll have to open it up and investigate, because at some point you are going to end up with system damage (if it has not already occurred).

One thing you might want to do is invest in a lapdesk or some form of laptop cooling pad that has integrated fans it to help cool the laptop. A properly designed one will increase the airflow through and around the laptop to help with cooling.

However, were it me, I still wouldn't use the laptop until I opened it up and cleaned it out.
 

Virgorising

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2013
4,470
0
0
Laptops are so cramped that the heatsinks used are very limited. As a result, the cooling really depends upon the efficiency of the internal fan(s) and it doesn't take much in the way of dust for significant overheating to occur. You'll have to open it up and investigate, because at some point you are going to end up with system damage (if it has not already occurred).

One thing you might want to do is invest in a lapdesk or some form of laptop cooling pad that has integrated fans it to help cool the laptop. A properly designed one will increase the airflow through and around the laptop to help with cooling.

However, were it me, I still wouldn't use the laptop until I opened it up and cleaned it out.

:thumbsup: to all of the above; U bet: the right cooling pad really helps.
 

Vandermeer

Junior Member
Feb 26, 2014
5
0
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To close this matter: I finally got all the tools for cleaning, and after leaving my laptop completely disassembled for 4 days, I even got replacement thermal paste.(was so stupid to do the cleaning on a saturday afternoon, and the only electronic shop in range*time just happened to run out of it that day...:hmm:)
It worked. There really wasn't much dust -just a slim film-, but evidently it had big effect because now everything is back to the known standards: I don't hear the fan most of the time, and even under load the processors and gpu don't go significantly over 60°C.
So case closed.^_^