Request for guidance on laptop heating issues

[addverma]

Recently I observed that my Dell Inspiron laptop was running a bit slow. On observing the temperature using SpeedFan I found the following readings
1) CPU core temp 59 degrees centigrade *at 100% CPU Load.
2) GPU temp 57 degrees centigrade at 50% CPU load.
3) HDD temp 47 degrees centigrade
Now from what I know the average temperature should remain in the range of 40-50 degrees centigrade. While the temperatures that I am seeing are all in excess of that. So here are my questions
1) My laptop is in excess of 7 years old. Is it time to change the thermal paste? Will I get some improvements and decrease in the temperature readings?
2) The Fan speed being reported in Speed Fan is a steady constant 922 RPM. Should I look at getting a new heat sink for the CPU and a new fan for the laptop?
3) Does it make sense to get a liquid cooler for a laptop? Basically I want to extend the life as much as possible of this laptop.
* * Any comments guys?
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Have a great day

 

[UsandThem]

All laptops will degrade over the years from heat/handling. The hard drives wear down. Laptops typically take a lot more punishment than desktops do.

You can open it and clean out your fans, and you could reapply thermal paste.

Depending on the model, you could end up having to disassemble the base to get to the components and screws, possibly removing the keyboard as well.

After 7 years though I would just start looking for a new one. If you catch a good sale for an i5 laptop (example $400), it will be leaps and bounds faster, and use less power.

 

[C1]

I have an old 13" Fujitsu which I really love. (Although a glossy TN panel, it kicks most newer laptop screen's butts - ha.) It's probably as old as the Dell.

The S6240 is tough on fans. (I think the issue is that an under size fan was used -design issue.)

Cant get new fans, so bought used from China. After 6 months, the replacement fan went bad (ie, bearing noise), I pulled the unit down further to the CPU/Heatsink level & found that the thermal compound had dried out.

Took the second ordered used fan from China and bench experimented. Found that packing the bearing with moly grease (stuff used for VCRs) gave best effect (speed versus voltage).

Re-arctic silvered CPU and related heat transfer spots & installed second ordered used CPU fan (repacked moly bearing) and the machine has been running super now for 6 months.

Believe that it is a permanent fix.

Good luck.

 

[addverma]

I am in a place where I want to reuse this particular laptop by converting it to a media server cum NAS cum bit torrent client cum home server. This will depend on the fact that the laptop performance becomes more acceptable than it is now. I just do not want to throw the laptop away, but use it further for a few more years. The way I see it, the temperature readings that I get are the most problematic ones. So wanted some experts opinions about this.

Any suggestion or hint or sharing your experience would be welcome.
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Have a nice day

 

[UsandThem]

I just do not want to throw the laptop away, but use it further for a few more years. The way I see it, the temperature readings that I get are the most problematic ones. So wanted some experts opinions about this.

Any suggestion or hint or sharing your experience would be welcome.

Well myself and C1 really told you what you can do if want to keep it.

You will have to take the laptop apart, inspect it for bulging capacitors or damage. Clean dust and dirt from your fans and cooling areas. If the fans are damaged or not running properly, you can lubricate them. You might end up having to order replacement parts. Finally, you can clean off old thermal paste and reapply it.

 

[addverma]

Is there a possibility of using liquid cooling for laptops like some gamers and over clockers do with their desktops?And are they recommended?
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Have a nice day

 

[LTC8K6]

7 year old lappy CPU is 59C at 100% load?

Sounds great to me...

 

[UsandThem]

Is there a possibility of using liquid cooling for laptops like some gamers and over clockers do with their desktops?And are they recommended?
-------------------
Have a nice day

I guess anything is possible. I have never seen an assembled laptop under liquid cooling.

There is not much space in there to begin with, and having an external pump with bulky tubes running into a laptop would pretty much defeat it being a laptop.

If you want to keep it and try to make it run cooler, take it apart, check for damage/failing fans, clean out the dust, and reapply new thermal paste.

That is all you can do.

 

[addverma]

Cant get new fans, so bought used from China. After 6 months, the replacement fan went bad (ie, bearing noise), I pulled the unit down further to the CPU/Heatsink level & found that the thermal compound had dried out.

This will appear to be a newbie question, so please bear with me. How did you make the determination that the thermal compound had dried out?

Re-arctic silvered CPU and related heat transfer spots & installed second ordered used CPU fan (repacked moly bearing) and the machine has been running super now for 6 months.

What thermal paste did you use? Read in a few forums that the thermal paste with metals or ceramics is the best.

 

[UsandThem]

This will appear to be a newbie question, so please bear with me. How did you make the determination that the thermal compound had dried out?


What thermal paste did you use? Read in a few forums that the thermal paste with metals or ceramics is the best.

After 7 years and after taking the time to take your laptop apart, you will need to apply fresh paste when putting the cooler back on the CPU.

He stated he used Artic Silver for his paste. You can use any of them because any will be fine for a stock cpu. There are plenty to choose from, just select one with good reviews.

 

[corkyg]

The purpose of thermal paste/grease is simply to fill in microscopic pores in the two metal surfaces. The compound should be applied thin with no lateral ooze. Too much is worse than none.

A liquid cooled notebook? Short answer, - no! (No space for that.)

 

[Ketchup]

Your temps are fine. If you would like some help, give us some more details about the slowness. Is it while doing anything in particular or all the time? What model Inspiron is it?

 

[PliotronX]

Felines are a common problem

 

[addverma]

I ran Core Temp 4.5.1 in logging mode over a period of 6 hours or so. Over this period I observed that once the temperature increases to or crosses 60 degrees centigrade mark the CPU throttles. I mean all the cores of the CPU throttle. The rated capacity of my processor is 1.66 Ghz and after throttling both the Cores go to 997 MHz. The max temperature that was seen was 65 degrees centigrade. I can hear the fan running. So it is not the case of the fan not running. Very light load.

Over the weekend I will try to run two instances of Browser, Chrome+Firefox and a single instance of open office. And this time I will log the temperatures using Speed Fan. Core Temp does not give me the temperature of the GPU as well as system temperature. Will also dissassemble the laptop to see if any thing is blocking the passage or air flow.

Love the cat photo. But I do not have any pets. Mrs is not too keen. So we can rule out any feline fur or a dog fur as the cause.

Any other suggestions guys?
------------------------------------------
Have a nice day

 

[UsandThem]

Will also dissassemble the laptop to see if any thing is blocking the passage or air flow.

If you have never opened up the laptop in 7 years, you will have dust in there. Dust traps heat (like a blanket).

I'd skip all the tests you want to run, and do that after you clean it.

Just think, you probably have 3 ounces of dead skin cells clogging your fans / airflow.

When people come here and mention their computer is suddenly running hot, one of the first things they are asked is when they last cleaned it. Many people don't realize when their PC is blanketed by dust, it affects its cooling ability.

It's really simple what your first step needs to be: Clean it out.

I have suggested this to you several times. Do you not believe me or think I am misleading you in some way?

 

[LTC8K6]

I ran Core Temp 4.5.1 in logging mode over a period of 6 hours or so. Over this period I observed that once the temperature increases to or crosses 60 degrees centigrade mark the CPU throttles. I mean all the cores of the CPU throttle. The rated capacity of my processor is 1.66 Ghz and after throttling both the Cores go to 997 MHz. The max temperature that was seen was 65 degrees centigrade. I can hear the fan running. So it is not the case of the fan not running. Very light load.

Over the weekend I will try to run two instances of Browser, Chrome+Firefox and a single instance of open office. And this time I will log the temperatures using Speed Fan. Core Temp does not give me the temperature of the GPU as well as system temperature. Will also dissassemble the laptop to see if any thing is blocking the passage or air flow.

Love the cat photo. But I do not have any pets. Mrs is not too keen. So we can rule out any feline fur or a dog fur as the cause.

Any other suggestions guys?
------------------------------------------
Have a nice day

If it's never been cleaned of dust and dirt, just go ahead and do that as advised because there's no doubt that it needs to be done.

 

[corkyg]

And, if there is a smoker in the shack, it can be worse -gummy even.

 

[UsandThem]

And, if there is a smoker in the shack, it can be worse -gummy even.

Yes it does. I used to smoke in the 90's, and would go through many cigarettes while gaming (especially when playing long games of Civ and Civ2), and my computer components would be super sticky when I cleaned it out.

Glad I kicked that habit.

 

[C1]

LOL,

Allowed on board smoking in 727s added about 300 pounds of weight to an aircraft during its service life span. Inspectors liked it though because the accumulated tar (stains) highlighted developing structural stress cracks in the aluminum.

 

[Ketchup]

I did not actually read all comments but did anyone already suggested to open the laptop and clean the fans? If no, then I would suggest you do that. Overheat problems is common for laptops as years go by. It is also safe to use a laptop cooling pad. Especially if you are using this for gaming or multi tasking heavy progs.

As a general rule, we read before we post.

 

[addverma]

Allright just finished cleaning the laptop from the inside. Disassembled it completely, and then cleaned it. It was not that much dusty. In fact my daughters netbook had more amount of grime inside the laptop then my ancient laptop. Today I was reminded why I still love Dell Laptops. The heat sink was linked with the fan via a copper pipe. And the fan was placed on the edge of the chassis. Thus it had two places to vent out. I have to give it to Dell, they do make fantastic and long lasting laptops.

Allright now returning back to the laptop. Now I have not unseated the heat sink and applied the thermal paint. I will do that next weekend. I am still waiting for my Thermal Paste to arrive.

The way I see it. The CPU heat sink might not be conducting the heat to the fan properly. And the Thermal paste might be the culprit. Due that once the CPU temperature touches 60 Degrees centigrade, it starts to throttle and slows down the entire system. So to bring it back to its decent performance I somehow need to get the CPU temperature below 54-55 degrees
centigrade.

----------------
Have a nice day

 

[addverma]

I was doing a bit of reading on the subject of CPU cooling and I came across the option of Thermoelectric cooling using Peltier Plate. Some of the people in other forums have suggested that using this we should be able to keep the temperature of the CPU down to 20-30 degrees centigrade.

What do you guys think? Will that help?
-------------
Have a nice day

 

[UsandThem]

I was doing a bit of reading on the subject of CPU cooling and I came across the option of Thermoelectric cooling using Peltier Plate. Some of the people in other forums have suggested that using this we should be able to keep the temperature of the CPU down to 20-30 degrees centigrade.

If you can get that to work inside a laptop, I'd love to see the pictures.

 

[UsandThem]

Also, I just want to add one final thing to this thread. After a while and offering recommendations to help you lower the temperature of your laptop, and largely being ignored by asking the same questions over and over, I thought to myself this has to be some type of trolling post. So I decided to look a little further.

When you use the same user name at various sites, it is easy to get additional information.

First: Your laptop is closer to 9 years old. You have a mobile CPU released in 2007. You can replace the thermal paste, and if that doesn't work, the ONLY thing you can do is replace the laptop.

Jan 31 2014, 07:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
They haven't release any announcement yet. But I would prepare myself for the worst. Why are you still using XP if I may ask?
Two reasons, one the work that I do does not require a newer version of computer hardware or a newer version of windows OS. My workload is light and so is my family's.

Secondly my laptop is over 7 years old and it would not support windows 7 or 8/8.1.

Due to this I do not plan on buying a new laptop for another 2 years, if my laptop can take it. Worst comes to worst I will switch over to Debian wheezy with Xfce or LXDE. Currently I am evaluating it on a USB stick to see how it goes.

https://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=51603

Second: You have been told the exact same thing at multiple sites.

With the system being as old as it is, clean out any dust and debris from the systems vents and I think that you will notice a big difference. After that, run diagnostics and see if you get any type of thermal warnings and then you can make a choice to replace the fan and clean up the processor or not.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19979905

It is an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66 Ghz. The reason I suspect it is the heat is for two reasons. One if I open the laptop from a shutdown state or in the morning then it is fairly snappy. However as the time goes the under side of the laptop get hot. Not enough to cook an omelet but still significant hot.

Secondly Even I put it to sleep or keep only one instance either of Firefox/Chrome or Open Office or Thunderbird, I still see the same behaviour.

I believe it is throttling because in system properties one core is listed as 1.66 Ghz while the other is listed as 966 MHz. This did not happen previously.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3068567/request-guidance-laptop-heating-issues.html

 

[addverma]

Got my Thermal paste today, it is Arctic Silver 5. The isopropyl alcohol is on its way. It has been crazy for the past 2 months at work hence could not do anything related to my old computer. Funny thing is I could not get isopropyl alcohol at any of the chemist and druggist near my place. We in India have spirit but not isopropyl alcohol. And a helpful chemist told me both of them, i.e. isopropyl alcohol and Spirit, do the same work but are off different chemical composition. Will update this thread once I have cleaned the heat sink. Will most probably take pictures before and after applying of heat sink and post it.

Any suggestions on applying the thermal paste as well as cleaning it the existing thermal paste?