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Extreme Cooling problem?

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gargant

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Location
NB, Canada
Hey, I've recently started using a laptop as opposed to my desktop and I'm worried about how much it heats up. After 10 minutes of web surfing the CPU reached 90 - 100 Degrees centigrade. I'm led to believe that this is not normal because the melting point of Polyethylene is around 150-190 degrees Fahrenheit. I have surpassed that, therefor I'm worried about my laptop burning a hole in the table. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.
 
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Laptop: Compaq Presario CQ60-404CA (Age 2-3 Years)
Specs - AMD Athlon X2
- 3 GB of Ram
- Windows 7
- GeForce 8200M G
 
Is this as new laptop or has it been in use for a good while? What kind of conditions was it used under? Dusty environment?
 
It was used in the begging year every so often. Then, put in a drawer by my brother (It was his) for a year or so, taken out only occasionally (2-3 months). Ive only now started using it about every day for work and school. I noticed in the begging that it has to be off the edge of the table because of overheating (Shutting down due to heat i think). I just installed CoreTemp last night and saw that it was averaging 90-100 centigrade. So, here i am.
 
Conditions are normal. Around the house (Not dusty), at school on a desk, and sometimes in the yard. Im not sure about its storage though.
 
Yeah, those temp are way too high and you risk frying something at those temps. Makes me wonder if something is impairing the cooling like dust or hair build up in the heatsink (it was in a drawer) or if the heat sink has come loose from the CPU. Can you hear the fan running?
 
My recommendation would be to take it to a computer repair shop and have them clean it and maybe reseat the heat sink.
 
Ive just put the computer at a different angle and having the intake port off the table (Just saw that's what it was) and I've gotten an 25 degree drop. I'm hovering around 72-78. Could i just pop the key bored off and clean out the heat sink and fan?
 
Ive just put the computer at a different angle and having the intake port off the table (Just saw that's what it was) and I've gotten an 25 degree drop. I'm hovering around 72-78. Could i just pop the key bored off and clean out the heat sink and fan?

Yeah, you could do that if you are comfortable doing it. Do you have any compressed air handy?
 
Just make sure when you use the compressed air you don't allow the fan to spin freely. Compressed air will cause a fan to spin super fast and can ruin the bearings.
 
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The most likely reason behind this, is that your laptop's rubber standoffs on the base are either no longer existing or grinned down to leave only a micrometer of space. This would be explained by how your laptop for some reason overheats when on a flat surface fully, but drops 20 degrees when it's hung over the edge. Some laptops will easily run up to 70. But never 100.

What else that could have probably happened was that the manufacture of your Computer had used some horrid thermal paste. Some thermal paste will actually began to decay in it's quality and actually make poor contact with the heat sink. You might only want to do this if you are out of warranty. If you are still in warranty then give it to your manufacture to deal with. If not, then replace the thermal compound after cleaning the fan.
 
All my laps on coolers

Since the thing is AC plugged 95% of the time I put my laptops on USB powered fan driven laptop coolers

AWE19US_accessories_b.jpg

The dual USB powered fans provide unsurpassed cooling and help prevent the laptop from overheating. It also acts as a heat barrier and provides a stable work surface when using your laptop on your lap
 
My wife and I got a couple of those laptop cooling pads a few months ago and did not find they lowered the laptop temps any at all so we ditched them. I think the key is making sure the air intake or the air exhaust areas of the laptop are not blocked, however you do it.
 
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