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I have a laptop that's running on the following:

  • MSI MS-1634X motherboard
  • AMD Turion X2 TL-66 CPU
  • ATI Mobility Radeon HD2600

It keeps overheating, especially when I do something more CPU and GPU-intensive such as games. I've tried SpeedFan and Notebook Hardware Control and neither are able to help control my fans. I also have a Targus Chillmat for my laptop which helps cool down my laptop, but it still overheats. Are there any fan controlling programs that I could use to maybe turn up the RPMs on my fans or any other ways to cool down my laptop? My laptop runs pretty hot, maybe 80c core when being used, not even intensively. The Hard drive stays cool though, close to 35c.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

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  • Take a gander at my question here, the result is basically, claim your warranty because 80c core idle is NOT normal, that's surely defective. superuser.com/questions/43251/…
    – Dmatig
    Oct 15, 2009 at 3:16
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    Blow out the dust, Serious, I'm sure you will notice an improvement
    – Joshkunz
    Oct 15, 2009 at 5:24

7 Answers 7

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80c core GPU or CPU?

If it's 80c GPU you are well within acceptable levels. Expect up to 90c without many concerns, although it would help to know your GPU make and model.

If it's 80c CPU then you do have a problem. You should check your BIOS settings to see if you are inadvertently limiting the fan performance.

After your comments on this post, there's no doubt really you have some kind of problem. That card, from a cursory look on the web, should run somewhere between in the 50c to 80c range. Hmm... ok:

  • Put the back of your hand near the exhaust areas of your laptop. Do you feel air flowing out? At that temp fans should be working at full speed. You should feel a relatively strong rush of hot air.
  • During computer normal operations (without playing a game) do you hear the fans starting and stopping, especially as you fire up applications or perform processor intensive tasks? This is an indicator your CPU thermal monitor is working and the CPU fan too. If you can tell if the noise is coming from the HDD or the CPU fan, use a CPU intensive application to test it (the HDD fan will stay quiet). For instance: Prime95
  • Download FurMark. Let the computer idle for 10 minutes to cool down some. Start it and do a stress test of any kind. Do you hear a fan starting and getting increasingly more noisy? This is an indication your GPU thermal monitor is working and the fan too.

If all is working as expected, you must have a fabrication defect. Those temperatures aren't normal. If you are still under the warranty send it to be fixed. If not, send it to your local PC repair shop and have it fully cleaned.

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  • Right now speedfan is telling me temp1 89c and core91c. Which one of these is CPU?
    – CrimsoИ
    Oct 15, 2009 at 2:45
  • I believe he did post his GPU make and model. ATI Mobility Radeon HD2600
    – Jorge Israel Peña
    Oct 15, 2009 at 2:49
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    @CrimsoИ: Ugh! That is really high for that GPU :( And I don't want to even believe that could be your CPU. Something is seriously wrong. I'm going to edit my answer but there isn't much I can add. @Blaenk Indeed. Dunno why I missed that edit. It happened before I replied
    – A Dwarf
    Oct 15, 2009 at 3:04
  • So I should check my BIOS and any other suggestions? Maybe a program that could adjust my fans?
    – CrimsoИ
    Oct 15, 2009 at 3:06
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    Incidentally, the fact you don't feel much air coming out is a bad sign. If hot air doesn't come out rushing it means it is trapped inside the laptop. If it is trapped inside the laptop it is contributing to the rise in temperatures. The poor fans can't do anything if air doesn't properly flow. This may be bad laptop design or some defect. Another good reason to just return it for inspection.
    – A Dwarf
    Oct 15, 2009 at 3:50
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It is clean internally? If there is any dust, fluff etc blocking the cooling parts then that will drastically reduce their effectiveness. If the air it is blowing out isn't particularly hot then it may be time to pull a cover off and gently vacuum it out. gently

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    I'd use a can of compressed air over a vacuum, always been told vacuuming has potential to damage components.
    – Dmatig
    Oct 15, 2009 at 3:28
  • A dust free computer will run much much less hot, I had a laptop that was only about 2 years old but would shut down constantly because overheating caused by the dust, blew it all out with some compressed air and It hasn't had the same problem since
    – Joshkunz
    Oct 15, 2009 at 5:22
  • @dmatig: That's why I said gently. It's very easy to overspeed the fans or bend stuff. Even if you uised compressed ar gently I'd have a vacuum running about a foot away to collect the stray dust. @Josh. Ditto with the average desktop. I clean mine every 6 months or so.
    – CAD bloke
    Oct 18, 2009 at 10:44
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Laptops run hot, not much you can do about it. Using a stand or a chillmat (like you mentioned) is one of the better ways of keeping it cool.

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When I have had temperature control problems on laptops - last time this happened the fan eventually died - I ran my laptop sitting on my ceramic tile floor. It's not ideal, but it allowed the machine to run cool enough, long enough for me to get a complete backup made.

I think any ceramic or stone floor in direct contact with your slab would be enough of a heat sink to keep you going for a short time until you can determine what's really going on.

When my fan was going, I noticed that my CPU temp varied pretty wildly over even relative short time spans. It could go from 60c to 90c and back to 60 in less than 2 minutes.

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  • I used to run my laptop on an aluminium oven tray - the fans would come on less frequently, and turn off faster. Especially if I propped it up so that air could circulate beneath it.
    – user235
    Oct 15, 2009 at 18:15
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1) Check the internal fans. If they are working, blow them out with compressed air. Also blow out the CPU cooling ducts with compressed air

2) If the laptop allows, remove the CPU heat-sink and re-seat it on the CPU using thermal compound. (This has worked wonders for me on overheating lappies)

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I've had a similar problem with my Dell Latitude D820. It turned out that the cooling element had become loose from the GPU, effectively running it without any cooling. Send your laptop to maintenance.

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Do what we had to do in the days of the ZX Spectrum 16K .... balance a glass of cold milk on it.

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