Some technical advice needed.

nanor92

I currently have a hp dv5 pavillion laptop. It has been overheating quite a lot recently (goes up as high as 95c). It has not started shutting itself down yet but presume its only a matter of time before it does. I don't feel confident enough to take it apart and apply a thermal compound to the cpu and graphics card either.

It's not actually a bad laptop in terms of specs its got 3gb of ram, a blue ray player, hdmi slot, 250gb hd. I think it's downfall is it's processor, amd turion 2.1ghz.

Anyway I'm heading off to college after the summer(if i get the points) and I'm not quite sure what I should do with my laptop. Whether I should try and sell it? How much do ye think I would get for it? Or try and fix it. I will defiantly need some kind a computer for next year as I hope to study music,media and performance technology in ul. I think buying a good desktop is also a possible option.

Just wondering what do the wise minds of boards think is the best solution to my predicament!:P

Thanks
(hope you can make sense of that I'm not massively articulate)
:cool:

Solitaire

Don't even think of selling it in that state unless clearly labelled! :eek:

I suspect that either the way you're holding it in use and/or massive dust buildup is blocking the vents, so try hitting all the cooling vents on its bottom/side with a can of compressed air to knock out some of the proverbial cobwebs and also pay attention to those vents and make sure you're not accidentally blocking them in a confined space or lying on soft furnishings (beds are a common cause of laptop overheating as the vents get covered by the duvet! ).

If you're still getting problems after all that then it could be a case of degraded thermal paste after all (or the fan dying!). Unfortunately if you're unwilling to do it yourself then you're going to have to pay a hefty sum at a suitable shop to get it fixed.

You might end up needing either a good desktop or a decent MacBook anyway depending on what hardware and software your course will use...

nanor92

Solitaire wrote: »

Don't even think of selling it in that state unless clearly labelled! :eek:

I suspect that either the way you're holding it in use and/or massive dust buildup is blocking the vents, so try hitting all the cooling vents on its bottom/side with a can of compressed air to knock out some of the proverbial cobwebs and also pay attention to those vents and make sure you're not accidentally blocking them in a confined space or lying on soft furnishings (beds are a common cause of laptop overheating as the vents get covered by the duvet! ).

If you're still getting problems after all that then it could be a case of degraded thermal paste after all (or the fan dying!). Unfortunately if you're unwilling to do it yourself then you're going to have to pay a hefty sum at a suitable shop to get it fixed.

You might end up needing either a good desktop or a decent MacBook anyway depending on what hardware and software your course will use...

Wouldn't dream of selling it as it is! I wouldn't get much for it as it anyway.

I'm pretty good for keeping it on my desk with the back of the laptop raised with bottle caps for extra airflow so that rules out the soft furnishings. Must defiantly invest in a can of compressed air and see if that helps any bit!:D

I reckon it is the thermal paste to be honest, this laptop is quite notorious for overheating! (should have done better research... was drawn in by the extras) I think amd use a pad instead of paste and the quality of the pad tends to cause problems, from what I've read online. How big is a hefty sum?:(

Have you ever heard of undervolting? Would that be any good to me?

Ya I think I will need a new decent desktop. I'll be using video and audio production software and there pretty heavy on resources. So i'll need a decent computer if I'm to do any stuff outside of college.

Thanks for your help btw!:D

nanor92

Also 95c is a high as I have seen it, it was yesterday when I put the laptop under a stress test to see how hot it would get. It usually runs around 60c to 75c when I'm just browsing the internet etc!

Solitaire

95C is utterly brutal. Your CPU won't last long at those temps :eek:

nanor92

Ya I think I'll have to bite the bullet and take it apart and see what's going on. I might post some pictures here to see what you make of it.

Serephucus

Pull it apart and de-dust the thing. When I had my M17x, I had to clean it every couple of months. My temps usually dropped 20°C or so each time. It's also worth bearing in mind that 95° isn't as horrible as it sounds; laptops run hotter than desktops.

Take it apart and clean the vents, cooler, etc.

Whilst you are at, I would clean the CPU and put on some 'Artic Silver' CPU paste which you would get for a few bucks on ebay.