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View Full Version : fixing heat problems with laptops



asteroid
09-08-2009, 08:41 AM
bit cheeky I know, as I have been twice fixing my old 2002ish Compaq laptop which often has heat problems, mainly as its got a 2.2Ghz P4m chip rather than more common centrino chips which are on most laptops these days.

I took my machine apart and throrough cleaned all traces off thermal paste off the cpu, the chipset and the onboard (radeon 64Mb something or other) and put on some Arctic silver.

I use a free app called Speedfan (google it) to monitor my temps on taskbar. I was getting as much as 54c for the cpu, so I would turn it off sharpish to avoid damaging anything, the floor of the case gets pretty toasty often too.

temps run cooler but still using google earth or itunes with album cover animation means I get a blank screen indicating the graphics card is running too hot. When it works is a fast machine, and has really good high res (1400X1000) screen and JBL speakers sound sweet with DVDs or itunes. I got a new 80gb HD from novatech as the original one died. I got the laptop free from my old work and it just needed a new HD and battery (ebay) when I got it in 2006

question, as anyone repairs on there laptops with new thermal paste?

my thinking, is as the ATI chip has a small pad on top, the heatsink part of the chassis isnt making close enough contact with the chip to cool it properly, so I think need to get some kind of thermal pad

I never OC any of my hardware, I am only interested in running my machines stable first and quick second.

thehitmen
15-08-2009, 11:01 AM
Well just try a notebook cooler, before you go digging inside?

Vertigo
01-09-2009, 10:52 PM
54C is standard for a laptop as Speedfan measures core temperature, not by the probe inside the box. In fact, my Novatech laptop generally idles around 56 degrees and gets up to around 70 when it's busy with video or emulation. 54 is nothing to worry about.
On a related note, I'd like a recommendation for a good lightweight cooler for my laptop. The mats that Newlinx does are rubbish so I want something with a hard surface and probably fans that actually works. Cheers!

bushmins
03-09-2009, 11:18 AM
I did a bit of reserch on laptop coolers and found this one to be the best on other people reviews.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Laptops/LaptopAccessories/LaptopAccessories/Akasa/AK-NBC-02B.html

Nova dont have the best price and they wouldnt come down on it at all, but everyone else is out of stock... although Nova are 2 days late getting their stock.

Also take into account weather your laptop fans (on the base) suck or blow. The above cooler blows so you need a laptop fan that sucks.