I think my laptop is overheating

miwise · 11-26-2006, 08:02 PM

I have an amd mobile cpu, a duron 1.0 and a duron 1.1. Both cpus are exhibiting the same behavior. The heatsink gets so hot it burns me to touch it, and then after about 30 or so minutes of running it turns itself off. It will not turn back on until I either swap the cpu or let it sit for a while. The fan cuts in and out, so I'm guessing the motherboard doesn't think that the cpu is overheating and thereby not cutting the fan on enough. Since it's a laptop, how can I get extra cooling to the cpu?

miwise · 11-26-2006, 09:14 PM

UPDATE: So far, the thing is working well inside. I don't understand it. The only difference b/w the house and car is that the car uses an lcd monitor. (I had the touchscreen disconnected when I tested it)

Cheekz185 · 11-26-2006, 09:18 PM

The same thing happened with me and my Toshiba A75....The problem was that the heatsink and fan was extremely clogged with dust...I took apart the laptop and cleaned it all out and everything was good as new!

Grimoire · 11-26-2006, 09:20 PM

Air is your friend. Where is the laptop? I mean, where exactly.

Redian · 11-26-2006, 09:34 PM

yeah, clean it out and it should work well,

if you are too scared to open the entire thing up just blow compressed air through the vents, not too much though... the fans will break..

your best bet is to take it apart and clean it though

miwise · 11-27-2006, 10:15 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Cheekz185

The same thing happened with me and my Toshiba A75....The problem was that the heatsink and fan was extremely clogged with dust...I took apart the laptop and cleaned it all out and everything was good as new!

I cleaned the heatsink out about a week ago, but thanks for the insight.

miwise · 11-27-2006, 10:26 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Grimoire

Air is your friend. Where is the laptop? I mean, where exactly.

The laptop is sitting in the extreme right hand side of the trunk. It sits where the cd changer once was. It is getting good air b/c there is nothing below the fan and it should be getting more air here than it does in the house. Its not covered at all. I even took the keyboard off to try and discipate some heat that way (that's how I know the heatsink gets pretty hot, both in the house and outside in the car). Its not hot outside, its about 50 degrees so it shouldn't have any problems in that regard. Any other thoughts? I'm starting to think its not that its overheating. It may be something electrical either with the PSU (carnetix p1900), with the touchscreen monitor, or the usb soundblaster. I don't know if these can make it turn off, though other than the power supply which doesn't give any fault codes or the monitor which i extended its length with a cd changer cable (the factory one in the car). Maybe it has something to do with it. I wish there were a way to check the heat of the cpu to log it to see if its overheating. I'll run it without the monitor and sound card when I get home to see what happens.

Signed,

Confused

miwise · 11-27-2006, 10:27 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Redian

yeah, clean it out and it should work well,

if you are too scared to open the entire thing up just blow compressed air through the vents, not too much though... the fans will break..

your best bet is to take it apart and clean it though

I've actually had the laptop open several times. I've even replaced the cpu in it (the reason I have 2 cpus is that the original motherboard got fried by a faulty power supply).

0-0-7 · 11-27-2006, 11:10 AM

if you can leave the cpu+heatsink exposed, put a low profile fan on the heat sink may be from another laptop. the fan can be powered off from usb port with a resistor to convert from 5v to 3v.

Wiredwrx · 11-27-2006, 12:26 PM

How are you powering the system?

Michael

miwise · 11-27-2006, 04:16 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Wiredwrx

How are you powering the system?

Michael

Using Carnetix P1900 to power system

Quote: Originally Posted by 0-0-7

if you can leave the cpu+heatsink exposed, put a low profile fan on the heat sink may be from another laptop. the fan can be powered off from usb port with a resistor to convert from 5v to 3v.

I'm going to try that. I just got home and it was still running from last night, but it crashed when I went to shut it down (same thing it does in the car). Back to the overheating hypothesis I guess. I'm going to try to attach an old amd athlon thunderbird heatsink and fan to the heatsink on my laptop and power the fan from the carnetix psu 12v output. I'll see if that works. Just have to figure out how to mount it.

Alright, got it mounted but without the fan. The cpu was running around 75 degrees Celcius. I don't know if this is too hot or what, but it turned off. Guess this laptop is just a goner. I may just invest in a new one next month. Very frustrating.

miwise · 11-27-2006, 07:41 PM

I think it has a short in the motherboard somewhere. Oh well. I guess I need a new laptop.

Wiredwrx · 11-27-2006, 07:42 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by miwise

I think it has a short in the motherboard somewhere. Oh well. I guess I need a new laptop.

Try swapping out the memory. Memory can make the laptop do wierd things. Also, if you have it aprt, check the capacitors for signs of damage, like leakage and expansion. That can also cause the thing to act "wierd"

Michael

miwise · 11-27-2006, 10:44 PM

OK, I took it apart and swapped both memory chips for a single kingston 256 SDRAM. It still did the same thing, so I took it out of its plastic case and plugged it in (of course w/the hard drive and floppy attached) and it seems to work flawlessly. Especially when I stick one of my cooler master 12v fans over the heat sink in place of the existing 5v fan. Chip stayed cool and it didn't crash. Ran it for almost an hour in the car that way. I think I'll leave it out of its case and mount it to a piece of plexiglass or plywood in the trunk.

Splash-X · 11-28-2006, 01:48 PM

no, we are looking at an overheating problem for sure. Memory wont cause the Pc to shut off during use.

Your problem is lack of conduction. try getting some acrylic silver thermal paste (not glue because you wont be changing your CPU anymore

) glob it up real good and make sure the CPU fan or heatsink are on there tight. If it has clips try bending them to get it lower.

this is a common problem with the AMD Turion 64 chips. These are based on the 754 socket. you can put a mobile chip in a desktop 754 board BUT the mobile CPU is smaller than the desktop CPU so there is a lack of thermal transfer. Zalman makes CPU fans that come with their own brackets (you take off the stock CPU fan holder and use theirs) and they work.

it is a bit off subject, but that is most likely the problem.