Laptop burning up!

[3870x2]

My laptop is an HP with an i7 and HD6850 with 2x raid-0 hard drives.

Most games will burn up and cause a thermal shutdown without Vertical Sync on.

Many games are not very compatible with V-sync, and I don't like playing online games with V-sync because of input lag.

Take note before suggesting:
I don't want to underclock, and I am not completely sure about getting one of those cooling pads under the computer (do they even work?)
I will dive in the system to replace fans if that is a viable option.
I have sprayed out the system (of course)
I am not entirely sure that the fans are working correctly, though nothing tells me that they aren't either.
The fans are unobstructed.

I would like some suggestions from the community as to what I should do. Some games (like Dota2 since the last few updates) overheat imminently no matter the settings.

[[Ion]]

I'd start off by downloading our very own RealTemp. Run that, and then run a stress test in Prime95 to see how hot things are getting with just the CPU running. If that works fine, add Furmark into the mix.

[Jetster]

Check the BIOS just to see if there are fan settings. Check CCC to see if there is any fan control in the overdrive. Obviously turn them up. There also may be some after market overclocking software that can speed up you fans. Maybe here http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/browse.php?c=5 You also may need to take it apart to clean it



And yes the cooling pad help. Just read the reviews. Ive seen metal one that even pull the heat away like a big HS.

[xBruce88x]

How long have you had the laptop? Might be time to disassemble and remove dust... maybe replace thermal paste/pads. You can also try software fan control to bump fan speeds a bit.

Also, you may be able to limit the frame rate in the game's command console.

[3870x2]

Originally Posted by xBruce88x

How long have you had the laptop? Might be time to disassemble and remove dust... maybe replace thermal paste/pads. You can also try software fan control to bump fan speeds a bit.

Also, you may be able to limit the frame rate in the game's command console.

Not long enough to get the gunky dust yet, and it has been cleaned out regularly.

[itsakjt]

Thermal compound dries up man.
Take it apart and clean off the old paste completely and apply some good quality thermal paste(Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400, IC Diamond 24) on the GPU, CPU and chipset.
If you can't do it yourself, tell a service center to do it for you and have the laptop good as new.

[eidairaman1]

what is the specific model of that laptop?

[3870x2]

I forget the actual model, ill have to get it later.

The thermal paste is doing its job because the laptop gets very hot, also blowing hot air.

EDIT: it is the envy 17, not sure about the actual model number.

[DRDNA]

HP probably did a poor job with the thermal paste and that should be investigated by you. Also the cooling pads for laptops work very well at reducing overall temperatures with in the laptop case, it will not perform a miracle but they are effective. I use them on all my laptops and would recommend the same to you!

[Mathragh]

Originally Posted by 3870x2

I forget the actual model, ill have to get it later.

The thermal paste is doing its job because the laptop gets very hot, also blowing hot air.

EDIT: it is the envy 17, not sure about the actual model number.

When the thermal paste is getting bad, less heat will be transported to the radiators, and more heat will stay around the chip. This way, hot air will still be blown out of the vents, but not nearly all the heat that the chips produce will be transported away.

So, bad thermal paste actually fits your symptoms

Also, from experience i can say that even if you regularly blow out your fans, interwoven hairs with dust in between can still block the major part of the airflow, and requires manual removal.

So, your best bet is probably to open up that thing and then clear out the fans/ and if that doesnt help replace the thermal paste.

[zsolt_93]

A solution would be disabling HT if the bios lets you. Or you can use throttlestop to limit how high Turbo goes if you still get the issue. Knowing that its not some cheap laptop heat dissipation shouldn't be a problem if its well maintained just if there is an issue with the whole model. i7+6850M sounds like a lot of power for a cooling which was designed with an i5/i7 and a lower spec GPU in mind. Try the cooling pad first as they are a cheap solution for no performance loss just some mobility. If problem persists then limit performance by the above mentioned methods until thermals are right. And contact HP if still under warranty.

[[Ion]]

Originally Posted by Mathragh

When the thermal paste is getting bad, less heat will be transported to the radiators, and more heat will stay around the chip. This way, hot air will still be blown out of the vents, but not nearly all the heat that the chips produce will be transported away.

So, bad thermal paste actually fits your symptoms

Also, from experience i can say that even if you regularly blow out your fans, interwoven hairs with dust in between can still block the major part of the airflow, and requires manual removal.

So, your best bet is probably to open up that thing and then clear out the fans/ and if that doesnt help replace the thermal paste.

Very much this. My old Dell had the fan right on the bottom, so it was prone to picking up hair and dust. Every few months I'd remove the bottom cover and heatsink, clean out, all of the hair/dust, and temperatures would drop by 10-15C.

[3870x2]

Originally Posted by [Ion]

Very much this. My old Dell had the fan right on the bottom, so it was prone to picking up hair and dust. Every few months I'd remove the bottom cover and heatsink, clean out, all of the hair/dust, and temperatures would drop by 10-15C.

I have also experienced this. The laptop is only 6 months old, so this probably hasn't happened yet.

It has an i7 with the 6850, and it is less than an inch thick. I just think that HP had terrible airflow.

the CCC (which is an HP propietary non-upgradeable CCC) does not have fan controls. I wonder if I can manipulate the fans to go a little faster, or maybe replace them. If I could update the drivers, I would be great, but I have to get them from the HP website.

[de.das.dude]

intel processors themselves generate a ton of heat, and you got 2 6850s as well! i think its time to get a better cooling pad and turn the ac to a lower temp

intel cpus in laptops make no sense to me. they heat up and consume too much power.

[Liquid Cool]

A lot of guys(I'm a regular on NBR) do limited installs to get rid of bloatware(myself included), althought if you get rid of anything/everything HP...then you might not have the HP Assistant installed? If it isn't then HP CoolSense won't work properly...The newer units function poorly without it in my opinion. Make sure you have HP CoolSense installed properly and that it's not stuck in one position. Quiet Mode for gaming etc...if you're limiting what it can do it could be another reason why you're laptop is overheating.

The best thing to do though is to go to Notebook Reviews forums and check up on the experiences others are having with your same laptop.

These gentlemen are correct in pointing out to replace the factory thermal paste...I personally do so immediately on purchase, I don't care how new it is or how well it functions and i've always received a very substantial drop in temps. The key though...is that it helps to buffer the upper range of temps too. IE: it won't overheat as quick.

I'm typing this on a hotbox...the CQ56-115dx, I just finished repairing it for the exact reason you're specifying. It came to me overheating, now I can't get it over 56 degrees celsius without trying real hard. Although it's the V140 and idles high at 49 degrees celsius. The first thing I did was blow it out, no more overheating. Until I put some pressure on it. No problem, a real thermal pad on the HD 4250 and some MX2 on the chip...runs cool. Very cool for this chip.

If/when you take it apart. Clean the fins perfectly. Absolutely no obstructions...make sure to eye it from the back side very closely.

Bet those raided hard drives are stoking the fire as well...perhap switching to an SSD and giving the spinners a rest wouldn't hurt your cause either. Or, SSD for a boot drive and the hard drive for swap/storage drive would work just as well. In my opinion. it works better.

Best,

LC

[CJCerny]

This really sounds like a warranty issue to me. No laptop should lock up like that unless you've messed with the hardware or the BIOS. Remember that laptops are closed systems--they are not do it yourself desktop builds that you need tribal knowledge to solve. Reset the BIOS to the defaults, re-load the original image and load your game. If it locks up running that game, the problem is best handled by HP, if there is any warranty left. Only start your own monkeying if you are out of warranty and HP won't deal with it.

[Kantastic]

When my dad's laptop overheated, I took it apart, cleaned both the CPU and GPU thoroughly with alcohol, applied copper shims to each with thick thermal paste (IC Diamond 24 - which I still have to review...), and replaced the fan (ordered the wrong one so I had to superglue it). I noticed after removing the fan from the heatsink assembly, that there was a significant amount of dust (a thick layer) that was preventing the fan from pushing hot air through the fins and out the rear-exhaust cutout.

[3870x2]

2 points have just been very well regarded, and this is why I love TPU:

1. Never heard of coolsense, but I wonder if I did disable it down the road, because after all the fans are never really blowing out that much air, its usually pretty soft even when gaming.
2. Warranty! I forget about these things sometime, but maybe I should go ahead and give them a call. This computer was a refurb bought at Microcenter.

[de.das.dude]

Originally Posted by CJCerny

tribal knowledge

i lol'd

[3870x2]

My plan of action after work:
Going to run RealTemp with FurMark and Pime95.

Then I will disable Nehalems Turbo Mode, then disable PowerPlay, and lastly give the fins a fresh spray for kicks.

Explanation: After doing some research online, I found that the CPU produces just as much heat as the video card. After checking the before and after temps, ill post the solution and close the thread.

Wish me luck!

[Widjaja]

I have come across a bad batch of HP laptops which most of them had a faulty heatsink which warped.
These were 6570b model laptops though.

It may not apply to yours though and maybe just a weak heatsink as there is only so much cooling a laptop heatsink can do if it is one whole unit with one fan to cool off both the processor and the graphics.