smokin' hot piece of laptop

I have a custom built laptop, and it runs so hot it literally burns my hands and lap (laptop and all..) even with the internal cooling, and I'm worried about overheating since it's shut itself down a few times already..

I've gone through about 4 cooling pads already (two gave up on me and stopped working, the other two, for some reason, didn't have flow-through fans (that is, the back of the pad was sealed)

I need to find a good one, kinda tired of having to exchange them since they tend to die within a few weeks or simply not do what I need..

I'm considering making my own, but if there's one out there that fits my needs without having to go through all that work, that would be great..

anyone know of any good ones, maybe even with names/links of/to them? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the NBR forums.

Firstly, DO NOT use on your lap since 99% of notebooks intake air from the bottom.

If you are overheating... usually any temp over 90C degrees is bad.

when was the last time that you cleaned out the fans and vents thoroughly...?

if never, then thats why.

1) remove battery
2) remove/unscrew the panels on the bottom of the notebook to get to fans and vents
3) use flashlight to look through vents for the dust
4) go outside, get some compressed air (cans or compressor @ 50 PSI) and give the vents a good airing out all directions (concentrating on the vents)
5) go get some Q-tips and swab the fan blades and the area around it
6) then go do a second airing with compressed air (all directions again focusing on the fans and vents) to push out the dust that was dislodged from the Q-tips

7*) Now go use the flashlight again and look through the vents (shine the flashlight from the fan, you look through the other end) for anymore dust clogs.

8) Then start up the notebook... and let the fans cycle up (use the Fan Toggle at max speed if your system has it) to push out any other dust that might have been stuck.

If all goes well you should be able to close up the notebook and...

you're done.

*repeat this step until its cleaned out.

Thats pretty much it.

Just make sure to do this every two-three months... it should take about 15-20min per cleaning if you want to be thorough.

________________________

Gaming notebooks are a new thing, you must realize that you have to take some extra care of them over typical use notebooks:

1) Battery: to maintain the longevity of any rechargeable battery
- you must NEVER overcharge it [especially for long durations of time] by keeping it plugged into AC
- when it reaches 100% you should unplug it and let it discharge to 5-15%, then plug it back to power
- OR you can just charge it to 50%+ and remove the battery and store in cool place.. not the fridge [remember to use it occasionally 3-4 time a year to charge and discharge it].

2.) Heat: to prevent a healthy notebook from overheating
- ALWAYS use the notebook on a clean, hard & flat surface
- RECOMMENDED to be used on a notebook cooler... namely the Zalman ZM-NC1000 or ZM-NC2000
- check your fans underneath occasionally (at least once a month or two) for any dust clogs [clean them out with Q-tips and air cans/compressors]
- ALWAYS monitor the temps (CPU, GPU, HDD, etc..) to watch for fluctuations, which would indicate overheating by dust usually
(for Clevo notebooks) use the Fan Toggle to switch all fans to Max Speed when gaming and such.

By doing these simple things, your entire system will easily last for more than 3 years.

 

Gophn got to copy & paste! (Saw your other thread)

 

i hate repeating my self.....

this topic comes up soooo often that its sad that most notebook owners (especially with gaming notebooks) do not get how to take care of their systems.

 

it's run hot since the day I got it, and unless I were to put it on, say, a block of ice.. I don't think that just letting it sit will be enough to keep it cool, clean fans or not (not to be disrespectful or anything, just the pure and honest truth)

and far as I can tell, the fans are fine (without taking it apart and voiding the warranty from the fine folks who constructed it)

if the heat was a new occurrence I'd hop-to and deconstruct to fix the bugger myself, but like I said, it's always been that way, I just never did anything about it before about 6 mths ago..

 

get a flashlight, shine it at the fan and look through the vents.... if you cant see the light on the other side, then the vents might be clogged.

Also if it was hot the first day, it could just be the thermal design is flawed or the heatsink is not properly secured... read cooling guide as well

 

all I was looking for is a good cooling pad, nothing else.. thanks anyway (and yes, I'm on step 2 of that cooling checklist thingie, and no, arctic silver is not an option, nor can I change the voltage of my laptop..)

I'll look elsewhere..

 

the best cooling pad to date are:
- Zalman ZM-NC1000 (for 15.4" and below)
- Zalman ZM-NC2000 (for 17" and above)

no other coolers has had more positive feedback and reviews for a large variety of notebooks that were used with it.

 

Here, use this for a laptop cooler.

 

What laptop is it that is overheating?

if its a asus c90s or the d900 series, than I am not surprised.
You need to do some serious mods to get the temperatures down.

K-TRON

 

I tried that honestly, it works every well, lower my 8600m GT to only 48 C while gaming.