5920 Question - Heat related...

Hi...

I have been reading a lot of posts here on how the 5920 (among other models - including but not limited to Acer) runs hot - not necessarily hot enough to shut the machine down, but hot nevertheless. In the 5920 - as I have personally experienced and others have also reported - the left palm rest becomes warm...quite warm.

My question is - why does this happen in some machines and not in others? Thus, for example, I have a Sony Viao (FE28B) and a Toshiba Satellite (old one) which do not become as warm as the 5920.

Is this a design flaw? Or, is there some other reason?

Thanks

 

It's not a design flow.It'll become hot because of the dedicated VGA card .Under the left palm rest you can see HDD ,so it'll get hot due to HDD heat

 

Well the model I have does nto have a dedicated VGA...its got the X3100...understood about the location of the HDD. So, by inference the other machines I have - such as the Viao for example - would have the HDD in another location, which while generating a similar kind of heat would not be experieced by the user?

One other thing is that the Viao does not seem to have a plastic body - I really don't know what material it is, but the 5920 is a plastic body affair...could that also be a reason?

Cheers!

 

I have a 5920 with 8600m GT and a T7300 2ghz processor and I do not have any heat problems. The machine runs nice and cool. You might want to update your BIOS, maybe something in the control of the fan changed which could make your laptop run cooler.

The amount is not only dependent of the GPU. Heat is also related to the CPU used in the model. I have the T7300. Since you have a X3100 video card, you probably have something like a T5250 as a processor. The T7xxx generates less heat and the T8xxx should be even better in that department.

M.

 

My 5920 has the T5550. The bios is updated (v 1.3811) and I am running XP. In other posts elsewhere on NBR I have also mentioned that when I asked the regional head of Acer (technology) about the heat...he said it was normal...which I found very strange...but what to do? Another reason could be the ambient temperature. In my current location, the average ambient temperature is around 45 degree C. I am sure this contributes in some way shape or form...

Coming back to what you said, if the CPU contributes to the heat generated then why is the left palm rest very warm to touch...? As Bigspin notes in an earlier post, the HDD is at that location. I don't think the CPU is located there is it?

And you know the strange thing? I have also seen some other 5920 units - same specs as mine and they are ALL warm - very warm - to touch in that area! This is one of the reasons why I am asking the question...Personally, I dont think anything can be done about it, yet, no harm in asking and possibly learning...no?

 

hmm, yeah the left palmrest is the hdd area... It gets a little warm here sometimes (when there is lots of hd activity for a longer period), but nowhere near too warm or even hot. Can you find out your hard drive model? You probalby do not have the same model as I have (mine is a hitachi with 512 mb turbo memory cache).

As for room temperature, yes that can make a big difference.

M.

 

My HDD model is Hitachi HTS542516K9SA00. Actually, right now I am in an air conditioned room and the average temperature in the room is 22 degrees C. At this temperature, the area is warm...not hot...not even very warm...but warm enough to notice...if I shut the AC and wait for 15 - 20 mins or so, the left palm area becomes....well...quite warm...very noticeable...very warm! Cheers!

 

Download speedfan and tell us cpu, hdd and acpi temperatures.

 

HD0 = 47C
Temp 1 = 62C (I have no idea what this is!)
Core 1 = 53C
Core 2 = 52C

Cheers!

Note: This is still in the AC room with around 22C as ambient temperature.

 

Temp 1, if the reading of the sensor is correct, is your ACPI temp. CPU's are ok but you HDD and ACPI are pretty high. It seem like you have the vent opening obstruct somehow make sure their is nothing in the way. Also, how long did you have this laptop? Ever cleaned it up? If not you should try cleaning the fan and the heatsink end.

 

The machine is about a month old! I just took the machine and stood in front of the AC which is set on 18C. The core temps dropped to 45C but the Temp1 is at 56C - which is still a drop from 62C.

 

The increase(and decrease) of HDD and CPUs temperatures have big influence on the ACPI. I'd say your problem is the HDD temp. Mine is about 39-40ºC without heavy load. Make sure you don't have any heavy hdd activity like, I don't know, virus scanning, transfers, torrents/dc++ hashchecks...What is your HDD by the way?

 

I use Avira with real time scanning...no transferring of anything right no...no torrents or hashchks of any kind. The HDD model as mentioned above is Hitachi HTS542516K9SA00.

 

Ok this may sound pretty weird but try to defrag your hdd, if its too fragmented the hdd have to make a lot of reading to do any kind of job..

 

Lol...coincidentally, I did defrag last night...though I did not think of co-relating the two issues!

 

Did you notice if the LED of the hdd is always(or unusual time) on?

 

Not really....nothing out of the ordinary....just during start up but then it goes away...so the short answer would be no.

 

Googling around, I found that acutally it was the cause in some cases..Anyway I'm trying to isolate the problem..If, of course, its hdd related as I think.

 

Take a look at this... http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4194...in this review, the user also notes that the left hand side becomes noticeably hot/ warm, albeit under heavy loads....this was why I posed the question in the first place whether this is an inherent design problem with the 5920.

 

The link doesn't work but I think I've seen this review. Yeah maybe its 5920 design problem..but if this is the case, I'd suggest buying a CoolingPad because if your hdd idle at 47-48ºC then when gaming it could reach 50ºC and more and this is not good for the hdd. Anyway I guess I have to leave you at this point and hope some 5920 users hop in. Sorry, I wasn't really helpful but hey, I tried..

 

Cool...no problem and thanks!

 

Aspire 5920(G) is famous for (over)heating. You want powerful hardware for less money? Who cares for heat.

 

Does anyone know (or have) where I can get a schematic drawing of the 5920? What I mean is a drawing which shows which grill/ exhaust is positioned where?

I noticed something when I flipped my machine over. Below the left palm rest where the warmth (not heat) is noticeable there is a grill, but unlike the exhaust at the back where the power chord goes in, there is something covering the grill - but from the inside!

I wish I could take a pic... I cannot at the moment. Can other 5920 owners tell me if they have the same thing?

Thanks

 

Scroll down, look at right and you find pictures you need:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-5920G-Notebook.4217.0.html

 

Thanks. I saw that...but if you notice the pic with the grill is at an angle so cant view it properly!

 

i left you a PM

read it and get back w/ me

 

Thanks...I got it and replied too!

 

I noticed the same thing in my 5920g when i opened it and saw that the grill is covered from the inside !!
any ideas guys as why its covered or do i need to remove the cover ..
BTW my HD temp reached 58c !! and ACPI 89c !! is that normal ??
guess its the PCSX2 program it uses a constant 100% cpu for ps2 emulation and finished FFX on it !

 

Hi - I have an acer 5920 - the one with the x3100 - not the G model. I am a Linux guy and run Ubuntu on my lappie. Its nearing a year old and I see my cores and CPU running at around 55-60C when idle (<20%) and can go up to 65-70 under full loads.

I have blown dust out, checked kernel specific modules for linux. Apparently the 5920 has some proprietary OS Independent BIOS software for controlling CPU Fan speed and is not exposed as a sensor to the OS.

I wonder if anyone out here (specifically KristalSoldier) found any solution, workaround (using BIOS updates etc. ) to the temp problem.

I also notice that if I use it in my laptop giving free space to the processor / heat vents, temp lowers by almost 5C.

At this point am also concluding that its a design related heat dissipation issue more than anything else.