Am I screwed? Acer Aspire fan problem

I have an ACER laptop and I’m now finding that it crashes when I play DVD’s or run more demanding games (Such as Warhammer: Dawn of War)… I cracked open the case and tested the RAM, but that seems to be working fine.. Now I suspect that it might be the fan, as the laptop only has one and it never seem to be on! So my laptop must be overheating… I subsequently installed SpeedFan and found that the HD hovers around 39, the Core between 40-50, and the ACPI is always around 50! Now how easy would it be to replace the fan on a laptop? Can it be done or am I screwed? Any help would be appreciated! Thank You

My Laptop (Acer Aspire 5002WLMi):

AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology ML-30 (1MB L2 cache, 1.60GHz, up to 1600MHz system bus);
1.256 GB of DDR333 SDRAM;
80GB hard drive;
integrated DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW);
15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display with Acer CrystalBrite Technology;
SiSM760GX chipset with integrated Mirage 2 graphics (64 MB of RAM - shared);
802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem

 

50*C is OK for the CPU. I prefer MobileMeter for temp values.
Run a DVD and see how the temp changes. If it reaches 80, that's dangerous, although I don't know at what temp the Acer will turn off.
Check the temps when the CPU is at its max and write back

Other than that, I suggest you undervolt your processor. This is very useful when the CPU is under heavy load.

 

I have an ACER laptop and I’m now finding that it crashes when I play DVD’s or run more demanding games (Such as Warhammer: Dawn of War)… I cracked open the case and tested the RAM, but that seems to be working fine.. Now I suspect that it might be the fan, as the laptop only has one and it never seem to be on! So my laptop must be overheating… I subsequently installed SpeedFan and found that the HD hovers around 39, the Core between 40-50, and the ACPI is always around 50! Now how easy would it be to replace the fan on a laptop? Can it be done or am I screwed? Any help would be appreciated! Thank You

My Laptop (Acer Aspire 5002WLMi):

AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology ML-30 (1MB L2 cache, 1.60GHz, up to 1600MHz system bus);
1.256 GB of DDR333 SDRAM;
80GB hard drive;
integrated DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW);
15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display with Acer CrystalBrite Technology;
SiSM760GX chipset with integrated Mirage 2 graphics (64 MB of RAM - shared);
802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem

 

Thanx for the help... But if the temperature is not the problems, then I'm back to square one as I have no idea why this happens! ;( I do know, it only happens during those two conditions (gaming or watching DVDs).. but it is more likely to happen when I play games.. So you think that undervolting will help?

P.S- I didn't see the Acer forum, so it's double threaded there now!

 

Merged your threads.

I would suggest calling Acer. How long does the laptop stay on before it shuts off? The fans could simply be turing off periodically.