G73SW-A1 Overheating issues, repaste?

Hi all,

I have been running into an issue when playing BF3 or Skyrim on my G73SW-A1. After playing for some time (varies from 20 min to 2 hours) the screen will go black and the computer will go to sleep. When I bring it back up, everything is still there, so it doesn't shut down, just sleeping.

My CPU temps are getting up to 96-100C but my GPU temps peak out around 85C. I've read about repasting, but that seems to be on G73JH GPUs, and I haven't seen any mention of G73SW CPU temps anywhere.

Just as an experiment, I propped up the computer to let more air get under the case, and the problem went away, but the temps were still getting up there (not sure exact temps though). But last night, I played Skyrim for all of 10 minutes before a failure.

What info do I need to supply for more help? Should I disassemble to check the heatsinks or repaste?

 

Your CPU is definitely running too hot. It should stay in the low 70s under full load. Clean your heatsinks and see if it does the trick.

 

What level of cleaning would you recommend? Disassembling or just using some compressed air or something?

 

Compressed air first, then check if that fixes it.

 

Ouch that is hot. I would say you have a problem with your cooling unless you get covered from head to toe in dust when you unleash the compressed air.

Run HWINFO and load up the sensors and make sure both the CPU and GPU are showing up under the Fan Speed RPM section. Could be completely clogged with dust or not running.

 

I've taken the bottom panel off and it looks pretty clean, but there could be more dust that I just don't see, so that's the first step.

The fans are running, quite fast actually. It doesn't feel like they are moving a very large amount of air though, so maybe there really is a lot of dust in there.

I had the laptop RMA'd for the power cord pin a few months ago, and it didn't have any overheating issues before that, so there could be a loose heatsink as well.

I will post my results after I give it a good cleaning this evening.

 

Taking the bottom off wont do anything the dust will be inside the fan which is enclosed and in the radiator which is where the blockage most likely is.

You will not be able to see the dust unless you dissassemble but if you blow air fast into the vents you should get a faceful. See my dissassembly guide for pictures (sig below) you will notice that the fan is connected to the radiator by tape to keep the airflow clean and clear to the outside of the laptop.

 

Watch this: G73 clean out - YouTube.

And now... Do it!

 

So I used some canned air to get in there, and a decent amount of dust came out. I ran some CPU stress tests and the temps maxed out at 89C then once the fans got up to speed the temps came back down to around 82C.

Seems to have helped a lot, so now I'm gonna play some games and see how it handles it.

 

Your temps are still a bit high, but they aren't critical anymore, should play just fine now.

 

Give it another blast As mentioned they are not critical if you are not happy with the loud fans you could consider a repaste either by RMA or by experiencing it yourself!

 

Do yourself a favor and have the machine serviced. You can PM me your contact info, or call 888-678-3688 to set up RMA service. Use the case number below when you call.

Case: 1635189