How I fixed my G73 overheating problems in 2 minutes and without spending a single dollar.

**Updated with info on my second cleanup. Read about it at the end.


Guys, I don't know the rules of this forums, so I'm sorry if I'm breaking any. Just let me know and I'll edit or delete the thread if necessary.

I'll just paste an edited version of my youtube video description:

If you have any questions about what I did, feel free to ask. Any more in-depth information would be better answered by the experts such as Chastity.

(Sorry for my english both in the video and the description, it isn't my native language)
(Also, I don't claim to be a big genius with this video, in fact I might be creating a "master of the obvious" thread here, but it took me a while to figure it out, so I figured this thread might help someone. I just want to show you what helped me A LOT, and I hope it also helps you.)

So I've had my G73 for ~1year and about 3 months ago it started overheating a lot. My idle temperatures were ~75°C. Gaming temperatures were ~100-110, causing my speakers to go crazy. Sometimes the system would shutdown because of it. Furmark was a guaranteed shutdown. The system would also run pretty slow.

After some research, mainly in this forum, what I commonly found was that I should do a repaste. I have assembled and disassembled hundreds of desktop computers in my life, but never a notebook. I was pretty scared to do so and kept postponing it. Also, ICD7 is impossible to find where I live.

I also found out that updating my BIOS and VBIOS could make a difference. I updated them both but it didn't help.

One random day I found someone saying something about blowing air with your mouth inside the fans, but people said this was bad because the humidity from your breath could cause dust clogs. Some people suggested canned compressed air. Since I couldn't found that to sell over here either, I decided to try something, and it worked. What I did is what's in this video:
How I fixed my G73 overheating problem! - YouTube

After cleaning the dust off, my temperatures went to 47-51°C idle and 74°C when running furmark for 60 minutes.

Some people recommended sticking something inside the vent to hold the fan still, but I didn't think of a safe way to do that. Also, if you just bought a brand new G73 and it already has overheating problems, you'll probably need to do a repaste, since it's probably not dirty and some ASUS notebooks really have a problem with how ASUS applied their thermal compound.

Good luck

UPDATE:

After about 7-8 weeks of doing what I described above in this thread, I noticed my temperatures were getting high again. They weren't as bad as before, since only 2 months of accumulating dust had passed (before I did it for the first time it had 1 year of dust in it), but they weren't as good as I wish they were.

Here are some screenshots:
Furmark, around 7:30 it started beeping. At 8:00 beep was constant, since temperature wasn't going under 100°C anymore:


Idle temperature:



Then I cleaned it as described, using the same hair dryer that is in the video.

Some screenshots:
Furmark, the same 8 minutes:


Idle:


I let furmark run for a bit more:

 

WELL DONE! I normally use a canister vacuum cleaner on the lowest setting, but I am impressed with your idea and your results. Also enjoyed the Hood indo para Blumeneu video (was that a toyota you were in? )

 

Very nice, thank you for providing this information. Will come in handy if customers are having issues like this

 

Thank you and well done!

Regards,
Alan....

 

Very ingenious! It would save money from buying a can of compressed air. One thing I have in mind is that a hair blower builds heat quickly in just a matter of seconds. Is this heat tolerable inside our machine?

 

Get a prof. hairdryer, where you can switch the heat off!

 

I'm happy that you liked it guys Thanks!

It was a Toyota Hilux I'm the one driving hehe

I didn't use hot air... Most hair dryers I've come across have the option to only blow air without heating it up.

Anyway, I really don't think the hot temperature from the hair dryer is anywhere close to the temperatures registered by normal use of the notebook

 

LOL i am the one who blowed it with the mouth
worked for me

i tried with hairdrier too but it was weak
best free way is to go to a gas station and use the aircompressor carifully

 

Sounds great! Gotta be really carefull though, those aircompressors are pretty strong.

 

I've cleaned it again and posted some results on the original post. Check the "update" part.

There are some screenshots this time.

 

Are you sure? I used air cans twice on my G73 and it did not really help. Sure the temps drops a bit but no where as amazing as yours.

 

It really depends on your environment. If you have pets, smoke, or live in dusty environments, then you will need to pay attention to the vents. One of the things I've noticed moving to California from NY is that I am not dusting nearly as much as I used to. I guess that's one benefit of desert living.

I haven't had the need to blow out my vents since the pet I had was a bischon, which do not shed much. I also do not smoke.

Some of the laptops I've seen here are obvious pet owners and/or smokers, and I've used the local air compressor to blow out the vents and the keyboards. If you are one of these types, I suggest checking the vents and keyboards monthly.

 

Chastity is on my thread, what an honor

Well, the screenshots I posted pretty much speak for themselves I didn't tamper or manipulate any numbers. Notebook was hot, I used my hair dryer in it, notebook was cool again.

I blew air inside of it from all different angles I could for over 5 minutes until I was sure no more dust was coming out. A lot of constant air was used, and I think I have a pretty strong hair dryer. I saw a lot of dust coming out when I started cleaning...

 

I am not living in dusty environment nor I have pets or smoke.

I guess I'll give it another try. It's strange as my idle temps are good, 57C but load temps were horrible, 95C. Or that's a sign that I need to repaste?

 

Well, I'm no expert, Chastity would be able to help you much more than I would.

I suggest you try cleaning it up again. Also, update, with care, your BIOS and VBIOS. Try every method that won't need a full disassembly. If nothing helps, you might need to repaste. Bad thermal compound usage by ASUS is a reality for some of us. I guess I'm lucky that my problems can be solved with the use of air.

Good luck.

 

Repasting doesn't usually change idle temps that much, anyway. Load temps are all that matter. I got awesome results from taking my laptop apart, cleaning the vents, and repasting. I advise upgrading the cpu while you're at it, since it's an awesome upgrade and you have everything apart anyway!

 

I did clean it again with my air can. Temps drop a bit but still pretty high with 93C at max, but hovers around 85 usually.

Looks like repaste is unavoidable.

 

Well, honestly, when I see videos like this:
G73 clean out - YouTube
I feel that the air they are throwing inside the laptop is next to nothing (both in strength and quantity) compared to when I use my hair dryer lol.

I think I'll post a video of me actually doing it sometime in the future.

And don't use crappy stuf, like these:
mini hair dryer - Pesquisa Google

Go for the big ones, use these:
professional hair dryer - Pesquisa Google

But then I guess the 'no dollars spent' might be false for you if you don't already have one. I was lucky my mom has one in her house.

But, as I've always said, there really are some people who need a repaste. You might be one of the unlucky ones =(

 

i had the same problem where my laptop kept overheating and shutting off...when it first did it i figured that opening it and taking out the dust would fix it right away...but i didnt have a screwdriver...so i just took my small fan and put it right in front of the fan where the air comes out, which i am still doing now...that kept it from overheating, but i think its better to just stop the problem by opening it and blowing out the dust, but im too lazy so i just keep my fan in front of my comp fan

 

Doesn't that blow the hot air back in or something?

 

@hackness: i thought it would at first, but it doesnt....all it does is keep my laptop cool and stop it from overheating...ive been doing it for a couple of months now and it never shut down on me once from overheating...so if u having the same problem, just do what i did and use a fan

 

I have been doing that since i got it as the fan does help to provide some cool air to the laptop.

There is a limit on the effectiveness though, as im getting 97C with my G73 now with a fan. Just ordered some ICD7 for repasting.

I dont think im buying a professional hair dryer to clean my laptop. Its either gonna be repaste or sell it away for a Sager as Sagers are easier to maintain.