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    hot laptop?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by jjl5590, May 2, 2009.

  1. jjl5590

    jjl5590 Notebook Enthusiast

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    hey guys,

    I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop and it seems to get very hot after a brief period of time, not doing very much.
    At the moment, its been running for about 30 minutes and i only have internet explorer open. Here are the temps:

    CPU: 83 C
    GPU: 64 C
    Memory: 60 C
    Chipset 62 C
    Hard drive: 42 C

    A few months ago I had to buy another hard drive because my previous one had become burnt and unusable. Seeing as this is a very chunky laptop, I would have thought it would be able to deal with heat better.

    Anyway what do you guys make of those temps?

    cheers for your help
     
    jjl5590, May 2, 2009
    #1
  2. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    the hard drive temperature is completely normal.

    the cpu is rather warm for idling, but then again, idling doesnt always mean idling, your system might be doing something in the background, if you have just launch a program, or scroll a web page, then that is not idling, it will take a couple of second for the cpu to cool itself again.

    GPU, RAM, and chipset all seems ok, just a bit warm.

    how old is the laptop?
    and what is the ambient (room) temperature?
     
    wobble987, May 2, 2009
    #2
  3. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    Check if your vents are obstructed by dust. I'm pretty sure that's the problem with it.
     
    Luke1708, May 2, 2009
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  4. jjl5590

    jjl5590 Notebook Enthusiast

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    i've checked all the vents and they are clear. I cleaned them just to make sure though - no difference. Its got to the point where i cannot use my laptop on carpet or anywhere where there isnt a flat hard surface, such as my work desk, otherwise it will get way hot and im afraid might catch fire
     
    jjl5590, May 2, 2009
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  5. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    I have difficulty getting my T9500 to 83 Celsius even under full load. That's completely unacceptable for an idle temperature.

    If you don't mind voiding your warranty or if yours is already expired, I recommend you remove the heatsink, polish of any traces of the sticky thermal pads using rubbing alcohol, and apply some Arctic Silver 5. You may need a copper shim to bridge the gap between the heatsink and GPU surface, and possibly the chipset/northbridge as well.
     
    Mastershroom, May 2, 2009
    #5
  6. Loki[D.d.G]

    Loki[D.d.G] Notebook Geek

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    My 3 year old Inspiron 9400 with a T5600 cpu and x1400 mobility radeon runs pretty cool even under load...
     
    Loki[D.d.G], May 2, 2009
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  7. wodstock

    wodstock Notebook Evangelist

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    take the machine apart completely and blow everything out, as5 the gpu/cpu. this is a common problem for all laptops
     
    wodstock, May 2, 2009
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  8. jjl5590

    jjl5590 Notebook Enthusiast

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    hi,

    i tried taking the laptop apart but i couldnt, all i could do was remove the little pannels on the underside. I unscrewed the entire bottom but it wouldnt come off :-(
     
    jjl5590, May 3, 2009
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  9. wodstock

    wodstock Notebook Evangelist

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    you need to pull the keyboard too, there are some screws there. look up the manual on the dell web sight
     
    wodstock, May 3, 2009
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  10. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    My max cpu load was in the 70's and that was a looong time ago!!!
     
    Luke1708, May 4, 2009
    #10