High Temps Scaring Me [100°C]

Hey, all recently me temps have really been worrying me

My graphics card would often hit around 93°C, but I did not think much of it, beacuse some other users reported similar temps.

Today, while playing COD 4, I hit Alt+Tab as usual to check the temps that HWMonitor was recording

This is what it said
TZS0 - 100°C
TZS1 - 100°C
Core #1 - 96°C
Core #2 - 88°C
GPU Core - 91°C

I got so worried by these temps, beacuse I was playing on my desk like normal, and I had only been playing for like 20 mins, that I quickly closed down the game.
Then I shut down the laptop to prevent any damage and didn't even remeber to take a snapshot of HWMonitor

My first thought was that the laptop must be full of dust.
This is beacuse I bought it in September, and since then I had only tried to clean the vents once [by vacuuming]. I have never used compressed air because was worried I might accidentally damage the laptop

I let the laptop coll for about 10 mins, before I took out the battery and opened the back panel for the first time.
I saw a lot of dust, and I took some pics of the heatsink.


[Click for bigger image]

Can you guys help me determine what is causing the high temps, because no one else has reported this high temps in the owner thread, they usually top out at around 85
Is this dust or something more serious????

Thanks

 

that is hot.... strange that all the temperatures are high. if one was over the top it could be a faulty component, but all of them? hmm. were the fans running high during the gaming? could ba a fault with the fans, or maybe a problem with the fan controller and/or fans temperature sensor/regulator. have you tried propping the back up on DVD cases? does the laptop feel hot (not just warm) to the touch?

 

You cant see the heatsink fins properly, if your fans are that dusty im guessing the fins are clogged. Pop the fan casing off.

 

there is a lot of dust, but It should not casue your temps to jump up that high. If the vents a not blocked in anyway when gaming, then it could be a hardware problem. do clean the vents first then check on the temps again. those temps are way too high to be safe

 

Sorry, I'm new to this and I'm not sure what you mean by fins

Also, how can I remove the fan casing and will it void my warranty????

The bottom of the laptop gets hot.
I hear the fans running when I game, but I think there is a lot of dust blocking them up.
I live in the middle east, and it is really dusty here, that's why I'm thinking dust is the cause, also I don't really pack it away in a case so....

I usually have the laptop on the desk, meaning that the intake fan [on the bottom] is close to the desk surface, but even when raised the GPU ofter hits the 90s but I have never had the CPU hit 96 or the TSZx hit 100

I'll try to get some compressed air ASAP, but I am worried that I don't know how to clean the vents properly and might damage something

Thanks for your replies


EDIT - Just for reference, this is a pic of my idle temps, ATM while I'm just surfing the net

 

See where the two copper pipes meet? That is your heatsink which is comprised of fins which dissipates the heat. The fans blow air through the heatsink fins and exists in the rear exhaust.

To take the fan cover off for your model, im guessing its the screws on the surface but im not 100% sure. Refer your service manual

 

For future reference mate, when you laptop is so HOT, you DON"T SHUT IT DOWN! You let the cooling do its job without running any applications and open a window.

By shutting down the laptop you force it to remain at that temperature when the fan does not work and damage may occur.

 

Not so sure about that, I think the temperature would drop quite nicely if you just turn it off.

 

Remove the 4 screws which you can see in image #2. These are the screws which hold down the fan shroud. Once removed, you will be able to see the entire fan, and the fins.
Then grab some q-tips and some rubbing alcohol and thoroughly clean the fan. Then take a few good blows on the heatsink fins and you will blow all of the dust out of it.
Good luck,

K-TRON

 

Letting it idle first will cool it down quicker since the fans will still blow through the fins. If you shut it off, the heatsink will need to dissipate it passively.

Kinda like putting a turbo timer on a turbocharged car.

 

Thanks guys, I'll check the service manual and I'll give it a go, but first I'll post some pics of the heatsink fans here
Just 2 questions

1--Will removing the heatsink cover void my warranty
2--I have q tips but I don't have any alcohol, should I use the dry q tip or wet it not too sure??

Thanks for the advice
I was a little paranoid, so after I'd opened the back vent, I had a fan running in my room which i directed onto the laptop [full sized ] and that probably cooled it down the most

Thanks for all you replies

 

My Asus U6 was like an F22 raptor. Very loud. Weird because I clean the fan weekly. Because I lack expertise in laptops i was reluctant to open it. I have no problems with desktops but a laptop . But this thread gave me a kick in the but. I removed the FAN and to my surprise...look what I found. 8 months worth of crap. Crap I thought I removed weekly with my cleanup .




You must have a similar problem. After I cleaned it properly with a brush and my hairdryer, my laptop is brand new. I can barely hear it .

 

Wow you have like 3 fins thats not blocked lol

As i said earlier, people forget about the heatsink because its usually concealed.

Best way to clean it is with a used toothbrush and blowing air hard on the exhaust port from the outside (with the fan assembly taken out of course)

 

Glad to hear you got it cleaned up

Guys, I checked the service manual, and as K-TRON and flipfire rightly said, those two screws are what hold the heatsink in place

However the manual also says that after I have removed the screws:

It also gives this image:


From what I understand this is the wire for the heatsink fasn, but I'm not quite sure how to disconnect it as the image is unclear, what is the guy doing with the tweezers lol

Also, will this void my warranty
Thanks

 

Thanks and I agree I am an idiot!!!! Don't shoot me tho, I don't open laptops at all and I had a bad experience with Asus and was afraid to open it. You know...if it works...don't break it .

This laptop has never been so quiet and I have 5-7 degrees lower temps. Probably due to the new BIOS. The same BIOS i thought was rubbish because of my incompetence!!!!!

Cheers for the kick in the b u t t .

 

Yes, the golden I.T rule: Dont fix it if it aint broken!

Rayan: Tweezers are for panzys, you just tug on the wire lightly and wiggle it up. It should come off fairly easily.

It shouldnt void your warranty since its light maintenance, but to be very safe, try calling the manufacturer. They wont even find out unless you somehow break something in the process.

 

i would never tug wires. just use your finger nails and grip on the plastic bit.

 

STOP! You don't need to take the whole fan off, just take those 4 screws on top out and you'll be able to take the top cover off.

 

Thankd for that guys

The warranty is not from Acer, it's actually from the retailer I bought the laptop from.
So as long as I'm careful there should be nothing to worry about??

So once I am done opening it up, I should clean it using a toothbrush as you said??

Thanks again guys you have been a big help

 

^That is what I did. 2 screws, fan moved to the side...

 

That's what i thought as well, but the service manual says that I should remove the 2 screws visible in the pics, then unplug the cable and the whole thing comes off

 

yeah, because the manual tells how to dismantle teh whole cooling sytem, but not how to gain access to particular parts of it

 

On normal circumstances i wouldnt pull on it either but the plug is very small and its only 2 pins.

I actually ended up breaking a plastic bit off using my nails before. Small plastic pieces can frail off easily.

To add in, i was pretty sure it was the 4 screws on the fan assemblys surface and the fan should come out. Try doing that first instead of taking out the whole assembly. Clean your fans while your at it.

If theres no dust on the fins, then you are looking at a deeper hardware issue.

 

OK Guys thanks

I'll give it a go now and see what happens

Back later

 

Well guys, I did it, and now I'm typing on the same laptop so nothing broke

I feel a sense of achievement [something I never fell upon acing exams ], this is one of the best times of my 16 year existence
Okay,maybe I'm exaggerating

So I took off the two screws and without disconnecting the fan cable [didn't want to risk damaging it] moved the whole fan module/heatsink cover to expose the heatsink.
It was horrifying, there was like a wall of dust covering the heatsink

Here are some pics:


By the time I had got the camera ready, the fan in my room had already started to blow some dust away.
The first pic is blurred but gives a better idea of the amount of dust there was
I cleaned it out by blowing throught the vents and using an old toothbrush.

After this I tried to remove the cover of the fan so I could clean the dust off it but it wouldn't come off.
I removed the four screws, but it would only come off a little from one corner, I didn't push to much beacuse I was scared I might break it, so I left it for another day.

Maybe once I have given my computing exam tomorrow I can think about what to do about cleaning the fan

In a while I will play CoD4 under the same conditions and see what happens to temps

Thanks for all you help guys
(I can't rep ATM but when I can I will)

 

Good work Rayyan!


Also, good luck with your exams.

 

Clean the fans before you benchmark the temps. Your temps should now be below 80c. Dont be afraid to try taking the fan out. You can always buy a replacement for like $30

Remember to clean your fans every 4-6 months

 

I put some RAM once in a family friend's 7 year old Dell desktop. There was dust almost a quarter inch thick on some components, it was like the lint filter in a dryer.

You should notice much cooler temperatures.

 

Jl, I hear you.
A friend of mine has like a dozen dogs which roam his house, and his PC was likterally coated with 1/2" of dust. The heatsink was completely clogged and it was just disgusting. I brought it out back started up the 10hp walkbehind blower, and within seconds all of the dust was out of the system. Nothing like a windstorm of 4700cfm at 220mph
Just make sure to remove the harddrive when doing this

As for your cleanup, good job. The fan may have small clips which hold the fan shroud down. You may need to use a small flat head screwdriver to pry the metal cover off. From the images it looks like the metal cover is a drop in, so pull straight up and it should come right out.

If you cant get it off, try using a q-tip with soem rubbing alcohol, and slowly clean the fan from the side.

Rubbing alcohol can be bought at pretty much any grocery or pharmaceutical store. Its maybe about $3 for a 16 oz bottle.

K-TRON

 

yea clean clean lol unless you want it to break ...good luck give us some info how it works soon

 

@ Those pictures. WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW.

That is all.

 

Thanks for all your help and replies guys
You really helped

I wasn't able to post yesterday, beacuse I was studying for computer, but I just got back from the exam and now I am free for a week.

I will try running a game to see what happens, but I'm not done cleaning

I think I am going to get some compressed air, and use that to first clean the fan, while holding it in place, and then removing the fan module and fully cleaning the heatsink by blowing air from the outside vents in, as per Chaz's cooling guide
I will also try to get some rubbing alcohol and try the q-tip method

My friend will help with the compressed air, beacuse he has cleaned his laptop with compressed air before.

Imagine how I felt when I saw that dust.
If only i had gotten a pic before the fan blew some dust away, all that dust was stuck to the whole heatsink

Thanks again guys

I'm off to run some test

 

I got some benchmarks

I played CoD4 for about 45 mins - 1 hour

During that time I monitored my temps
This is the readout on HWMonitor after I closed the game:


I also played a bit of GRiD, Far Cry 2, and Crysis all games which used to take my GPU into the 90s and still nothing went over the max in the images.
Really happy now

Now I'll get even cooler temps when I fully clean it, and if I get a cooler i may even be able to overclock my card

Thanks again for your help guys

 

Cleaning vents can do a lot, it helped me a butt load. Try to lift the back up on some sort of tilt. Check the material the desk is being placed on, heat may be because of material laptop is placed on.

 

Yeah, I tried that a few times before but it didn't really help [vents/heatsink too clogged]

But today I placed a John Grisham 2-in-1(great read by a great author ) under the back and it reduce the temps a little.
Overall I'm really happy with the results thus far, and love my laptop even more

 

are your fans spinning at full speed when you are gaming? that may be an issue.

 

Yep, they are spinning fine, I can feel the air being sucked in

I was worried that the temps in my first post were because of faulty hardware, but now after cleaning the have dropped a lot so I know that it was due to dust not a hardware problem

 

Glad they reduced your heat.
Though I'm still worried about your CPU... I don't think it should be running in the 80s.
Mine maxes out at about 56c playing 4hours of CoD4 and what not.
Though we have different systems.

 

The temps are still high, but there is a reason for this.

I just removed the dust that I could by blowing and using a toothbrush.
however, the heatsink is still dusty [but not clogged], as are the fans

I am planning to get compressed air sometime this week ,which I will use to fully clean out the laptop, after which I will post

Thank you for your concern though
PS - Your rig is also 17" which helps in heat dissipation, while mine is 15"

 

He lives in the middle of a desert.

 

Yeah I'd recommend getting it clean as soon as you can since most CPU's recommended max is 70c isn't it?
Don't want you to burn out your system
Yeah i know, thats why I mentioned "Though we have different systems"

 

WOW! he must have one hell of a wireless card
Or a reallyy....really long ethernet cable

 

Satellite baby ALL THE WAY
In a tent w/ AC and a fridge, and a Low rider camel outside

Haha, actually I use dial-up

And technically Riyadh is surrounded by desert, you can see on google earth
So when the wind blows [even when it doesn't] the dust gets everywhere, and ruins everything electronic

 

According to Everest my Penryn is 105.

 

Absolute max is 105c. It will downclock or shut off before that temp.

Running it on high temps 80-90c will just reduce the long term life. I believe it was like 1 year for every 10c higher (after 80c). Dont quote me, i dont remember where i read it from.

 

Throttling is the first sign of a failing setup.

 

Yeah but like stated above thats the shutdown temp and it may possibly burn up at that.
The recommended is usually around 70c to have a healthy CPU for a good amount of time. Didn't want to recommend him to let his CPU go to 90c and lose a couple years of CPU life.

 

WHAT?! Hook me up with that satellite program! PLEASE?!

Whats the temperature around there this time of year? Room temperatures can often cause heating too

 

Hot, Very Hot

Usually have the AC running around the clock

Right now the weather is cooler so I don't really turn the AC on

Room temperatures are fine, and I usually have a fan running

 

Oh okay.
I keep my room at 68-70F (It gets down to single digits F outside here around this time of year.