For all of you with P-series GPU overheating problems.

For those of you that are having these problems, I can't really recommend dismantling this laptop. I just finished it about 30 minutes ago, and while a little ceramique did do the trick very well, the pic will tell it all. There is no part of this laptop that stays intact when you go for the GPU. Not a single wire is still plugged in when you reach it. Good luck if you try this.

 

Also, that said, it did help. A LOT. I'm running 55-60 under a load now as opposed to getting safety shutdowns (110 I think?)

 

Dang man, looks like you stuck a bit of C4 in the expresscard slot and blew the thing up

 

your nuts... period.. i almost threw up when i seen that pic.

did u get it back together fine?

 

Yeah, I got it back together with no trouble. I ran into a little hiccup when I was putting the heatsink back on the CPU. Turns out that the screw holes for the heatsink are accessible from both sides of the board, so I thought it was a mount for the board, then when I tried to mount the heatsink, the screws wouldn't go in. I almost freaked out cause I thought that it was crossthreaded, but turns out that there was just another screw in there. But all in all it wasn't too hard, just a lot of screws to remember. The cables/strips were easy enough to remember.

 

Beautiful man, love your work.

 

I should really do this. Mine is no longer under any warranty with Gateway or Best Buy so there really is no point not to. Does any part have to be permanently marred to get it to come apart?

 

No, nothing permanent. Definitely label your screws. Start with everything on the bottom of the laptop (including beneath the battery), then pop the panel where the power button is off. You can do this by sticking a thin rod through the crack where the monitor swivels and prying up. lay the monitor all the way back (open the laptop all the way) and then insert the rod from the outside (if you're popping off the left side of the cover, go from the left) and pry. Just be very careful when you take that part off. The power button is attached to a very thin plastic strip that seems to me like it would be easy to rip. I'd start with taking that off, and then go from there. It's not really all that hard.

 

Well I just posted this in the thread I created some time ago:

So if you are lazy like me just buy a laptop cooler. 76C is pretty safe I think.

 

I may actually do this if it means that I wont have to wait 3 weeks for Gateway to repair mine... Do I get my warranty voided if I attempt to do this?

 

Absolutely, purlpo. It will totally fubar the warranty.

 

Not if there are no stickers broken to tell them

 

under the pad you have to peel up some stickers (well, more like sticky aluminum foil) it can be put back, but it kinda gets crinkled.

 

Awesome man! I actually just finished attempting to do this but I ended when I dismantled the display and I couldn't figure out how to disconnect it (the round thick silver cor) how did you do this?

and when you say applying ceramique do you mean just arctic silver or something?

 

Ceramique is made by the same company. It's non-conductive, so it's safer to use for gpu's.. As far as for the thick cord, it leads to a white plug (kinda looks like a car stereo wiring harness.) Just pull that plug out and the thick cord is unplugged. The cord itself has adhesive on it, but it peels right up.

 

OK good, I was going to put arctic silver 5 on my GPU, didn't realize that was a nono!

 

It's easier to send the laptop back to Gateway and tell them what the problem is and get it repaired and sent back to you.

 

In theory that is very true, but it practice manufacturers rarely actually listen to what consumers tell them is wrong with the computer.

 

AS-5 is safe to use..not like AS-3. This is explained on their web site. I would be more interested in which cools the best..this seems to be a hotly contested

Great info in take down. If you took pictures, please post. It would be nice to place all the take down info in a "pimp your P" thread or such.

cheers

 

Ohhhh darn, I went out and bought the only cheap ceramic stuff they had at my local computer store.. should have used my AS-5!

Anyway.. I finally followed BuckAMayzing's brave lead and took my FX 6860 completely appart.. it can't say it was easy, but it was well worth it.



Putting it back together was much simpler than I thought but as expected.. after seeing the mess and the 50+ screws when I pressed the power button I wasn't sure if it would turn on!!


I can happily report now that I don't get anymore shutdowns as my average temperatures dropped by around 25 Celcius! My idle is around 40, not 60-65, and it doesn't go over 75 when gaming hardcore!

 

you didn't need to do anything with the screen except remove the who piece, and i find it easier to leave the screws in/with the part they came from, maybe put a piece of tape over them to keep them from falling out.

I don't find it that hard to take it apart, i can get it apart in about 10-15 mins and back together in about the same amount of time. I remeber everyone getting frustrated because they couldn't get it apart, wasn't hard and it's my first laptop.

 

I didn't, unfortunately. However, when (probably not if) the heatsink gets caked up with nastiness again, I'll break it back down, take pictures, and write up a guide. I'd also be willing to help someone out in my area (East Tennessee) and we could write one up, assuming they'd expect me to take no liability.

 

+rep to you buckamayzing cuz that's exactly what mine looked like except I didn't quite get to the GPU. Maybe about 80% of the way when my kid (18 month old) woke up and I had to put it back together in a hurry before he would scatter my screws and use the hard drive trays as his building blocks...

BTW nice pic!

 

Strangest thing, I was using the bottle cap method to raise the back of my 7811 off the table at work the other day. It held steady at 45C which I realized was about about 6-7C higher then normal while idle (I had only been doing this for a day or 2), so I removed the caps and the temps dropped at an unbelievable rate till it was bouncing between about 38 and 40C. I invite someone else to try this too since it is a popular method of adding extra cooling for this model. No idea why raising the back off the table actually would make it run warmer.

 

My theory would be that because of the low pressure created by the fan intake on the bottom, some of the exhaust would diffuse to the bottom, thus creating a higher intake temperature, whereas if it was directly on the table, there would be less room for the exhaust to be sucked in. I'd say once the table warmed up, if it did, the comp. temperature would rise again.