Laptop heating question.

Hello.
I have a compaq laptop. CQ50-103NR.


and under basically zero cpu usage it runs (according speedfan) at about 60C

When playing a game (such as world of warcraft.) that spikes over 90C.

This is a new laptop only four months old.

Are these temps normal? Somehow I don't think 90 is. And I always hear the fan on.

if these aren't normal. What should I do?

Thanks in advance.

 

Well first things first:

Do you have a lot of programs running in the background when gaming?

Does you're system struggle to play the game? Or is it smooth gaming?

* If it is struggling to play that game, what about other games?

Have you cleaned your fans at all since you got it?

 

no, it doesn't struggle to play the game. it's the only game I play.

and no background programs loading. a friend online said my cpu was about to melt at 90C - right now with just a webbrowser open it's at 63C (For both cores) and GPU the only thing that isn't at 60+ is my ambient which is 0 and my HDD which is at 42C

I've looked at the fan (only one I can see) and it seems clean.

 

Around 90°C is cautious, but it won't melt. 100°C+ and it will fry.

And the only real way to tell if your fans are clean, is to turn off you're laptop, flip it over, remove the battery, press the power button a few times to release any static build-up, remove the cover above your fan(s), and take a bottle of the compressed air you can buy at Walmart, K-Mart, etc for about $10, and gently blow out the fan in all directions, and outward toward the back where the vent it.

 

Also, make sure all programs you have are NOT running, like widgets, instant messenger, etc, because it will increase the load the CPU has to do. (When gaming).

You're idle'ing temps are normal (63°C, and 42°C), so don't worry about them.

Oh, and also make sure your room temperature is normal, if you're room is to hot, that could cause overheating as well.

And make sure all vents are clear near you're laptop, and you have it on a clean, flat surface.

 

Thanks for the replies. I can't get to the fan unless I basically take the entire laptop apart. there is no compartment to unscrew. I was looking at the repair manuel earlier. There's just a vent, with a fan on hte other side

Can i use the compressed air through the vent?

 

You CAN, bit I wouldn't recommend it. Reason being, is because you can easily push the dust/dirt back into the CPU, and possible make it worse. That's odd that they didn't make a plate to unscrew for easy access to the fan.

Is there any other compartment close to the fan? Maybe a compartment for the RAM?