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    Laptop is very hot. How to find out whats causing it?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009.

  1. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    Laptop is very hot. How to find out whats causing it?

    Laptop: ASUS M50VM-A1

    Is there a way to find out whats causing it?

    My laptop is pretty high specs, but for the past 1 week this problem has started.

    It is blowing hot air through the vents, and the area below the vents is very hot.

    Now the fan is running fast aswell, as before I could not hear the fan running.

    Please help on how i can fix this.
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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  2. Abula

    Abula Puro Chapin

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    Download HWmonitor (1.14setup), and run it and monitor whats getting hot. Check if you arent blocking your vent (placing it on the lap or bed), and if you can check the heatsinks if they dont have any dust or dirt on them.
     
    Abula, Oct 31, 2009
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  3. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    Ok, here is some of the info i got from HWmonitor:

    Can anyone see anything wrong there?
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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  4. Abula

    Abula Puro Chapin

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    Well most seem hot still not harmful temps, but some laptops run hot, i dont know what laptop you have either. The video card does seem to idle hot, some drivers are bugged into downcloaking under 2d, i dont even know if the 9600 downcloaks though. But you can also dl GPUz to monitor what clocks you get on idle and reasearch if those are the the normal clocks at idle.
     
    Abula, Oct 31, 2009
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  5. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    It will help to post what laptop you have.

    We always ask members to put their laptop model in their signatures to better assist each other.

    Plus what area of the laptop gets hot?
     
    surfasb, Oct 31, 2009
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  6. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    Laptop: ASUS M50VM-A1

    The VENT area, and below the VENT area (Up left side of laptop)
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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  7. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    Not particular to your model, laptops are gonna get relatively hot near the vent area. The grills on the Dell XT2 get particularly hot and sting after a virus scan.

    I won't worry about it unless you start smelling chemicals burning.........
     
    surfasb, Oct 31, 2009
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  8. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    moral hazard, Oct 31, 2009
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  9. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    Gophn, Oct 31, 2009
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  10. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    Based on the fact that you said that the problem started relatively suddenly quite recently, I would venture a guess that the problem may be caused by a process consuming a lot of your CPU usage. That would cause your CPU to run at maximum wattage, generating large amounts of heat.

    Download Process Explorer and run it. Right-click the column name area, and choose "Select Columns." Then, under the Process Performance tab, tick "CPU History." That should give you a column of graphs of CPU usage.

    Ignoring System Idle Process, are there any processes that jump out as consuming an abnormally high CPU usage amount?
     
    MidnightSun, Oct 31, 2009
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  11. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    No, there arent anything, beside the System Idle Process.

    Like right now i am watching something on Megavideo and I have made the screen full screen, and the laptop is very hot and fan keeps running and making noise.
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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  12. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    Have you updated any drivers recently (especially for the GPU)?
     
    MidnightSun, Oct 31, 2009
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  13. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    I reinstalled Windows and I suspect this is when it started happening...

    I installed one of the latest drivers when I reinstalled Windows...

    So i am not sure if that is causing it. Cause if it has then people would have reported saying driver causing overheat?
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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  14. Abula

    Abula Puro Chapin

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    Did you install chipset drivers?
    Well some drivers, specially some of the latest releases by Nvidia for some have had the 2d downcloak issues (not all), it would be good just to check if you video card downcloaks in 2d (if the 9600 does not sure her), but its worth a shot just to see if you can rule that out. DL GPUz, check the first tab for your clocks, then go to the senson and see your current clocks.
     
    Abula, Oct 31, 2009
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  15. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    flash video's like from Megavideo, Veoh, etc... will be CPU dependent.

    so it will usually force your CPU to full speed.

    you can set your CPU to balance mode to lower its speed... making it cooler.
     
    Gophn, Oct 31, 2009
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  16. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    I have 175.97 nVidia driver. I just googled that driver and some people seems to be having the downcloak issue.

    Also i downloaded GPUz and it shows the following:

    GPU Clock: 430 MHz
    Default Clock: 430 MHz

    Sensors:

    GPU Core Clock: 169 MHz (275 MHz when Video is full screen)
    GPU Memory Clock: 100 MHz (250 MHz when Video is full screen)
    GPU Temperature: 69 (75 MHz when Video is full screen)
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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  17. Abula

    Abula Puro Chapin

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    Well it seems to be downclocking (not sure if those are the clocks for the card, as i dont own or know one) but i think its fine there, maybe the 9600 runs hot on the asus notebook. I would still try to clean the vents n heatsinks to see if that helps the temps, make sure the vents aren't blocked (bed or lap), place it on a flat surface and if you can raise the back to see if it breaths better helping the temps.
     
    Abula, Oct 31, 2009
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  18. awaisuk

    awaisuk Notebook Deity

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    It is still happening... Any more help please?

    Thanks.
     
    awaisuk, Oct 31, 2009
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