Out of nowhere, laptop now constantly overheats

I'm using an hp dv6-1268nr laptop.

2.2ghz amd turion x2 processor
4gb ram
ati mobilty radeon hd 4650
windows 7

ok so here's the problem. when i got this laptop last august, i was able to play all the latest games (dragon age, modern warfare 2) just fine, no problems whatsoever. come january, i'm playing mass effect 2 for about 6 hours (i was bored ), problem free. then out of nowhere, my laptop's cpu temp skyrockets up to 95C (critical temp) and of course freezes. i thought it was just me2; turns out EVERY game now causes my laptop to hit critical temp within minutes, whereas before this "incident" i could play for hours and still keep a low temp. i have temporarily negated this problem by going into power management and putting the max cpu power to 99%; however in some games this causes a very noticeable FPS drop, plus i would like my laptop to return back to normal. also, i am using a cooling pad.

Now i have tried dusting out the fan and there was hardly any dust. I highly doubt its a problem with thermal paste as this laptop is only 6 or 7 months old.

What in god's name could have/be causing this unexplainable spike in CPU temperature? And how could I fix it?

 

Have you looked not just on the fan itself but on the cooling fins on the heatsink that the air is supposed to go through, as in cracking the notebook open? That's where most of the dust accumulation occurs... And also if there's any flex in the notebook, the heatsink might have shifted a little and come "unattached" from the CPU and the thermal paste is no longer doing it's job. Either way it involves opening your notebook to see what the cause is...

 

Yeah looks like you will need to open it apart and see if there is a cooling pad or shim out of place, no dust, fan spinning at right speed, repaste cpu.

Be careful if you do open it, do it delicate, follow the service manual, be careful with ribbon cables, zif sockets, mark down where each screw goes, don't over force anything, you should ideally wear an anti-static wrist strap as well.

 

I tried opening it up once before but there's so many damn things to remove before getting to the CPU/heatsink. I was kind of hoping that would be my last resort...

but i guess i'll go buy some compressed air and try that as well, i already put a vacuum to the vents and saw that the fan was moving quite smoothly. but from what some of my friends tell me the compressed air can hit places my vacuum can't hehe.

 

get a notebook cooling pad and try undervolting ur processor... that should drop ur CPU temps...

 

as i said i am already using a cooling pad. the undervolting guide here was not helpful at all, as its guide to using RMclock is out of date (RM clock's interface is different and I couldn't find an up to date response).

 

I suppose a possible fix might be to reseat the CPU itself and put some thermal paste on it, but then you have to really dig into that laptop. But since it's still under warranty, I'd advise against that. Try giving HP a call and see if you can send it in. Tell them it's overheating.

 

If its under warranty let hp deal with it

 

Yup, that's what I said.

 

Not much to add, but I would verify that the fans are actually still functional. Not likely, but possible.

 

Yea! I would also be wary of voiding my warranty if you still have one, by opening it. I neglected to read that part about you saying that you've only had it for a couple of months.

 

I highly suggest going to Online auction sites like Ebay (TM) to buy a fan and heat sink module. I suggest you change your fan and heat sink my friend. Remember to read the manual first! Good luck!

 

i would just let hp handle it... most probably they'll just replace the motherboard...

 

Have you tried undervolting with K10Stat?

http://aspiregemstone.blogspot.com/2009/06/k10stat-amd-griffin-processor.html

 

possilble because the heatsink failed to dissipate the heat from your CPU because it is not seated properly

 

I know this may be the wrong place to ask, but how can I check if its still under warranty?

 

Your laptop has a serial number. I assume you have the 1 year warranty.
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/warranty/information/faq.php

 

well the problem was solved, turns out it was just dusty. some compressed air took care of that im definitely enjoying battlefield bc2!

 

good thing... usually dust is the problem.