HP dv9500t Weird Fan-Related Performance Issue

First off, my specs:

C2D 2.0 GHz
2 GB 667 MHz RAM
8600M GS 256 MB
160 GB 5400 RPM HDD

Running with the "High Performance" power option without a battery inserted.

Here's the thing: Whenever I play Call of Duty 4, sometimes, after around an 45 minutes or so of gaming, the fan will start getting REALLY loud. However, the weird thing is that the performance I get in the game drops DRAMATICALLY when the fan gets loud. It goes from like 30+ FPS to around 1-10 FPS. When that happens, I need to pause the game, as it is not possible to play with the framerate. However, when I pause the game, the fan starts slowing down, and when it slows down to the pre-really-loud level, the performance goes back up. What's wrong and why is that so?

Thanks a bunch.

 

What you experience is actually due to heat (therefore the FAN behavior). Seems like your notebook (Either CPU or the GPU) overheats, and the FAN tries its best to cool it down but evidently fails. This will cause either the CPU or the GPU to throttle down the speed hence low frame rates. It happens as a result of a protection system built in to protect your notebook against overheating. There is nothing much you can do about it other than somehow make it run cooler.

Running the FAN all the time may help reduce the heat buildup, for that you can use programs like Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) , but use them with caution and read the instructions carefully!!.

From the hardware side, you can try cleaning the internal components [guide: part 1, 2, 3, 4], make sure the cooling vents are all clear of dust and not physically covered while you are playing games (keep the notebook on a hard flat surface). A cooling pad can also help.

 

So besides cleaning the vents and getting a cooling pad, there's not much I can do about my problem is there?

Would turning down the settings be of any help? Since the GPU wont have to work as much.

Does having Firefox with quite a few tabs in the background affect it at all?

And why does my fan sound like an airplane sometimes?

 

Unless there is a problem with the heat sink installation or some other hardware fault; I’m afraid not. I’m not familiar with 8600M GS’s temperatures, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it over heats after 45mins of game play. Because even my 8400M GS becomes pretty hot after sometime. But, if your system becomes totally unusable after 45 mins then I guess you have a good enough reason to call HP and ask for a solution.

In theory it should...

No, because minimized applications don’t require CPU, and GPU is hardly effected by firefox even when it is the foreground application (unless you are watching streaming videos or running an embedded 3D applet/application etc.., but even then the GPU load is negligible compared to 3D games)

FAN speed is usually proportional to heat output, if your notebook is producing too much heat (which seems to be the case here) the fan must be working at full speed (hence the sound).

In the meantime search this forum and see if this is a common problem among other dv9500 users.

 

Once it reaches the "overheat" mark, I need to pause it for about 5-10 seconds, after which it works for around a minute before overheating again.

The laptop is usable after it starts to "overheat" or whatever it's doing, just that Call of Duty 4 is not. I've tried Counter Strike: Source and watching movies afterward and they don't seem affected.

Would having Firefox open be using up RAM that might be needed?

And I should measure the temperatures for the components in my laptop during a few different "environments" of use, right? Like idle, watching movies, gaming, etc...? What would be a good program to do so?

 

RAM really isnt a factor in most games. Its mostly the GPU. So, i would rule that out, especially with COD4.

Yes, i would suggest that. Download HWMonitor (Google it) and that will tell you both cpu cores, gpu core, and HDD(s) temps. Play COD4 for 45 mins, minimize it (Ctrl+Esc or Shift+Esc) or just quit if that doesnt work and quickly start up HWMonitor and write down each tempuature. Then, after shutting down and letting it cool down completely... Do some standard internet browsing then check temps, record and post.

 

also, what BIOS are you using

 

I find that when I boot up the system right? Or is there some other way as well?

 

Sorry that it took so long, but I finally have the HW Monitor temps here.



The "Value" column is when I took the screenshot, which was right after I played CoD4 (on High Performance power setting). The "Min" column was prior to playing CoD4, when I let my laptop idle for 30 minutes or so (on Power Saver power setting). The "Max" column was while I was playing CoD4 for about 75 minutes or so (on High Performance power setting). Laptop was plugged in to the electrical outlet the whole time.

While playing CoD4, all of my settings were either off or low and the resolution was 1280x1024 or something like that.


My temps are too hot aren't they?


EDIT: Also, I usually have 70-90 FPS with those settings, except when the performance drops to 1-3 FPS >.>

 

yowza man, thats wayyyyyy to hot. holy shnikys man. i would not use it for any 3dapps and monitor my temps @ idle till you figure out whats wrong. thats insanely hot, approaching instant death of electronics hot.... id guess somethings wrong with the heatsink being not installed correctly, cuz thats realllly hot.

 

You could've told me earlier :/

I'm surprised my computer hasn't exploded or something after this recent CoD4 session...

Look at the GPU temp :/



Taken right after about an hour of CoD4.

Anyone know if HP will cover overheating of components? Haven't OC-ed or opened up the case or anything yet.

O and what can I do to fix it?

 

After an hour of game play, those temps are not unrealistic. What is the room temperature? (matters a lot when you compare with others)

These are my idling values right now at room temp 22C. Even when doing nothing (power plan set to Power saver) my GPU is at 63C!. I upgraded the drivers two days back, I think powermizer is not working properly or something. As I remember earlier GPU temp was lower..

 

Well, I don't know the room temperature, but the weather outside is 59 F (15 C) and my laptop is right next to an open window. No direct sunlight hits the laptop.

My idle temps are still hotter than yours, even though the room temp is lower (I'm pretty sure) and I have a 17" while you have a 13.3"...

But...219 F (104 C) sounds godly awful...and isn't the overheating mark 185 F (85 C)? Why are my CPU cores and GPU both at or above boiling point?

What can I do to lower my temps? Would rather not have a fire in my room :/

 

again, its gotta be something wrong with the heatsink, maybe they forgot to use a "bonding agent" or just didnt get it right. i have a 17" and the highest temp i have ever gotten is around 65c(gpu) after about five hours of CoD4 multiplayer. without my cooler it max's at 71-72c (GPU) sitting on a flat peice of wood, ambient room temp of about 77-78F.
you should really give them a call, feel free to lie a little and say it shuts itself off during heavy use, that the fan all of a sudden runs full blast for about 30 seconds then it shuts off etc dont tell them its just one game, say when you watch a dvd with quickplay it does it, as well as WMP etc

but ya, yours is waaaaay too hot man.
without my cooler i idle at about 30-35f cpu and about 40-45c gpu. with cooler i idle in the low 20's cpu, and 38-40 gpu. if they refuse to give support on it you really need to take it to a shop and pay out of pocket to get it looked it, get some as5 put on it as well.

 

heres a pic of my idle temps, the max temp is from watching some tv in the other window(tvtuner)

 

After hibernating my laptop overnight, here's what I get when I boot up:



Left is a few minutes after boot up, center is I guess the lowest it was when I booted up, and right is the crazy temps I got from CoD4.

I guess I'll have to talk to HP about it then...do you know if the standard warranty that comes with the laptop covers overheating?

Also, I'm worried about sending my laptop in to them. I've heard horror stories about how they treat laptops, as well as switching and wiping of hard drives and such :/

 

The HP guy says it's normal because I play games, and he suggests to update the BIOS. Does that do anything to help?

 

Well, the guy said that it's not very likely that the heatsink was improperly installed (not that I believe him), that it's normal to be 100 C when I'm playing games (sounds like BS to me) and that I should update my BIOS and see what happens.

He gave me a link to here:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp39001-39500/sp39158.exe
for an update for my BIOS.

Anyone know if that will help at all? My current BIOS is some HP F.33 thing as of 11/12/2007.

Also, how do I go about updating my BIOS? Just run the .exe?

 

Also, how do I check if my components have been damaged? Do I look for artifacts, or is there no real way?

Especially worried about my GPU...

 

...updated BIOS, results are here:



Don't mind the left and center columns, they aren't really accurate in terms of when and what.

However, right column...in less than 30 minutes of Call of Duty 4, they're back where they were earlier...

What am I to do now?

 

Talked to HP again, they want me to reinstall the Power Management.

What is the ACPI anyways? They want me to uninstall the controllers for ACPI Fan, ACPI Fixed Feature Button, ACPI Thermal Zone, ACPI Compliant System. Afterwards I'm to restart my computer.

Sounds like a good plan?

And if that doesn't work, they want me to do a mail-in-repair...*shudders*

 

ACPI is power and "heat" managment systems for windows. the fan speed etc is controlled through the bios so that wouldnt do any good. you can try doing the quickrestore/recovery or whatever its called just to satisfy them. but theres no way those temps are normal. i think we have very similiar system, i have a dv9700t , 2.5gzh, 3gb mem, dual hdds and 8600m. i freaked out at my temps out of the box (no cooler) when they approached 80c.
the higher the temps, the shorter the life span of the product (all electronics) 200f+ = 1 year tops. try doing the mail-in-repair stuff, if it still runs that hot, you definetly gotta get some as5 on there and reseat the heatsink yourself (or have a shop do it, circuit city did my friends lappy for 30 bucks)