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    Palmrest heating up - is this a common problem?

    Discussion in 'HP' started by cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011.

  1. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    The area to the left of the touchpad i.e. where we rest our left hand gets heated up a lot in my 6121tx. In normal use for a while, it's fine, but when I start gaming for 10-15mins+ then it gets way too hot for my (or anyone else's) palms to handle. So I have to keep a thin towel or some kind of insulation between my palm and the palmrest whenever I want to game.

    Now that the laptop has been running since 3-4 hours, the palmrest has heated up a lot again although not as much as it does when gaming. Certainly enough to make me uncomfortable and hover my palm over the palmrest.


    Is this a common problem with this notebook and/or it's series? Should I take it to the service center?
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  2. R3d

    R3d Notebook Virtuoso

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    Played ~3 hours of Crysis 2 on my friends DV6 (i7-2630qm + AMD 6770m) and I didn't notice the palmrest heating up to uncomfortable levels. The vent did get quite hot though.

    Are you sure your computer is properly ventilated? What are the temps that your laptop is running at under load?
     
    R3d, Jul 12, 2011
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  3. samk0814

    samk0814 Notebook Consultant

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    9 cell battery?
     
    samk0814, Jul 12, 2011
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  4. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Nope. 6 cell. Same heating up without the battery even, on AC power.

    R3D: Hmm, in my case the vents don't get heated up much, it's just the palmrest which becomes hot.
    I'll post under load temps later, right now while my HP recovery DVDs are burning, my HD is at 49oC, The CPU cores and the GPU is at 55oC.
    Ambient temp is 32oC.
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  5. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    How does the 9-Cell battery affect temperature? Thinking that it helps it because it's propped up a bit?
     
    HTWingNut, Jul 12, 2011
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  6. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Is there heavy airflow from the side vents (near the Esc,~,TAB keys) while gaming?
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  7. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Is there a way to make sure all the fans in my 6121tx are working properly?
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  8. Winkyeye

    Winkyeye Notebook Consultant

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    you're going to get this on any =<15.6 inch performance laptop that has the fan on the left side of the computer... The only laptop I've owned that didn't heat up near the palmrest (or anywhere besides the vents in the back) was the asus g73.
     
    Winkyeye, Jul 12, 2011
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  9. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    ^ I've spoken to a few 6121tx owners and they all say that the palmrest heats up, but not unmanagably slow. And the area near the vents gets very hot.

    In my case, the vents area is warm whereas the palmrest is too hot to keep my palm on it.

    So, is there a way to check if all my fans are working properly?
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  10. Winkyeye

    Winkyeye Notebook Consultant

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    Do you hear the fans? HP is notorious for having some of the LOUDEST fans I've ever heard in a laptop... If your processors are over 80C and the fans are not roaring, then there is something wrong. Also check your coolsense setting (not that it makes a huge difference since non performance modes will throttle your cpu anyways).
     
    Winkyeye, Jul 12, 2011
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  11. Winkyeye

    Winkyeye Notebook Consultant

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    Actually, I take that back, since you're saying it's your left palm rest, then I'm guessing that it's a problem with the GPU. If your GPU is not properly cooled, and since there's no communication between the GPU and the fan (really stupid...), you might have the GPU temps really high with a reasonable CPU temp.
     
    Winkyeye, Jul 12, 2011
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  12. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Hmm my processors are fine, idling at around 50oC. They do reach 80oC when stressed by Prime95 though. But I do hear my fans when the machine is stressed, so might not be a fan problem.

    Think I'll take it to the HP service center. There's no way the left palmrest is supposed to get that hot.
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  13. Winkyeye

    Winkyeye Notebook Consultant

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    Does the palm rest heat up when you run prime95?
     
    Winkyeye, Jul 12, 2011
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  14. Cassandra022

    Cassandra022 Notebook Consultant

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    i have yet to experience any noticable heat on my palmrests doing anything myself, with or without u2 cooler, but i do have 9 cell for propping.
     
    Cassandra022, Jul 12, 2011
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  15. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Hmm good point, if it doesn't then it might be the GPU.
    I'll run it for 15 mins then, I'll run CoD Black Ops for 15 mins, then post again the comparision.
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  16. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Okay, so. With Prime95, the palmrest got warm, but managable. CPU,Chipset temps reaching 90oC at their highest.

    With CoD Black Ops, the palmrest got verrry hot, unmanagable if I want to play for more than 15 minutes.
    CPU, Chipset temps reaching 85oC. GPU Temp reaching ~85oC. So I guess it's the GPU which is causing the issue.

    Are these temperatures normal? Ambient temp is 35oC.
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  17. Winkyeye

    Winkyeye Notebook Consultant

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    90/85 is a bit high, but nothing out of the ordinary. Generally, the GPU is ~5 degrees cooler than the chipset
     
    Winkyeye, Jul 12, 2011
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  18. cyanide911

    cyanide911 Notebook Consultant

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    Yep, then some manufacturing defect maybe, regarding the insulation. I've tried propping the notebook up (like Cassandra022's 9 cell battery would), still getting significant palmrest heating issues.
     
    cyanide911, Jul 12, 2011
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  19. Cassandra022

    Cassandra022 Notebook Consultant

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    i think service center sounds like a good idea sir. that issue does not sound like it bodes well for the long term...
     
    Cassandra022, Jul 12, 2011
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