Compal HGL 31 Heat Issues

I've had a compal HGL 31 for about a year and half now. I love this laptop, except that I've been getting heat issues with it.

I recently reformatted my laptop and decided to check the cpu core temperatures. I used HWMonitor to do this and found the following results:


Intel Core Duo T2300:
core #0: 64-65 C (goes up to 70 C) about 150 F
core #1: 65 - 66 C (goes up to 70 C)

HDD:
Samsung HM060II 47 C


This seems terribly high because the cpu usage is only at 1% - 4% (idle).

Now I've read the guides on the forums and will be buying a laptop cooler soon. However, is there something wrong here? This seems way too high of a temperature for an idle system. (I dont have Arctic Silver 5 either).

 

Have you tried cleaning it?

 

i tried opening the laptop. I took out the screws, but was hesitant to take the whole bottom off. I wasn't sure if I was able to take it off without damaging the inside.

 

From whom did you buy this laptop? If you're still on warranty, or have anything like Lifetime Technical Support, your vendor's representatives should be willing to walk you through the process.

And don't be too intimidated . Periodically cleaning the vents and fan is a necessity if you want your machine to last long. You just have to be very careful, and don't touch the motherboard. Just blow out the dust bunnies and pick the big ones out with your fingers. Many people reccomend using a can of compressed air.

There is a notebook cleaning guide around here somewhere. I reccomend you take a look at it before you do anything.

*EDIT*
Here it is: The Notebook Cleaning Guide

General info for keeping your notebook cool: NBR Cooling Central

 

i can't remember the vendor that I bought it from, but I know they are located in California. Anyways, i checked that guide you provided and had a similar layout as the provided picture. I also have some screws on the fan inside the laptop. I haven't tried taking all the screws off to see if I could open it, but I was too afraid to do it =/.

even if i still cleaned the laptop, I don't think it would improve the heat issue by that much. 70 C is substantially high for being idle!

 

I agree, but a stuck or weighed down fan can have a significant effect on cooling ability. Likewise, a blocked or clogged vent can do great physical harm if hot air is left to stagnate for too long.

One thing you can do while you're scouting for a cooling pad is to raise the laptop up about an inch or more. (I use two New York Times Bestsellers .) I've found that using a small desk fan to improve air circulation under the laptop helps a lot.

My machine is really old, so I have to rely on such things.

 

So i got the guts to unscrew the fan out and clean it. To my surprise, I found SOO much DUST on the 2 vents. The dust was literally blocking air flow from the vents. So after about 5-10 minutes with the laptop on, my temperatures drastically reduced:

50-55 C core #0
50-59 C core #1

31 -34 C HDD

I'm glad that was fixed relatively easy. The notebook cooler that I will be buying should reduce it another 5-10 C, so I'm hopeful that I won't be dealing with heat issues anymore.

Since I've been away from these forums for about a year, I noticed that there was an update to the bios to fix the HGL's fan issue (turning on / off frequently ). Now, i've never flashed my bios before, and I'm sort of afraid that I could screw up somehow. However, after reading Pitabread's guide, it doesn't seem so hard.

Any input?

Also, should I try undervolting the laptop to reduce some heat even more? I'm a newbie to this, but the guides really help.

 

I wouldn't try undervolting unless I really needed it, but if you want to try, go for it. I don't think it will do any damage.

As for BIOS flashing, you should try to find instructions specific to the HGL 31, and maybe search around the forum for any possible issues. It shouldn't be THAT dangerous, but same as with repartitioning, it's better to be safe.

 

As Archer7 said, I wouldn't bother undervolting unless you just feel compelled to see what it does. If your processors are staying around the 50-60 C range, all seems well to me. I don't know if I'd even bother with the BIOS fix unless the fan turning on and off has been a continuing problem for you. My general rule of thumb is not to risk flashing the BIOS unless there is a problem that really needs to be fixed. If the fan issue is a real annoyance to you, once again do what Archer7 said and make sure to get instructions specific to flashing your model and be educated about the process before you begin. Forewarned is forearmed as they say.

 

The ambient temperature is also a big factor! Mine is 32C right now and the temps are: hdd - 50, core1,2 - 58,59, gpu - 65, it's f****** hot in here, I'm considering buying Zalman NC2000 to cool the things down a bit.