5320 overheat

So like an idiot after a late night of work I set my Sager 5320 down on the couch which caused it to overheat and shut down. Forgive me if this is common knowledge because I didn't see anything in the manual, but did my computer go through some sort of protective auto-shutdown (is that a feature I don't know about?) or did it turn off due to being incredibly hot and some form of damage made it shut off?

After letting it cool off it seems to be running fine, I'm just curious and a little concerned. Thanks for any input.

 

Welcome to the NBR Forums.

Actually it is common knowledge and most notebooks that you see will actually tell you on the box and manual that you should always use the notebook on hard-surfaces only, and not to block the vents in the bottom... since the fans on the bottom pulls air through the vents on the bottom to cool the components.

When a CPU or other main components (GPU) reaches threshold temps, the system will shut itself off. It should be fine, as long as you dont do it again or more often.

 

Thanks. I figured there was some internal shutdown mechanism but wasn't sure. Moment of temporary insanity, bleh.

 

I have a 5320 too - didn't take long for it to overheat, did it? Mine gets quite warm.

Yeah, definitely keep both of the cooling fans on the 5320 free of any obstruction, it needs as much cooling as it can get. The 256MB X700 module is toasty.

I'm not sure what setup you are using, but here's what I do to keep my 5320 cool:
-Spire Pacific Breeze cooling pad
-Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound on CPU
-Undervolted CPU

Info on how to do all of that can be found in the cooling guide. Hope that helps you out.

 

I also have a 5320, and mine can get a little toasty, even after my tweaks. The highest temp I record is the video card, after gaming, at 68C (laser thermometer aimed at the video card). To cool it, I use a cooling pad, usually a spire pacific breeze, I've put arctic silver on the CPU and GPU, and I've drastically undervolted the processor.

 

I just now did the Artic Silver 5 (shortly after your post I had undervolted and ordered the spire pad) and with all those changes I'm quite cooler. Thank you!