My i7 3720QM seems to screw up

Hey all,
a few months ago my Clevo P150EM crashed, for no discernible reason. A crash every now and then isn't a big deal, but once I rebooted my laptop I noticed the CPU got hot fast. I've used Throttlestop to limit the fan speed to suit my needs, but after the crash it showed me only 4 threads as opposed to 8 previously.
Performance isn't what it used to be, e.g. a typical 3dmark 11 result would be ~6000, but now only ~2000.
I haven't applied a thermal paste or cleaned the fans since I got the P150EM 2 ½ years ago. But that doesn't fully explain why the CPU was alright before the crash and now is screwing up.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

Can you try reapplying the paste to see if it works?

It sounds like somehow your BIOS disabled hyperthreading as well.

That's a very odd thing to happen one day out of the blue. I hope you're somehow still under warranty.

 

That part actually does explain it quite well. Sudden crashes are typically a thermal protection. You do not a a BSOD with those, it just shuts down to protect the hardware. Open up the bottom and check out the fans/vents for any built up dust and then clean if needed.

If you're still getting the shut downs then reapply thermal past as D2 Ultima suggested.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I'm sadly not under warranty, that expired half a year ago unbeknownst to me. And if indeed the BIOS disabled hyperthreading, any ideas on how I might reenable it? Checked the BIOS but can't find an option to toggle it.

I'll check the fans out, but as I have never fiddled around with computers save for inserting my SSD, is the hardware very fragile? I ask just to be sure I don't screw up.

 

Just be sure not to let the fans freely spin. You can put something small like a screwdriver or pencil to hold them in place as you clean them.

 

me got the same lappy and spec as you and as said a shutdown is normally to protect the hardware or thats what we guess untill we dig deeper.

cleaning of fans needs to be done regulary as they can build up with dust quite quick. every 6 months is the norm but if you have a dog or cat more regulary as hairs make things worse.

buy a can of compressed air. remove the 6 main screws on base and it slides out.
hold fan with finger or as said a object to stop it free spinning and give it a good blast around and inside the fins. i also use a ver small paintbrush to clean the fins as well.
as yours has not been done in over 2 years i bet you are getting quite high temps on cpu and gpu.
you can find lots of monitoring software in link below. hw monitor, core temps and hwinfo64 is what i use.

 

That sounds normal for stock BIOS. After you've cleaned it and examine (and if needed, reapplied) your thermal paste, check on the CPU again. If it still appears to be reflecting 4 cores/4 threads, use the msconfig tool and check the advanced options under the Boot tab; make sure "Number of processors" is unchecked.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'll see if I can get hold of a can of compressed air and do a good clean up, possibly also do a thermal paste. Hopefully that solves the issue.

 

Also be sure to open up the bottom panel and blow the dust out so it doesnt just end up back in the computer. Oh and go outside

 

Just thought I'd post an update. So today, after several weeks of intense procrastination, I finally got around to cleaning my fans, and boy was there a lot of dust in there! So once I had got rid of it with some compressed air, I turned on my PC and followed ProStar's advice above. With great anticipation I rebooted, and now everything seems to be perfectly fine! I'm even overjoyed, considering the fact that temperatures are much lower than I expected, and the fans are nearly silent, even right after testing muh framerate in Skyrim. What a glorious day!

So thanks for all you guys' tips, it was real helpful!

 

Many of my mysterious problems have been solved by a good cleaning. It's amazing how little junk it takes in the fans to cause issues. I'm glad it resolved to something simple for you.

Opps. Welp, there goes my enjoyment of hearing the fans make cartoon like noises in their compressed air assisted spin. I assume there is a risk of back current if you let them free spin?

 

It is fun , unfortunately not good for the ball bearings.

 

Yes the fan will act as a generator if you let it free spin and could damage the fan header.