Sager NP9262 possible over heating?

I just got this laptop a few weeks ago to use as my main 3d modeling/rendering computer. However, when using the computer for a couple hours, then having it render a scene that takes it about 15 minutes to render a single image, it sometimes will beep 5 or 6 times when it gets a ways into the render. I don't know how to check the system temp on here, maybe someone can help.

This is a company laptop, so I don't have admin rights, and I was not the one to set up the computer. I noticed that it came with a small syringe that has thermal paste in it... not sure why, I'm assuming the manufacturer would have put the paste on the cpu when it was built.

Anyway, the specs on it are...
Core 2 quad 2.66ghz
2gb RAM
Two 200gb SATA HDDs
Nvidia 880M GTX 512mb
WINDOWS XP!

Please help? If it is overheating when it does this (it has about 5 times so far), I don't want to ruin my system...

 

this system has one of the most advanced thermal designs that I have ever seen in any notebook, it would be very improbable to see it over heat... unless if you have block the vents on the bottom by using the unit on a lap, bed, couch, etc...

you should ONLY use the notebook on clean, hard, flat surfaces... or a good notebook cooler like (Zalman ZM-NC1000 or NC2000).

As for temp monitoring, its easy, check out:
- For CPU: RMclock
- For GPU: nTune

 

Thanks, I'll render scene like before monitoring it and post what I get, plus idle temps... I always have the laptop on a hard desk (it has pegs under it to keep it slightly elevated also, so I can see why it SHOULD have great cooling). I also have a 2nd screen, a 22" 1680x1050 coming out of the DVI, but this computer shouldn't be stressing because of that at all.

 

ifs its beeping, it probably is not heat (if the temps that are being monitored is not spiking).

it might be something like sticky keys, or Fn commands on the keyboard.

 

Yeah I'm 99% sure it wouldn't be anything with the keyboard, because it never beeps when I'm using it, and it only I don't touch the keyboard at all when it's rendering usually. I just got a response from Sager, apparently Fn + 1 turns on another fan. I'm waiting for the IT guy to remotely install the CPU and GPU monitors since I don't have admin rights. The fan that Fn+1 turns on is quite loud... sounds like it'll keep this thing cool, and I can feel it spitting out a hell of a lot of air in the back now

 

the Fn+1 is the Fan Toggle to switch all fans to Max Speed... it will definitely prevent overheating.

Can you tell me your temps (CPU and GPU)?

 

Well I got my GPU temp from a program that I found that you can run without installing (as I said, I don't have admin rights to this comp so I can't put the programs you gave me on here).
My GPU says it's 45C (113F)
I'm running the 3d software right now but I am not rendering anything so it isn't stressing at all

 

that temp seems fine for the GPU... what about the CPU?

you should be able to have admin rights if its your computer.

(for Vista) Just right click the shortcut of the program, and choose Admin rights.. and enable it for whichever particular program.

 

you should get admin rights

boot with xp pro cd unattended intstall

we have them here the corp versions at my company I work for.

 

Well it's the laptop belonging to the company I work for, and they are very strict when it comes to who gets admin rights to their computers. We can't even be power users. Which I don't get because I know just about as much if not more about the stuff I'm doing than the IT here... but whatever. And he's busy today so he said he can't even remotely install it... bah.

So yeah, I don't know my CPU temp... The program I used to get the GPU temp is called SIW ( http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html), because it could run off of my USB drive. It's really handy software but it wouldn't tell me my cpu temp

 

RMclock is your best bet for getting a quick CPU temp reading w/0 having to install it.

 

Keep in mind, too, that if the notebook were actually overheating enough to beep 6 times, it would have reached critical temperature and shut down (just about every notebook released in the past 4 years has a kill-switch built in that will force a shutdown if it reaches a critical temperature. Usually, you won't hear the heat alarm until the notebook is about to shut down).

Like Gophn said, though, unless you've had a critical failure in the cooling system, or unless something is blocking the fans or vents, the NP9262 is the last notebook on earth I would expect to overheat (and that 45 C GPU temperature is beautifully cool).

 

I tried RMclock, it says it can't run without admin rights and when I tried to run it off my usb drive it got pissed at me and didn't work.
but, now I'm making the computer render something else, and I have it logging my cpu and mem usage. cpu hasn't dropped below 100% and RAM not below 52% (not bad for the RAM)... GPU temp is now up to 53C (127F), but I have a feeling if I could check the CPU it'd be screaming at me for pushing 100% for 20 min straight.

 

Are the fans running louder than usual? that is always an indication that there is heat inside , since the fans go faster only when temps increase.

 

I do rendering in my notebook for hours sometimes... my CPU does not get past 55C.

I can show you how to override all Windows XP and Vista passwords... which is usually done by network admins.

the key is ERD Commander (the last version that I test was 2005)

You can download it (trial), and burn it, then let the system boot from it.

Now you can overwrite the Administrator password (using Locksmith in ERD) to whatever you want... like "password" (easier to remember).

Then you can restart back in Windows and log in as the Administrator (no domain, use "this computer") with your new password and do your tests.

 

Yeah they do get a bit louder, but not as loud as when I press Fn+1 to max out all the fan speeds... which I did about 5 min ago (the render is still going), and the temp of the GPU is now back down to 46...
Although, rendering still images doesn't even use the vid card I don't believe... I'm pretty sure that's all in the processor/RAM. must... find... cpu thingie..... bah! *slaps IT guy*

 

If you don't want to go the route of downloading ERD Commander, which could be frowned upon by your employer, you may just want to broach the issue to IT and request that they send someone down to install and/or run RMclock with admin rights. A little humiliating, I know, but probably much safer for your career.

 

Yeah that's what I'll do... but all I need to do is get him on his computer and he can run whatever it is he uses, and he can do anything to my computer from where he is, including re-boot and log in under his account. He is just really busy today...
So I think that's all I can do today, I only work mon-wed, but I'll try to get him to remotely do it to the comp tomorrow. If you guys don't reply to the thread when I update it after that, I'll just PM you.

Thanks to the both of you for the help!

 

ERD Commander is a good tool, but some (ITs or networks admins) feel that its undermining their authority if you use it...

..which is ridiculous sine it does not mess with the network accounts, rather it only affects the local PC's user accounts.

But in the end, its up to what you want to do.

 

@Gophn:

From the sounds of things, IT probably wouldn't care too much (although they would probably report it to people who WOULD care), but since the notebook is company property, it could be seen as malicious tampering by those who instituted the policy that the primary user can't have admin rights.

That being said, I'm making a note of ERD Commander for my own personal use

 

True enough.

But diagnosing a possible problem when an IT is not around could be a good enough reason to do so.

 

I definitely think that's a good tool to have though, especially for someone like my friend who changed his password to log into windows and then forgot it... and it was the only account he had haha...

 

Heh smart IT guys have the local admin account disabled or renamed so ERD commander wouldn't do you much good .

But yes it's a great tool for many other things. One of it's best features is allowing you to run a system restore from the disc if windows wont boot. (Vista does this right from the media now thx to MS buying out sys internals).