Safe to game on Vaio Z?

Hi!

I have found so much good advice on this forum, so I just wanted to check on something with the experts

I just got my new i7 vaio Z recently, and i love it!

But when I load up any games, the fan starts sounding like a jet engine. (which is good, it means its dissipating heat I assume)

However, any way to tell if the fan is not keeping up? any chance it could be causing overheating/damage? I just want to make sure I keep this thing in good shape.

Thanks!

 

Its fine don't worry its supposed to!
I havent' been able to break 86 with this laptop, even with overclocking my vid card.
You can monitor temps with 'coretemp' or with gpu-z or even the evga overclock tool.

ENJOY!!

 

Yeah, I agree with mfpreach, I've been playing Bad Company 2 for hours on end on this thing and the fan is loud, as I am told by my family(since i'm using the ear buds =p). My gpu does get to around 89 degrees Celsius, but then again, i'm overclocking the card to stock speeds. =). Don't worry, just enjoy it!

 

I've also played been playing for hours (Dirt 2, BC2, UT3) on end w/o any problems despite my o/c'd GPU. I haven't hit anything beyond the low 80's but then again, i use a laptop cooler if I know i'm gonna game for a couple hours.

 

Ditto to all the recommendations: You'll be fine.

The CPU is designed to reduce its manic pace "in case of a thermo-emergency" but I've yet to get that to happen on my Z11...and I've gamed "heavily" for hours at a stretch.

Just enjoy the amazing machine.

 

Why not? I have played Star trek Online for a few hours at a time and had no problems from the Z.

 

Don't worry, it's normal for it to sound like a video card running at full tilt because it's trying to sink some almost 60 watts of power out of a small case. Just game on a nice flat surface so you don't clog the vents because it needs to be able to get air to cool itself.

If you're a bit concerned, I highly recommend HWmonitor ( CPUID Website) It will show you what your CPU and Nvidia card temperatures are and give you the peak and minimal temps after your gaming session. 80-90C is normal for this laptop at high load. (I notice some of you are overclocking so it's even worse! )

The i7 CPU's are also designed to start slowing down if you manage to seriously overheat it so if your game starts lagging that could be a bad sign and judging from the BIOS hack settings, it will go into emergency shutdown at about 100C. Most modern CPUs shouldn't run themselves into thermal meltdown unlike the old days.

 

When the WASD area becomes scorching. Which can happen.

 

In most cases, it should be fine.
BUT, the environment can play a role. Right now Im at my vacation home in the caribbean and it does get very hot during the day, 93-100 degrees. And that can be an issue for any high performance electronics.