CPU on laptop running at high temperature

Wammer

I have just installed Battery Care on the laptop to check the condition of the battery. It also tells you the temperature of the CPU which is over 60C and has been as high as 68C.

From what little I've read, it should be running at under 40C and should only be higher if used for intensive gaming which it's not.

It's a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo PI2515 with Vista Home Premium and has 2GB RAM. It is used at a table and has been for the past few months.

Any idea what can be causing this or how to rectify it?

JJ_Egan

Dust dirt clean vents . CPU fan failing clocked with dust .

Battery Ca re may not be reading temps correctly .

jje

globalds

Where have you got the laptop ....Do you use it whilst it is on your lap ?

MarkyMarkD

If it's anything like my laptop the whole insides may be choked up with dust which does terrible things to the cooling ability of the fan.

Take the back off the laptop and blow some of the dust out. Turn it off AND unplug it first, obviously!

spakkker

Try cleaning the vents out. Try these two temp progs and let us know what they say at idle and at load.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1872/Real_Temp_3.60.html

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Use orthos to load cpu -run smallffts test cpu option - http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/385/

Sobraon

I’ve had similar problems with laptops including Amilos. If I remember correctly I got the Amilo stripped down enough to clean the heatsinks and airways with a Qtip.

I have also used compressed air to clean the gunge out, you can buy a can from the likes of Maplin but I have just used my garage compressor in the past. I always worry about “overspinning” the fan so I lock it off with a “tooth-pick” or similar nonconductive item before giving the machine a careful blast through the rear vents. This link gives some basic info(after the annoying video advert).

Alternatively take it into a compute shop and let them clean it if out of warranty.

Browntoa

may also be the thermal paste has failed and not making good contact with the heat sink

Wammer

Thanks for the replies. While you were posting I was already doing as you suggested. I took the back off expecting it to be clogged with dust, but it wasn't. It was surprising clean with so little build up that it only took one cotton bud to clean it. Gave it a blast with compressed air for good measure.

It is only ever used sitting at a table and never on my lap.

Thanks for the links to the temp programmes spakker. I had already installed another one called SpeedFan. It is giving a lower temp reading of around 48-51C so the Battery Care one may be dodgy. The laptop doesn't seem to be hot or overheating. I just panicked a wee bit when the initial temp was higher than Battery Care suggested it should be. I shall bookmark those sites and download them if I'm still concerned in a day or so.

I have done a bit more digging and another site suggested that the temps I was getting were within normal range (Can't find the site now....... )

Thanks for the suggestion Browntoa, but I have no idea what that means although I'm willing to learn.

Anyone know of a reputable site that will tell me what the temp should be for an Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor?

Edit, the fan is not recognised in SpeedFan so doesn't show the speed it is running at. I take it it is not compatible with something on my pc?

Hammyman

Wammer wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. While you were posting I was already doing as you suggested. I took the back off expecting it to be clogged with dust, but it wasn't. It was surprising clean with so little build up that it only took one cotton bud to clean it. Gave it a blast with compressed air for good measure.

It is only ever used sitting at a table and never on my lap.

Thanks for the links to the temp programmes spakker. I had already installed another one called SpeedFan. It is giving a lower temp reading of around 48-51C so the Battery Care one may be dodgy. The laptop doesn't seem to be hot or overheating. I just panicked a wee bit when the initial temp was higher than Battery Care suggested it should be. I shall bookmark those sites and download them if I'm still concerned in a day or so.

I have done a bit more digging and another site suggested that the temps I was getting were within normal range (Can't find the site now....... )

Thanks for the suggestion Browntoa, but I have no idea what that means although I'm willing to learn.

Anyone know of a reputable site that will tell me what the temp should be for an Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor?

Edit, the fan is not recognised in SpeedFan so doesn't show the speed it is running at. I take it it is not compatible with something on my pc?

Did you check the gap between the fan and the heatsink?

The temp of the CPU will depend on many factors including environment its used in, ambient air temperature and CPU load.

fwor

Intel's own datasheet for that processor states that it can run with a maximum internal junction temp of 100 degrees C, though the die temp will be lower, as it reflects an average across a proportion of the processor.

The likely reason for discrepancies is that the CPU supports two different ways of measuring its temp, and the simplest of these (the thermal diode) can be interpreted in two ways. Intel measure the difference between the actual diode's temp measuring characteristics, and compare it with a "theoretical" diode, and include a correction factor, so you get different temp readings depending on whether you include the correction or not.

Either way, I wouldn't worry if it's not getting noticeably warm and the fan isn't on often.

Wammer

I take it the fan sits on the heatsink? If so then no I didn't. When I took the back off the fan was still enclosed, but the fins were accessible. I wouldn't want to take it any further apart in case I couldn't get it back together. That would be a job for the pc shop I think.

Left in in hibernate for a while and when I switched it back on it was only at 21C, but steadily climbed back to about 60C after only a few minutes browsing.

The fan is so quiet I actually thought it wasn't working at all, but there is a Silence button to slow the fan down and I did notice the difference when I pressed that.

Edit, what do you think of SpeedFan compared to the others that were suggested? Should I try one of those or would it not make much difference?