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Laptop overheating

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Hello,
I'm new here...
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ11M and lately its overheating a lot, and literally burning my fingers.
Could anyone tell me what to do to cool it down instead of spending money on a new fan.
If nothing is possible to do, i'd also like to know where i could go to get this problem sorted

Regards
Diogo
«1

Comments

  • S0litaire
    S0litaire Posts: 3,535 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    All laptop's get hot (Very Hot!)

    Best thing to do is not have it on Soft surfaces (laps, pillows Beds!)
    Have it on a flat hard surface like a desk and tilted up on it's legs It helps the air to circulate below it (if it has any) you can pick up a cheep tilted laptop support for £10 - £15 form some PC shops. Soft surfaces tend to act as a heat trap close to the laptop which does not help in cooling..

    If the Laptop has software to check and display the temps it should shut down if things get too hot

    My laptop is at 49c idle and goes up to 70c when under load!
    It's an old P4m 2Ghz.
    Laters

    Sol

    "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  • MishterTea
    MishterTea Posts: 50 Forumite
    This is a common problem - my (Acer 8204WLMi) laptop once hit 100c!

    Every month or so I open the bottom of the laptop and give it a good vacuuming to get rid of any dust, making sure I focus on the fan/around the heatsink. I find this helps a lot, saving in the range of 10+c and also preventing the fan running so much, saving battery. This may cause warranty issues if your laptop if fairly new though.

    On top of that I purchased a laptop mat by Thermaltake that contains a special gel to distribute the heat. It seems to work reasonbly well, and got good reviews, but unfortunately covers the fan intake thus reducing it's efficiency. There are also plenty of USB powered laptop coolers with inbuilt fans but I'm not keen on the idea of drawing yet more power from the battery.

    If you're not sure of the temperatures your laptop's hitting then I recommend a program called SpeedFan which gives you the temperature of a few components.

    My laptop's currently idling around 54c and will easily reach the 70's under load. Once it starts idling around the mid 60's I get the Dyson out.. :)
    Coder/techie/business owner, father, thrifty, chilli-mad, drink-lover & tad OCD.
  • I don't know if you can do this on a modern laptop, but on a PC you can usually go into the BIOS and 'underclock' the processor, which slows down the processor. Slower = Cooler.
  • diogolps
    diogolps Posts: 5 Forumite
    S0litaire: yeh, I always have my laptop on a desk. But ill have a look at those laptop supporters. thanks

    MishterTea:thank you. I thought about that once, but i was scared that everything would fall apart :) ill try that today or tomorrow:T
  • globalds
    globalds Posts: 9,431 Forumite
    get something like this ..some have a fan that plugs into a spare usb slot
    Laptop_Stand.jpg
  • diogolps
    diogolps Posts: 5 Forumite
    I just installed SpeedFan.
    and i've been looking at it very surprised.
    I have got only this safari internet window open and the temperatures reach 83c in core1 and 82c in core2. :eek:
  • iyiarz
    iyiarz Posts: 257 Forumite
    Wow, those are critical tempetures!
    A can of Air duster can be used to blast all the dust from the vents and fans.
    Is the fan even working?? :D
  • diogolps
    diogolps Posts: 5 Forumite
    Yeh I believe it is. My dad says he can hear the fan in his room at night.
    This laptop keeps my little room hot even in freezing days with the window open.
  • banger9365
    banger9365 Posts: 1,702 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    no lappy should get that hot,you need to clean it out with an air duster and then come back with the results
    do not us a vac it make static
    there or their,one day i might us the right one ,until then tuff

  • Dust is a real heat maker for laptops. My flatmates laptop's fan has started going wild recently and thing gets real hot...

    If it never used to be like this then the cause will be dust.

    Have a look at Speedswitch; although, it lacks support for the latest processors:
    http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/
    Qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Insurers.
    I used to work for a software house dealing with insurance quotations, so I know quite a lot about a few insurers!
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