Seriously HOT laptop !!

[Skipper Billy]

Not nicked - but physically hot !!

I am running ASCOM/EQMOD, Stellarium, Focusmax, PHD2, APT and Maxim DL at the same time on an i5 laptop with plenty of RAM but its running really hot (see attached).

I have hoovered out the vents and its on a baking tray to make sure its got good airflow. The cooling fans are running and belting out hot air.

I read somewhere about making changes in BIOS so the fans kick in sooner - any one any ideas ??

[nightfisher]

Is it a HP, they seem to run hot

[Skipper Billy]

Its an Asus - I think its a K530 - I dont want to turn it over to look - I might pull a USB lead out and I am imaging as we speak !!

[belfieldi]

Laptops will run hot, if the CPU is being max'd out. Looking at what you think is running, an i5 shouldn't be max'd out, so it's likely to be something else. Anti Virus software would be my best guess.

[Alien 13]

Does the laptop have fan speed monitoring?  if not there are utilities available for download that might help to see if everything is optimal, but generally laptops can get very hot when performing heavy processing tasks the output ports on mine could roast a whole chicken.

Alan

[SteveNickolls]

You can get usb powered cooling stands to go under the laptop to help cool the kit. Do an Internet search under 'laptop cooling stands'.

Cheers,
Steve

[ChrisLX200]

Firstly, I would check what processes are running and see if any can be terminated. Secondly, I would lift the laptop up so there is at least 2" clear underneath it - there's very poor airflow when it sits flat on any solid surface.

ChrisH

[pipnina]

Chips can run hot. I mean. Boiling water hot, before any real damage can be done.

If your computer gets too hot, it'll shut itself off before it hurts itself. 

Intel chips are typically rates at around 95 degrees. If possible, take the back off the laptop and see if there's dirt/hair/cat fluff stuck in it. But I don't think that's necessary.

[Skipper Billy]

Thanks folks - I have disabled anything that can be disabled - seems like Chrome is one of the culprits - If I close it down and stop browsing the temps drop into the 80's but that still sounds hot !!

I see they have a fan assisted cooling tray at Argos for £20 - I think I will try that !!

[pipnina]

2 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

Thanks folks - I have disabled anything that can be disabled - seems like Chrome is one of the culprits - If I close it down and stop browsing the temps drop into the 80's but that still sounds hot !!

I see they have a fan assisted cooling tray at Argos for £20 - I think I will try that !!

Oh, drops INTO the 80's? Now that IS hot.

Perhaps removing the back and making sure there isn't a tonne of dirt further inside would be a good idea. (Maybe get a local shop to do it for you if you aren't confident)

Don't bother with the cooling tray, it'll cool the bottom plate of the laptop slightly but in terms of chip temps you'll see a difference of a fraction of a degree. 

[Skipper Billy]

This is from a few mins ago .....

[Alien 13]

Having had a lot of laptops most of the dust/grime accumulates on the cooling fan blades and the fins of the processor/graphics card or chip and it is hard to remove its sets like concrete.

Alan

[Freddie]

CPU usage shows 98% which is way over what is needed for the progs you have listed. Can you check CPU usage to see what is using the most as something is using a lot!!!

[SkyBound]

Those temps are fine, don't worry it is normal when multitasking, like has already been said, make sure you got good airflow...

the only changes that can be made in the BIOS are to shut the computer down when the chip hits a certain temp, but it will probably already be on its maximum or very close  so don't worry about that.

[Skipper Billy]

Cheers folks. It wasnt a problem when I had my laptop outside with me - now the luxury if remotely controlling everything from indoors has brought its own new problems but I know which I would choose - its -3.4º out at the moment and dropping like a stone !!

[D4N]

I leave my laptop outside and remote control it over wifi using my iPad and nomachine, laptop stays cool and USB runs are short  

[cjdawson]

Someone said not to bother with a laptop cooling stand.  I couldn't disagree more, I have two of them.

Here's one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PC2X1WU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and here's the other

http://www.zalman.com/contents/products/view.html?no=376

 

First, don't expect a miracle from these devices.  They will increase the airflow to the bottom of the laptop, so don't expect the temp to drop be 50 degrees.  It'll do 10 at best.

I have used both with MacBook pro's.  The airflow, and metal helps to dissipate the heat, and it can have a 5-10 degree difference.  However, the real advantage of these things, is that when you have it on all the time, the laptop will be getting cooled before it gets hot.  So, combined with the internal fans should help to stop it from heating to the 80 degrees in the first place.  the second effect, is that they add some tilt to the laptop. This means that the heat has somewhere to go, rather than trying to rise up through the solid keyboard.

 

It agree with what others have said - find out why your  laptop is running with the CPU maxed out, even with the software you have listed, it should for the most part be idling!  (Running less than 30% at least)

[GreatAttractor]

On 23.11.2016 at 14:51, Freddie said:

CPU usage shows 98% which is way over what is needed for the progs you have listed. Can you check CPU usage to see what is using the most as something is using a lot!!

Note that it's simply the value read from CPU's performance counters, which shows how much time is being spent executing instructions instead of waiting for an external event (e.g. on a HALT x86 instruction) like a key press. This doesn't necessarily equal an excessive power draw. E.g. the following program in C will show 100% CPU utilization (more precisely, 100% / number of logical CPUs):

main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    while (1)
    {
        // do nothing
    }

    return 0;
}

just like the popular stress-test tool Prime95; but an infinite empty loop like above won't heat up your cores too much.

[Skipper Billy]

Just posting findings in case anyone else has the same problem.

Something had gone wrong with Chrome and it was hogging the processor BIG TIME.

Uninstalled and reinstalled and CPU usage was way down but it was still running hot.

Disassembled laptop and found the thermal paste connecting the CPU and GPU to the heat sink was dried out and almost non-existent.

Cleaned up - squirt of new thermal paste - reassembled - (only 4 screws left over as spares for next time !!!) - and running imaging rig and processing previous batch through Pixinsight at the same time is giving temperatures of the cores into the high 40's - low 50's - HALF what they were before!!

[Davey-T]

Mines outside imaging and I've just had to clear the frost off the screen, wish it would run a bit hotter lol.

Dave

[SonnyE]

I have a cheap tilt base I got from IKEA on a lark one time. We got one for the Grand daughter away at college, and since they were only $5 USD I grabbed one to try for my Astronomy. Now less...

I bored some holes under where my laptops fan ventilates, and have good air flow. My Toshiba runs an AMD processor, and those run notoriously hot anyway.

I mounted this on a swiveling base and it allows me to position it easily when outside for focusing. I stow my mouse and AC power supply for the laptop under the tilt for transport to and from my 'Site'.

Glad to hear that resetting your CPU with thermal paste cured most of your ailments. Good Show, Skipper Billy! Gives me food for thought.