Laptop heating problem
15 Dec 2008 7:03:33 UTC
Topic 194086
(moderation:
Hey,
I run BOINC mostly on a laptop. I know it's not really suitable but it should be possible, and it's the only good system I have. When I just bought it the cores would only be 60C when I was running BOINC, but nowadays they're hardly getting below 70C. I think this is a bit of a high temperature and I don't like the amount of noise my fan makes at those temperatures. I was thinking of quitting DC on this laptop altogether until I get my hands on a decent desktop, but I thought maybe there's some easy solution.
I checked on dust but I don't see anything really and it's only a few months old, so it shouldn't be the problem anyway.
It's a Dell XPS m1330 with extra battery. This means that it's always lifted about 2 cm from the desk it's on, and it's also on a book so the air can get perfectly well to the fan. The temperature in the room is about 20C
Any ideas?
Laptop heating problem
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Get rid of the book! It is a heat sink and can actually be holding in the heat. Get yourself a USB laptop fan setup that sits under the laptop. Here is an example of what I mean http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-DX-02&cat=FAN
Then get yourself a can of compressed air, do NOT use anything else it will be too powerful, and blow air into the fan holes. Do this gently and carefully, you are not trying to blow the air to China, just out of the laptop!! Another thing is try running Boinc on only one core. I am typing this on a laptop that is more than 2 years old and runs Boinc 24/7/365 just fine on one core only. Good luck and make sure you back up that laptop CONSISTENTLY!!! Laptop harddrives were never meant to run 24/7/365 and will crash sooner than a similar desktop harddrive.
RE: Hey, I run BOINC mostly
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The difference in heat can actually occur because of different BOINC apps (either different projects or even different versions of apps for the same project). On my notebook, running different apps can result in temperatures anywhere from 73 to 85 deg Celsius (that's when thermal throttling sets in). Ambinent temp is a bit hi tho, probably around 24 deg or so.
CU
Bikeman
RE: Get rid of the book!
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Thus saith the Lord!! My experience is identicle to Mikey's. I would swear by my Lapcool 3 for keeping the lappy cool and giving it longer life. No lappy should be without an active laptop cooler underneath. I would reccomend Mikey's cooler as well and even more so frankly: I have always thought that 3 fans are probably better for overall cooling, but either way, keep the lappy cool with a USB laptop cooler whenever you are not mobile 24/7. And by the way, I didn't think the dust was all that bad either when my lappy started overheating. Sure enough, as soon as I blew it out, the temps went back to normal faster than doughnut holes down the chute on Christmas Day. And get the significant other to buy it for you for Christmas Day. It's even better that way!
(Click for detailed stats)
I'll get myself one of those
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I'll get myself one of those then. Also, where do I buy compressed air? It isn't really available at every supermarket as far as I know :p
It was kind of strange that the temperature used to be ~60C which is agreeable. Then in a few weeks it already jumped to ~70C... without a real explanation. I even underclocked my GPU when I'm not using it, thinking that should help, but it doesn't really. So it could very well be dust, even though in my opinion that would be strange after only two months at most.
RE: I'll get myself one of
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walmart, no seriously, walmart sells it. atleast ours does. otherwise i "think" auto parts stores "may" sell it. ive never lookd, closist car parts place to me has out ragious prices on every thing.
seeing without seeing is something the blind learn to do, and seeing beyond vision can be a gift.
RE: So it could very well
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I've seen others post on this very issue and they have mentioned that it really is dependent on the place the host is located. Some are in very dusty areas, some are not. And besides, it really doesn't take much anyway. Lappys are just not built with lots of room for dust to collect elsewhere, so it doesn't. It collects right where it does the most damage since that is where the air flow takes it.
(Click for detailed stats)
RE: RE: So it could very
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Well dust was definitely a factor in this. I just used something quite primitive (don't know the english word for it) to blow into the laptop, thinking it would never work but I might as well try, and guess what, temperatures dropped ~5C.
I've also been looking around for a decent cooler, and it seems this Antec Laptop Cooler is pretty okay and not too expensive. I've read some good stuff about it and it should typically drop the heat with ~10C. If it really does that the average temperature would be about ~50C if I'd clean the dust out properly and regularly, which is fine I think.
Thanks for the tips everyone!
I have given this problem
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I have given this problem loads of thought. I too run a laptop at 100% most of the day (~14 hours). The room is about 22-24 Celcius and my laptop temperatures are around 60-64 Celcius. The laptop is an Intel P4 1.8 Ghz (Dell Latitude C840 notebook).
Now, I did "do" some things to achieve this.
1) USB laptop cooler (like the ones suggested in prior posts)
2) Downloaded an app to control when fans turn on. The Dell I have is not supported by motherboard monitor nor speedfan. I use some German app (forgot the name).
3) I bought an external fan. Goto Amazon and search "Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us". Also, get a USB connector that plugs directly into AC (to prevent your laptop charger from overheating etc).
4) Remove the battery.
I run the external fan at a pretty high speed and place it right next to the outlet fans of the laptop. This cools quite effectively (~5-8 degrees). It also keeps my laptop fans running at "slow". They never switch to the "fast" mode. I was worried that running the internal fans at full speed might eventually cause them to break, leading to thermonuclear meltdown.
Anyway, it's been a while since someone posted on this thread - so I hope someone gets some use from it ;)
PS.
I mainly run an optimized SETI - it runs cooler than a non-optimized E@H (by about 2 degrees). So it is also App dependent. Just for the info...