Computer Overheating Problem

[soren7550]

Ok, so for whatever reason, for the past week or so (maybe a bit less) the boyfriend's laptop has been overheating frequently, even when it feels cool to the touch. He already has a cooling fan for it, and we now have a standing fan pointing at it whenever we use it, but the overheating problem is persisting.

What could be the problem?

I know that we should probably just send it to be fixed, but the last time he had to have it fixed, it was this whole debacle where it should have been fixed in about a week but took three months instead. And We really shouldn't be trying to open it up to try to fix it ourselves because we wouldn't have a clue as to what we would be doing.

EDIT: The model is a HP Pavilion G series (according to the boyfriend), and I came to the overheating conclusion because every time the computer decides to shut down, when we boot it back up is shows us the message "the computer has exceeded temperatures of 90 F and was shut down" (paraphrasing a bit here).

 

[lRookiel]

So, it's an overheating problem but NOT an overheating problem? I'm stumped

Oh and if you open it up you might not be able to send it to get it fixed at all, it invalidates your warranty or some shit like that (I think!).

 

[DoPo]

Hmm, did you try turning it off and on again?

Seriously, now what exactly do you mean by overheating? Does it shut down or something? Because if it does overheat, I think it won't be (too) cool to the touch. My best guess would be that the thermal paste would need changing. Unfortunately you'd need to bring it in for repairs, if you don't want to do it yourself. Or you can try luring a compsci student with beer and/or pizza, if possible.

My other best guess would be clogged up and/or malfunctioning fans. Although, that should make the laptop noticeably warmer. This is easiest solved by opening it and dusting...but again, if you don't want to do it, either a computer repair shop or a compsci student are your options.

It could be something different but...it's hard to say without actually seeing it or running diagnostics. You can try Speedfan - that gives information on temperature and if it's unusually high but you can't feel it, it's more likely to be thermal paste.

 

[Frungy]

Well, a little more information on the make/model would be nice. My wife's macbook pro had horrendous heating problems until I ordered a replacement fan online for $10 and changed it.

But what puzzles me is how you're concluding it is an overheating problem when the laptop doesn't feel hot. I mean what's actually happening? Because when my wife's macbook was overheating it was pretty much scorching hot before it shut down. Computers have pretty high operating limits.

 

[soren7550]

Seriously, now what exactly do you mean by overheating? Does it shut down or something? Because if it does overheat, I think it won't be (too) cool to the touch.

When we turn it back on after it shuts itself down, it gives us a message saying it shut down because it reached temperatures of 90 F.

Well, a little more information on the make/model would be nice.

The boyfriend says it's a HP Pavilion G series.

 

[DoPo]

Seriously, now what exactly do you mean by overheating? Does it shut down or something? Because if it does overheat, I think it won't be (too) cool to the touch.

When we turn it back on after it shuts itself down, it gives us a message saying it shut down because it reached temperatures of 90 F.

It reaches 90 F...Google tells me that's around 32 C. And if so, holy fuck - that is certainly NOT overheating. Right now my laptop is running at ~40 C and that's actually low - it used to be running on 60 C on idle before I cleaned it of dust. The upper limits would be somewhere above 80-ish C (which is ~176 F) - the time where the system would be set to powers off to avoid hardware damage. There is some setting somewhere that is wrong and should be lowered, no doubt about it.

Well, the good news is you don't need to open it. The bad news is, I don't know where the settings for that would be. I suggest having a look through BIOS - when you restart the laptop, on the initial splash screen (before even the Windows logo) it should say which key to press to go into BIOS. Although the splash screen may not last long enough to have a detailed look, but it would be something like Escape, or F1, or F12, or F8, or Delete (I think those are the most common I've seen, could be something else though). Look for "Press [key] to enter BIOS" or it could say "setup" instead or something like that. You'll easily find if you've done it correctly - it's text on a blue background and you navigate the options with the arrow keys. Looks like this [http://www.bcot1.com/bios02.jpg] (or very similar). Once there, just poke around around and check if there is any temperature settings of any kind.

 

[Frungy]

Seriously, now what exactly do you mean by overheating? Does it shut down or something? Because if it does overheat, I think it won't be (too) cool to the touch.

When we turn it back on after it shuts itself down, it gives us a message saying it shut down because it reached temperatures of 90 F.

Yeah, that's not a heating problem. 90F is a normal summers day where I am. 90C (about 190F) should be where its kicking in the emegency shutdown protocols. This seems to match with it not feeling hot.

Well, a little more information on the make/model would be nice.

The boyfriend says it's a HP Pavilion G series.[/quote]

Hey, I have one of these in the room next door! You could try:
- turning it on and off (sorry, it's an obligatory PC joke)
- adjusting the power settings (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=uk&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c02856779)
- update the bios (as above)
- read the manual (just joking, again. this never helps... I checked - http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bpi04347.pdf - the manual is super unhelpful)

Sorry to sound unhelpful, but update the bios and see if that does it. It may seem counter-intuitive (how does bios relate to heat??!!), but my gut tells me this is where the problem most probably is.

 

[Heronblade]

Shutting down due to overheating, but the exterior remains cool?

If it were a desktop I'd tell you to try replacing the thermal paste between the CPU and its radiator, it not having been applied properly can cause the CPU to not be able to transfer heat to where the fans can deal with it, resulting in a case like yours. Ten dollar simple fix.

Unfortunately, for a laptop, that gets a wee bit more complicated, even if voiding the warranty wasn't a big deal.

 

[SnowyGamester]

As said, 90F isn't hot for a computer - If it's 190F then there's a problem. Perhaps download CoreTemp and watch your temperatures and see where they go. If it's actually overheating then there may be a problem with a fan or something, though if it's not actually hot it's probably not actually overheating. There may be a problem with the temperature monitoring or the shut down temp may be set too low (90F is too low if that is correct). If this is the case and you determine that it's not actually overheating I suggest contacting support and they should be able to help you set the shut down temperature if that is the issue (it may be as simple as defaulting your BIOS settings or something).