Laptop Overheating

[DariusX]

I made the mistake of buying a laptop a few years ago that doesn’t
have a mobile processor. If I play any games on it, it gets incredibly
hot, starts to slow down and then switches off. I’ve put up with this
for a while (I don’t play games that often) but it seems to be getting
worse. Whats the best bet to try and prevent the overheating ? Is a
laptop cooling pad going to help at all, or do I need to do something
internally ?

Some details
• Mesh Laptop
• Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.20GHz x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4
• Sheeks - Northwood/Brookdale Customer Reference Board
• MOBILITY RADEON 7500

Thanks

 

[Jan Alter]

Does the laptop have an onboard fan? If it does it may need cleaning.

 

[kony]

I made the mistake of buying a laptop a few years ago that doesn’t
have a mobile processor. If I play any games on it, it gets incredibly
hot, starts to slow down and then switches off. I’ve put up with this
for a while (I don’t play games that often) but it seems to be getting
worse. Whats the best bet to try and prevent the overheating ?

Not playing games on a laptop with a non-mobile CPU. It's
just that simple, difficult, limited, etc, etc. There is no
magic fix for a system that can't get rid of the heat.

Is a
laptop cooling pad going to help at all, or do I need to do something
internally ?

It'll help keep you from burning your legs. Improvemetn per
the task depends on what's overheating.

You will need internal changes for a significant change in
temp. Clean the fans, drill a few more vent holes, remove
the 'sink and lap it then apply good thin layer of thermal
compound. This will optimize it but still you may not be
able to game.

Further changes might be swapping in different (higher RPM
but shorter lived) fans, custom engineering a copper
heat-spreader plate, or hacking the power supply circuit to
reduce the CPU voltage some. All of these are advanced
topics that certainly void warranty (if any remains) and are
a risk only you can assess per the system and your skills.

Bottom line- people don't buy big systems just for the heck
of it. Gaming is one of those reasons. I don't mean to be
rude, rather factual.

 

[Quaoar]

I made the mistake of buying a laptop a few years ago that doesn't
have a mobile processor. If I play any games on it, it gets incredibly
hot, starts to slow down and then switches off. I've put up with this
for a while (I don't play games that often) but it seems to be getting
worse. Whats the best bet to try and prevent the overheating ? Is a
laptop cooling pad going to help at all, or do I need to do something
internally ?

Some details
. Mesh Laptop
. Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.20GHz x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4
. Sheeks - Northwood/Brookdale Customer Reference Board
. MOBILITY RADEON 7500

Thanks

This is a heat pipe cooling system and the heat pipe "radiator" is
likely clogged with fibers, dust, etc. You can possibly correct this
with a can of computer dust cleaner, blowing from the hot air exhaust
backwards to the fan. Restrain the fan with a paper clip to prevent
overspeed damage.

If this does not work, then you'll have to open the case and physically
remove the accumulations.

Q

 

[DariusX]

This is a heat pipe cooling system and the heat pipe
"radiator" is
likely clogged with fibers, dust, etc. You can possibly
correct this
with a can of computer dust cleaner, blowing from the hot air
exhaust
backwards to the fan. Restrain the fan with a paper clip to
prevent
overspeed damage.

If this does not work, then you'll have to open the case and
physically
remove the accumulations.

Q

Thanks for your help, I’ve opened up the case and removed a thick
layer of dust/fibres blocking off the ’radiator’ and the laptop is so
much better now. You can still fry an egg on it, but its not rebooting
or slowing down (not yet anyway)