Right after I bought this for my wife, I noticed it ran very hot; touching the power button was unpleasant. I think the hard disk failure is heat related. It shuts down after a few minutes because of overheating. I removed a lot of cat hair from the fan, but it still sounds labored, so I ordered a replacement fan and heat sink for $27. Where do I get the heat sink paste?
I ran one of those CPU temperature monitors, and the CPU was 95 C. Here that's enough to boil water.
Any computer shop (or mail order) sells thermal compound; easy peasy.
ReplyDeleteNewegg is where I would go for anything like this.
ReplyDeleteHere are some possibilities:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=heat+sink+paste&N=-1&isNodeId=1
I don't know enough to recommend one product over another.
www.newegg.com
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newegg.com/Thermal-Compound-Grease/SubCategory/ID-85
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ifixit.com/Store/Parts/Arctic-Silver-Thermal-Paste/IF179-010-1
ReplyDeleteCheers
Arctic Silver paste is your best bet. I've always had good luck with that.
ReplyDeleteHeat is the enemy of your processor. Depending on your processor 95 C Tj is pretty close or exceeding the max you can support (you have to be careful because Tj on the chip differs from the Tj reported in the BIOS, which is often the package temperature and that's usually lower than the silicon junction temperature). Intel CPU specs are all over the place depending on the chip, package, etc.
The really bad news is that the lifetime of the processor is exponentially related to its temperature. The relationship is that the lifetime of the chip gets cut in half for every 10 C rise in Tj. Trust me, I know this stuff way too intimately since I design some high power chips, and if you are typically running at 95 C you are really cutting the lifetime of the chip significantly.
While you have the access covers off, do a thorough vacuuming job of all hair and dust that you can see. Also vacuum from the exit port for that fan, with the covers on and off.
ReplyDeleteCaution her to never park the laptop on a soft surface, such as a couch or bed, or her lap. This tends to block airflow, and also inhibits radiant heat from dissipating. You might consider getting one of those fan equipped lap panels to help keep it cool while in use, if she uses it anywhere but on a table.
If you have the option of a higher airflow fan fitting in there, go for it. They tend to put low flow fans in laptops to keep the noise down, along with power consumption. Unless she uses it in places that have no power access, that shouldn't be a concern.