RWild
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join:2003-09-15
Cary, NC
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| Do Laptop Cooler Pads Really Work?
I have a four-year old laptop that started getting very hot about 18 months ago. The fan runs flat-out, all the inlets and outlets are clear but the CPU is at about 94C all the time.
Under these circumstances, it just doesn't seem that a cooler pad (basically more fans) is going to do me any good.
Am I missing something? |
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Smoove910
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join:2005-08-01
Nampa, ID | Have you taken it apart and looked inside? Even though the 'vents' might be free of dust and particles, there's a good chance the actual fins of the heatsink to you CPU are clogged. |
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RWild
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Cary, NC
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| No, I haven't taken it apart. There are a helluva lot of screws on the bottom and I don't have a manual that tells me what is what so I have been hesitant to take a screw driver to it.
Could be the CPU fins but I suspect the video chip. Guess this could be a project for next weekend. |
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Alakar
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join:2001-03-23
Milwaukee, WI
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| said by RWild  :No, I haven't taken it apart. There are a helluva lot of screws on the bottom and I don't have a manual that tells me what is what so I have been hesitant to take a screw driver to it. Could be the CPU fins but I suspect the video chip. Guess this could be a project for next weekend. What brand is the laptop? I know Dell has very good instructions for disassembly of their laptops. I had to do something similar on my daughters Dell. The heatsink fins were plugged with dust, and I cleaned the CPU and heatsink and put on new heatsink compound. It brought the temps down dramatically.
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"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom; it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." William Pitt the Younger |
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totalaccess
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Elgin, TX | reply to RWild
well we repair laptops and they all are clogged.......
does the cooler help, sure, but not for long, lol |
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RWild
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join:2003-09-15
Cary, NC | reply to Alakar
It's a Sony Vaio VGN-A790. Haven't been able to find anything useful on their web site.
I vacuum out my old Dell workstations once or twice a year but, even badly clogged, they don't run as hot as the Vaio |
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pnjunction
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join:2008-01-24
Toronto, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| reply to RWild
The few degrees you might get from a cooler pad won't help much compared to cleaning out the likely clogged cooler.
The way laptops work now is that a heatpipe carries the heat to a little heatsink that is right in front of the exhaust the vent. As the fan blows air out through it, dust accumulates and pancakes on the inside of the heatsink.
So you need to get at that side of the heatsink to clean it out. With my sister's Asus laptop this was really easy as it had a big panel over the CPU and cooler assembly on the bottom. On my Acer this is a nightmare and requires that I take the whole thing apart.
I found some instructions for your Vaio and it looks like you're in the same boat. The pics there aren't that good, but here's a Youtube video showing a hard drive upgrade, which apparently also requires taking off the whole top cover (?). Not the most convenient model I've seen to work on! Anyways at about 4:30 there the cooler is exposed, so that video could help you get at it to clean it. |
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RWild
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Cary, NC
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| First of all, thanks VERY much for the links.
It does look like it will be a real nightmare. I can see the copper windings on the thermal unit from the back of the machine but it looks like I need to clean out the inside of the thing. The machine gets hottest just a little to the inside (center of the machine) from the fan. |
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unlurk
join:2009-11-10
95598 | reply to RWild
I would say cooler pads indeed works, but can not give a big help.
when the conputer get old, it is normally hot |
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Kilroy
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join:2002-11-21
Ann Arbor, MI
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| reply to RWild
Yes they work, but you're probably best off clearing the fuzz off of the heat sink. I used to work on HP laptops and this was a major issue since the intake for the fan was on the bottom it sucked in all of the stuff off the the desk or fabric if you actually used it on your lap. It is worth the time and effort to do this as heat is a major cause of computer issues.
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RWild
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Cary, NC
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| I tried taking it apart this past weekend. Removed nearly 30 screws but did not have the special tool needed for the very last one. It wasn't a total lost; however.
In fact, it was probably a good thing as I very well may have pulled the copper cabling loose from the two chips it was attached to. The cables run inside a chute that is part of the fan housing. Could not see if there were any cooling fins inside but flipping the computer over repeatedly with the case open allowed a very fine white powder (don't get excited, it was sheet rock dust) to be dislodged. Runs 4 to 6C cooler now.
Thanks again to pnjunction for posting the links that allowed me to have a little confidence. |
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