Core i7 Laptop overheating question

E

erehwon6811

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Messages
493
I picked up a Core i7 laptop for cheap since it was overheating. The previous owner had core temp running and it would get up to 100 C before it would need to be shutdown. I've blown it out and that helped. I've completely taken it apart and put new thermal compound on the processor. It seems to idle at 60 C after it's been on for a while. It's been going up to around 75 C under a mild load. The fan does seem to work. These temps are with a cooling pad.

I'm wondering what is a good operating temp for a i7 laptop? I'm trying to decide if I need to replace the cooling assembly. I can a new one for $14 on ebay. I'm just wondering if it runs warm or there is a problem. Fortunately, the laptop only cost me $10.


Specs
HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook PC
CPU: Intel Core i7-720QM (Clarksfield) 1600 MHz
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
 
I used to refurb A LOT of those units and it might be time for a new hsf assembly. I'm not sure why they go bad but I have seen them stop working, like the heat pipe goes bad or something. you've already done everything else that I could recommend and for $14 its worth a shot.

only other thing I could suggest and this is only if you don't mind modding it, is to remove a few of the plastic strips from the fan cover on the bottom to allow the fan to breath easier. the little slits that it has are pretty restrictive.
 
Sounds to me like at least one of the heatpipes is shot.

With new(good) thermal compound, it should idle around 40-50c max.

Under heavy load for quite a while, it is normal to get up to around 85c.

You should NEVER need a cooling pad if everything is working properly.
 
Thanks. I guess I'll order that new hsf assembly.

I never heard of heat pipes going bad before.
 
heat pipes are usually sealed with a bit of stuff in there. I don't know exactly what, and it varies from heat sink to heat sink, but if the pipe gets a leak, they stop working, and usually the "stuff" is something that when it does leak is pretty much just vapor so it doesn't toast your motherboard.
 
I ordered the new hsf assembly, but it only came with some thermal compound. The heat sink in the laptop covers a small set of 8 chips next to the cpu with a thermal pad. I'm going to pick up some, but was wondering what the general thickness is for those? I was looking at 1 mm pads. I have some arctic silver thermal compound for the cpu, I just don't know much about thermal pads.
 
I used to have a HP Envy 14 with the same processor, and it does tend to run pretty hot. Around 50C idling. See if the new hsf assembly works out for you. As for the thermal pads, you could probably just reused the ones that are on there already, or just buy some new pads. It's up to you. Usually, things that uses thermal pads don't really get that hot and you shouldn't use thermal compound with it if it's designed to be used with thermal pads since there is spacing between the chip and the hsf to accommodate the pads.
 
Idle temperatures are largely irrelevant because notebooks all use software-controlled fans. The one I have at the moment doesn't even turn the fans on unless the CPU is over 60C. It's load I'd be paying attention to. Over 85C is bad and over 90C is getting into dangerous territory.

I used to have an HP dv-series notebook and they're not built very well, they're designed with about a 5 year service life and once they get past that things start to go wrong. So be aware that you might need to get a second one for parts it's cheaper long-term than just buying parts.
 
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