# Saturday, March 01, 2008

Stunning change (Laptop overheating, part II)

I had some free time today (just trying to avoid studying) so I decided to dismantle my laptop (due to heating problems).

With some help from my roommate (a lot more experienced than me in that area) I finally found the screw that stopped me the last few times and opened it.

Everything was fine until I settled my eyes on the fan. But first to explain - the fan gets fresh air from beneath it and blows it through a radiator. The radiator itself is connected with a heat pipe to the processor, graphics card and some other stuff. So back to the story - I'm seeing the radiator and the fan and between them I see a "block" of dirt - it was like a chocolate bar - thick and shaped like a rectangle. (Sadly enough I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures).

So after an hour of cleaning and few attempts of assembling it (one of the times nearly until the end until I saw the fan standing outside), we tried it.

Amazing.

The temperatures before the cleaning:

The processor:
65-85 depending on the usage and access to fresh air (being on a couch for example)

Graphics card
65-80 depending on the usage and access to fresh air

HDD
No thermometer, but generally quite hot.


After the cleaning:

The processor
40-55 The fan doesn't even start, but when it does start it could drop it to 39 (previously a number I could only dream for)

Graphics card
~55; After I watch a movie I could say more.

HDD
mild to warm


I'm having ~20 degrees drop in temperatures.

That's amazing. It was undreamed of.



Update: pictures of the dirt in the radiators:

    
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