Notebook cooling solution

[nismo91]

Notebook boiling!

Hi all i have a problem here regarding two acer laptops.
(not mine, my housemates).

I'll give you the simple list of both specs:
Intel Core Duo 1.66GHZ x Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHZ
Both of them 1GB DDR2 RAM
100GB HDD x 120GB HDD
Both of them also using ATI MR X1600 HM 512MB
Both DVD-RAM Dual Layer
Both laptops placed in a well 20*C air-conditioned room

Well i think those simple specs will do..

Now to the topic, both these laptops operate at 70*C (CPU) and 50*C (HDD)
at idle while it reach 100*C for gaming or some other tasks.
I know maybe this is probably caused by ATI itself, as when you exit the games (both 2D and 3D) the temp will drop 15*C in 2 seconds.

I have monitor the CPU clock speed, GPU clock speed, and they're operating as usual. Both of them are at normal clock speed, not overclocked, but the standard clock speed for ATI in wikipedia is lower by 30mhz and 25mhz (core & memory). So do i need to 'underclock both of them'?

Now is the question: How can i make those laptops cool?
`I have the laptop 4cm up.
`I have placed a double fan exactly under the laptop to cool it down
`Both of the laptops are new, so the fan is clean

Co-incidentally, there is another new acer laptop using Intel Core Duo 1.60GHZ without ATI X1600 here, and it does not operate this hot.

Anyone have suggestion how to reduce the temp of these laptops?

All your suggestion are really appreciated.

 

[jb444]

Zalman makes a laptop cooler I have heard good things about here
100C is extrememly hot, dont know if a faulty part can cause that kind of heat??? Acer laptops are usually quite good (in my experience) so its prabably not just bad engineering.
Are either overclocked?
Chris

 

[nismo91]

No, both of them are in the normal clock speed.
I assume that X1600 was the root of the problems, since im using acer too and there's a total of 4 acer notebooks in my house. Well, i think zalman is too expensive as it;s good-looking and have good features....

Or... do i need to "underclock" both X1600? Btw the 3rd laptop i mentioned was using Intel integrated 950 mobile and it does not emit such heat.

And the most worrying thing is im goin to replace my 2-years-old acer notebook this year. and if there's no ati MR x2X00 yet, maybe im also buying that hotty x1600.

But.... i forget to mention that both of the laptop was 14" widescreen. Is it matter that if it's 14" it will be hotter than a same spec acer on 15'4 inch?

 

[halo71]

You may want to read up a little more on those laptop coolers. And ask more question from people that use them. I had one before in attempts to cool down a POS Toshiba Satellite that was virtually brand new and I didnt really see a big benefit in cooling myself. Seemed like a waste of money. But that is just my experience.

 

[nismo91]

hmmm.. i need to think again now... the reason is because i already placed a 3500rpm dual fan below the laptop and if i buy means I'll goin to put 4 or 5 fans... oh no i can;t imagine how loud it is. Okay about it then, so this is just an example : do i need to put a 6000rpm fan in order to get it cool?

i'll be looking around a good laptop fan or even DIY USB fan to get rid of this thing. Btw halo71, how you put your notebook fan ? Is it correct that the exhaust slot should be facing behind right? i tried both direction but... no luck...

 

[F1N3ST]

If I were you I would replace the fans with some better ones and apply arctic silver 5 to the CPU.

 

[nismo91]

okay... i assume that i would need really good cooling system to cool that stupid MRX1600HM. I don't know why newer notebooks (some only) using higher class of GPU would emit such heat. Maybe the GPU is designed only for gaming notebook... For the gel, i don't think i could do that, as it's not mine (lol).
well, any other suggestion beside fan and gel?

 

[jb444]

errr....a bath of liquid nitrogen???
fans, passive coolers or better thermal paste are the only way to cool it down really

 

[nismo91]

Well... first its under warranty , second its not mine, third i don't know how to open the whole laptop underside as mine having few covers which ease me to clean the fan and heatsink without opening whole underside cover.

Now, assuming that the problem was from the ATI X1600, how to make it cool? I don;t think it's the core2duo or core duo problem. and i'm kind of sure ATI MR X1600 do not have fan.

If i put the gel in the ati chip, will it be cooler without fan and heatsink?

 

[tipstir]

I have one of those laptops with 64 bit, ATI X2000 Express Video and 12 cell battery and it sure does run hot. I had to get one of those ANTEC laptop coolers with alumin base and twin fans. I keep the CPU at running at full speed 1.8 to 1.9GHz, I want the fastest speed posible but that does make the system fun hot. Using the $39 buck cooler from ANTEC has help a lot.

 

[nismo91]

Hmm... Okay, 1 of my friend using antec for his acer ferrari.... So i'll find out more about those good coolers in order to cool down the laptop...

Is It X200 Express or X2000Express (Integrated?)? or it's ATI Radeon X2xxx?
If it's integrated it wont be so hot, i assume.

New update : By readjusting the position of the current fan and lower the air-conditioning temp, the laptop wont reach 90*C, but in game, it still around 80*C or more....

For my 2 years old lappy, (profile #2) it just ever get 87*C without air-conditioner and without 2 pairs of THIS.
But after cleaning the fan and snapping it back, max = 67*C...
So i understand by cleaning the fan it can reduce 20*C in an instance.

But those 2 newer acer were new... okay nvm about these lil story.