Laptop keeps getting too hot :(

[HawaiianPunch]

Hi there, sorry for the long post, but my laptop keeps getting too hot while playing; its not so hot that the computer turns off or anything, but its so hot its unbearable to play. (The heat seems to be localized to the left of the touchpad, around where my spacebar/alt/CTRL is on the keyboard.)

I ran the benchmark and tweaked settings til they were at their minimum, I eventually got a score of "3208 Fairly High", and while my computer didn't get hot while doing the benchmark, after about 5-10 minutes of play, its so hot I just can't be asked to play anymore. I've tried two separate cooling pads (Havit and Targus), as well as having the computer next to a big box fan. Neither seemed to help all that much.

Is there anything I could do to alleviate the heat further? Some setting I'm missing or some third party program that might help or tweaking somewhere in the computer? I've of course tried simple things like compressed air on the vents, but I'm not really comfortable opening the laptop up to do anything else.

[Fevelle]

Did you try to open and clean it/change the thermal paste? I have to clean my laptop every 2 months because the dust forms a wall that wont let the air out of the inside and that makes me lose 15fps.

If you're not confortable changing it and cleaning by yourself, you can ask any hardware seller to do it, it's a pretty cheap process depending on the thermal paste you want.

[HawaiianPunch]

No, I haven't, I'm afraid I'd end up breaking something if I tried something like that; and to have someone do it, the prices I'm seeing go from $100-$200, a bit steep for something like that, if you ask me, I mean if I was completely sure that would solve the heating issue, sure, but I'm not. :/

I did however decide to run CoreTemp, and I'm sitting at around 52-54 celsius on FFXIV, and 41-42 idle (with both my cooling pad and a box fan on) which doesnt seem that hot, its just the computer is hot to the touch.

[DnaAngel]

No, I haven't, I'm afraid I'd end up breaking something if I tried something like that; and to have someone do it, the prices I'm seeing go from $100-$200, a bit steep for something like that, if you ask me, I mean if I was completely sure that would solve the heating issue, sure, but I'm not. :/

I did however decide to run CoreTemp, and I'm sitting at around 52-54 celsius on FFXIV, and 41-42 idle (with both my cooling pad and a box fan on) which doesnt seem that hot, its just the computer is hot to the touch.

54c while gaming? That is pretty cool actually, esp since it's a laptop. Nothing to worry about. Of course the unit will get warm/hot during gameplay, that is normal as all normal gets.

Need not worry about things getting "too hot" Modern CPU's and GPU's are designed to "down-clock" once reaching a temperature threshold to protect itself from thermal damage.

[Melondra]

Sadly that's normal when dealing with laptop GPU's. I have a alienware M17X with a GTX970M GPU running it at 1920X1080 still causes my GPU to run pretty hot. So ive turn most of those settings down. Sadly this is a 4k GPU that cant run games in 4k without the use a a Graphicall AMP with external GPU cards. Turning of some setting will greatly reduce the GPU temp and prolong the life of your GPU.

[HawaiianPunch]

As far as I know, I've turned all the settings to minimum, res is 1280x720, shadows/grass/effects are all set to off for everyone, including myself, max number of things to display on screen is set to minimum..

Unless you mean some out-of-game settings? Or something of that nature..

Should also note this didnt happen on my previous laptop that I recall (or maybe for some reason I didnt notice it?), but that one eventually developed graphical problems on the monitor (big white line across the screen) and the AC adapter's wire snapped.

[Fevelle]

I think you're looking at the wrong service if they are asking you $100-$200 to clean your laptop. I'm brazilian, and things here tend to be expensive, but cleaning a laptop is something about R$30-R$40, equivalent to $9-$12 dollars... I can't recommend that enough, because if you keep playing and using with high temperatures, there's a big chance of your GPU dying.

[Laraul]

I think you're looking at the wrong service if they are asking you $100-$200 to clean your laptop. I'm brazilian, and things here tend to be expensive, but cleaning a laptop is something about R$30-R$40, equivalent to $9-$12 dollars... I can't recommend that enough, because if you keep playing and using with high temperatures, there's a big chance of your GPU dying.

Does that $9-$12 U.S. dollars also include a replacement laptop should it break during the cleaning process?

[DuskTS]

Did you try capping your FPS to 30? For me that made a big difference in temperatures. It might feel weird to play at though.

[MikeWW]

HawaiianPunch, the temperatures you posted are good operating temperatures, but from what I can gather from your posts, heat is centered beneath your left hand. If so, the only practical solution is to put some kind of palm pad or fabric between where your hand and laptop meet.