Can hot GPU & CPU increase CPU usage

[tarasdi]

Hi all,

I have a rather old laptop, but don't game so haven't had much of a reason to upgrade.

It's a Dell Vostro 1720
* Core 2 Duo P7570 @ 2.26GHz
* 8GB of RAM
* GeForce 9600M GS
* SSD HD

For quite some time it's had a habit of heating up, sometimes to the point where it's too hot to touch. I've recently been keeping an eye on temps with speed fan - GPU idles at about 60C, with core idling at 50C (when the laptop isn't doing anything). Play a youtube clip and/or open/close a few chrome windows and the GPU temperature goes up to about 80, with CPUs around 70. I've seen the GPU go up to 95! Quite often the CPU hits 100% for about 30 seconds, at which point windows are titled with 'not responding', and each window on the screen starts redrawing itself (30s later redrawing stops and the CPU usage drops).

I've always assumed that the combination of quite a few Chrome plugins and some dodgy websites cause the CPU to spin and heat up, however that doesn't explain the redrawing (and it doesn't seem correct as the amount of RAM should be able to handle quite a few pages being open). Also the fact that most of the time I'm in Chrome would explain why it looks like Chrome causes the high usage.

However, I read that CPU & GPU overheating might cause not only reboots & freezes (can be obviously attributed to hig temps), but also loss of performance & high CPU usage Is it possible that the high temperatures are causing the high CPU usage and performance glitches?

 

[BigBadBeef]

Nonono, it doesn't go backwards, first there is load, then there is overheat. What you need to do is clean your laptop to lower the temps.

And a format wouldn't hurt...

 

[ewok93]

You have to clean computers occasionally. They are bringing in air, which will obviously bring in dust, which blocks the air that is intended to cool the components. Get a can of computer duster and spray it into every hole in your computer.

When your computer works harder, it heats up. When it heats up to a certain point, it limits how hard it works to help it cool down. This will cause lag, of course. If you clean out your fans and vents, it will run cooler.

 

[ad0]

That is a laptop cpu he talking make sure you clean the ventilator from dust

For the gpu i think you will need to keep the case open

 

[ewok93]

Laptops still have vents and often fans. Just spray that computer duster into them and the dust should come out. It also wouldn't hurt to open it up and be more thorough.

 

[tarasdi]

I thought it doesn't go backwards as well, but I read something suggesting otherwise on the net (and it doesn't seem outlandish).

The 'refreshing of the windows' seems like it could be a hardware issue...?

I'll try cleaning out the insides to see if that helps and report back, although it's gone through so much punishment it's probably time to buy a new laptop (I _do_ hate having to re-setup everything though!)

 

[Montblanchill]

You're probably looking at a dust related issue here. Though there is a chance that you might have a faulty part, however this is more likely to cause a full crash than hanging like this.

I am not sure if the CPU at the time was capable of this but in general heat will encourage the CPU to throttle itself back, reducing performance until it gets into an operating temperature it is happy with.

Would recommend getting some compressed air and giving it a good clean out. Most of these kinds of problems I have had myself at work or at home, and you would be surprised how much dust can get in and really cause issues. Ensure you clean out any fans thoroughly, and try to avoid touching anything with bare skin, just blast it with the compressed air. Opening a laptop can be a bit daunting at first, but you'd be surprised how easy it is. Word of warning however, do not open the monitor section at all, as these can be quite fiddly to put back together if you're inexperienced.

 

[velo3100]

Try cleaning it and then put the laptop on a cooling pad. Then let me know what happens.

 

[tarasdi]

Well I spent a couple of hours figuring out how to unscrew everything, and as I was taking things apart bits were falling out - not a good sign.

There was a whole layer of dust on the air intake of the fan which I think feeds into other parts of the motherboard, so I cleaned that out and I'm sure that was contributing to the heat issue.

I put everything back together, plugged in the power, and in anticipation pressed the power button and... nothing. I've tried to fiddle a bit with the parts, but couldn't figure it out.

I think this is as good of an indicator as any to get a new laptop, so I guess I'll never determine what the root cause was!