CPU "Incredibly Hot" or so the readings say

[restreporunner]

Today my laptop just shut down while playing Tomb Raider. It's a low-end gaming laptop, so it runs it decently, and it wasn't chugging along producing a ton of heat or anything, it just turned off. I let it cool, walked away, came back an hour later and turned it back on. Idly, it doesn't feel very hot. I thought it was just a fluke, maybe it actually had been hot earlier. I decided to play Path of Exile. This isn't a very demanding game, and again it seems like my computer was running fine. It just shut off again 15 minutes in. So this time around after I let it cool I downloaded CoreTemp. CoreTemp says the cpu temperature, while sitting on idle, is 115 C, or 206 F. This can't be right. So I downloaded CPUID HWMonitor. Again, temp ranges from 107 C to 120 C. This is while my laptop is idling on my lap. There is no way that the CPU is that hot. My GFX card is idling at 52 C, and my hard drive at 37 C. I'm just so confused...I'm afraid to running anything intensive now.

 

[Iron124]

If two pieces of software are telling you the same thing, it's time to consider that the reading may actually be correct.

Restart your laptop and boot into the BIOS, sometimes there is a built in temperature sensor that shows in setup (my computer has it). Is it showing the same reading? If your laptop lacks this feature, you might just have to rely on what the software is telling you.

If you feel comfortable doing so, open up your laptop and check for excess dust and debris impeding airflow. Also conform that your CPU (or any other) fan has not stopped functioning.

 

[JuicyGameplay]

Make sure the CPU fan is actually running, I had the same problem with my desktop computer it was hitting temp of 93C.

 

[restreporunner]

If two pieces of software are telling you the same thing, it's time to consider that the reading may actually be correct.

Restart your laptop and boot into the BIOS, sometimes there is a built in temperature sensor that shows in setup (my computer has it). Is it showing the same reading? If your laptop lacks this feature, you might just have to rely on what the software is telling you.

If you feel comfortable doing so, open up your laptop and check for excess dust and debris impeding airflow. Also conform that your CPU (or any other) fan has not stopped functioning.

I may try to open it up. I want to trust the readings, but wouldn't a laptop that hot be seriously burning my legs right now? I can feel a strong airflow coming from the 3 vents in the bottom and side of my laptop, and the fan is clearly running, and it gets very loud sometimes.

[edit] the BIOS shows no temp readings

 

[JuicyGameplay]

Your best option would be to open it up yourself or have someone else do it as Iron124 said there might be dust or debris blocking it.

 

[restreporunner]

Your best option would be to open it up yourself or have someone else do it as Iron124 said there might be dust or debris blocking it.

Okay, so I opened it up. That was an incredibly scary experience to go through, btw. There was no dust or debris or anything wrong internally (except a broken monitor hinge, but I kinda stepped on it forever ago 😛). So it's been off this whole time. Completely cool. started it up, that took about one minute. opened up HWMonitor immediately, and it said the cpu temp was 87 C. It has since shot right back up to the low 100s. I really just wanna chalk this up as a thermal monitor error, but that leaves the problem of the computer "overheating" for a faulty reading.

 

[Iron124]

Your best option would be to open it up yourself or have someone else do it as Iron124 said there might be dust or debris blocking it.

Okay, so I opened it up. That was an incredibly scary experience to go through, btw. There was no dust or debris or anything wrong internally (except a broken monitor hinge, but I kinda stepped on it forever ago 😛). So it's been off this whole time. Completely cool. started it up, that took about one minute. opened up HWMonitor immediately, and it said the cpu temp was 87 C. It has since shot right back up to the low 100s. I really just wanna chalk this up as a thermal monitor error, but that leaves the problem of the computer "overheating" for a faulty reading.

Gonna agree with you on that diagnosis, even a processor with absolutely no cooling would not get that hot that quickly, I suspect a faulty sensor is to blame (and is giving an incorrect reading to your temperature monitoring software as well)

Check the BIOS again, all are different, but sometimes there is an option to disable the "Thermal threshold shutdown" option, meaning your laptop won't turn off when it thinks it has hit over 100C. Note this could be VERY BAD if the processor actually exceeds those temps, but it's a workaround to your current issue if it truly is only a faulty sensor.

 

[restreporunner]

Your best option would be to open it up yourself or have someone else do it as Iron124 said there might be dust or debris blocking it.

Okay, so I opened it up. That was an incredibly scary experience to go through, btw. There was no dust or debris or anything wrong internally (except a broken monitor hinge, but I kinda stepped on it forever ago 😛). So it's been off this whole time. Completely cool. started it up, that took about one minute. opened up HWMonitor immediately, and it said the cpu temp was 87 C. It has since shot right back up to the low 100s. I really just wanna chalk this up as a thermal monitor error, but that leaves the problem of the computer "overheating" for a faulty reading.

Gonna agree with you on that diagnosis, even a processor with absolutely no cooling would not get that hot that quickly, I suspect a faulty sensor is to blame (and is giving an incorrect reading to your temperature monitoring software as well)

Check the BIOS again, all are different, but sometimes there is an option to disable the "Thermal threshold shutdown" option, meaning your laptop won't turn off when it thinks it has hit over 100C. Note this could be VERY BAD if the processor actually exceeds those temps, but it's a workaround to your current issue if it truly is only a faulty sensor.

At this point I'm considering trying out the warranty and getting it fixed. I opened up HWinfo64 which gave various temperatures. Interestingly, there were two CPU temps listed; CPU 0 and CPU 0 Package. CPU 0 had the (assuming) correct temp of around 66 C, while CPU 0 Package had the 115 C. I'm not sure what the difference between these two readings are, but there's certainly something wrong.

 

[Iron124]

Your best option would be to open it up yourself or have someone else do it as Iron124 said there might be dust or debris blocking it.

Okay, so I opened it up. That was an incredibly scary experience to go through, btw. There was no dust or debris or anything wrong internally (except a broken monitor hinge, but I kinda stepped on it forever ago 😛). So it's been off this whole time. Completely cool. started it up, that took about one minute. opened up HWMonitor immediately, and it said the cpu temp was 87 C. It has since shot right back up to the low 100s. I really just wanna chalk this up as a thermal monitor error, but that leaves the problem of the computer "overheating" for a faulty reading.

Gonna agree with you on that diagnosis, even a processor with absolutely no cooling would not get that hot that quickly, I suspect a faulty sensor is to blame (and is giving an incorrect reading to your temperature monitoring software as well)

Check the BIOS again, all are different, but sometimes there is an option to disable the "Thermal threshold shutdown" option, meaning your laptop won't turn off when it thinks it has hit over 100C. Note this could be VERY BAD if the processor actually exceeds those temps, but it's a workaround to your current issue if it truly is only a faulty sensor.

At this point I'm considering trying out the warranty and getting it fixed. I opened up HWinfo64 which gave various temperatures. Interestingly, there were two CPU temps listed; CPU 0 and CPU 0 Package. CPU 0 had the (assuming) correct temp of around 66 C, while CPU 0 Package had the 115 C. I'm not sure what the difference between these two readings are, but there's certainly something wrong.

If the laptop is still under warranty, by all means just send it in for repairs. No sense for you attempting to fix a problem that other will for free! 😉

 

[LucoTF]

What CPU is it?

 

[restreporunner]

What CPU is it?

Acer Aspire V3-551G-8454 Laptop
AMD A8-4500M Processor

 

[andrew_892]

What CPU is it?

Acer Aspire V3-551G-8454 Laptop
AMD A8-4500M Processor

Did you end up finding a solution for this restreporunner? I was reading through this forum because I am having the exact same problem and it turns out I have the same laptop and processor.