Laptop overheating - summertime

[FunkyFeatures]

Hey guys!
I am having a bit of a problem. I have a Toshiba X870 Qosmio gaming laptop with i5 cpu and gtx 670m graphics - but yesterday it overheated and shut itself completely off, and was not able to turn on the next 30 minutes.
My ambient temp atm is around 27c, quite hot and sometimes it goes up to 30c when gaming.
Would it help getting a cooling pad, or what should i do? I thought it would stop itself by slowing itself down and increasing the fan speed, apparently not.

So what can i do to prevent overheating in the summer?

 

[Eduello]

Yes, a cooling pad might be help, at least in my personal experience.

 

[FunkyFeatures]

So which one? The laptop is a thick 17.3" laptop. I will probably not be using it in bed- 3.5kg quite heavy in the lap.

 

[Eduello]

This has a 200mm fan, so it should do more than well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834992913&cm_re=laptop_cooling_pad-_-34-992-913-_-Product

 

[FunkyFeatures]

The X3 is very expensive in Denmark, and is only sold one place. Therefore, they pretty much control the price. Could you recommend something else? Like the notepal u3? Its a bit cheaper.

- I forgot to mention - i havent dusted out the fan since i bought it about a year ago - but i dont have the option without completely tearing it apart.

 

[Eduello]

The NOTEPAL U3 should do since you can move the fans around.

 

[snowctrl]

Try mounting your laptop on a small book rather than directly on the desk, before you go to the expense of a cooling pad - the additional airflow under the laptop may be enough to solve your problem...

If you're feeling brave it would be worth taking the laptop apart and cleaning dust etc out of the fans... (if it's in warranty, get Toshiba to do it)

 

[FunkyFeatures]

The NOTEPAL U3 should do since you can move the fans around.

Cool - i actually like the looks of it too^^

Try mounting your laptop on a small book rather than directly on the desk, before you go to the expense of a cooling bad - the additonal airflow under the laptop may be enough to solve your problem...

If you're feeling brave it would be worth taking the laptop apart and cleaning dust etc out of the fans... (if it's in warranty, get Toshiba to do it)

The dust cleaning is not under toshibas warranty, and even if it was, i could not be without a laptop for longer than a week, not even in the summer.

It is actually lifted already, but just by the feet, which seems like they are enough.
I will try with a book or something else, but isnt that unstable? Would there not be a certain chance of it bending because of weight?

 

[snowctrl]

I highly doubt your laptop will bend under its own weight...

I have a Dell Studio 1557 laptop (renowned for overheating) and mounting it on a book makes a huge difference to it's speed (it throttles down when it gets too hot). In the past it took to blue-screening, like yours, and I sent it back to Dell who (reading between the lines a little) took it apart, cleaned it, and sent it back - no parts were replaced, but now it works fine again

Send it back under warranty - if it's bluescreening, they should fix it (surely this is the only reason to buy a branded laptop in the first place?) - whether or not the bluescreens are caused by dust, or overheating, or something else entirely, should be their problem not yours

 

[FunkyFeatures]

I highly doubt your laptop will bend under its own weight...

I have a Dell Studio 1557 laptop (renowned for overheating) and mounting it on a book makes a huge difference to it's speed (it throttles down when it gets too hot). In the past it took to blue-screening, like yours, and I sent it back to Dell who (reading between the lines a little) took it apart, cleaned it, and sent it back - no parts were replaced, but now it works fine again

Send it back under warranty - if it's bluescreening, they should fix it (surely this is the only reason to buy a branded laptop in the first place?) - whether or not the bluescreens are caused by dust, or overheating, or something else entirely, should be their problem not yours

I have no problems with bluescreens, but my warranty runs out in 9 months or so.
I had a similar problem with my old asus laptop - and it died in the summer because of the same problem - overheating.

So i guess i will try the book, otherwise the coolingpad will be my next choice. Thanks for the help

 

[snowctrl]

I highly doubt your laptop will bend under its own weight...

I have a Dell Studio 1557 laptop (renowned for overheating) and mounting it on a book makes a huge difference to it's speed (it throttles down when it gets too hot). In the past it took to blue-screening, like yours, and I sent it back to Dell who (reading between the lines a little) took it apart, cleaned it, and sent it back - no parts were replaced, but now it works fine again

Send it back under warranty - if it's bluescreening, they should fix it (surely this is the only reason to buy a branded laptop in the first place?) - whether or not the bluescreens are caused by dust, or overheating, or something else entirely, should be their problem not yours

I have no problems with bluescreens, but my warranty runs out in 9 months or so.
I had a similar problem with my old asus laptop - and it died in the summer because of the same problem - overheating.

So i guess i will try the book, otherwise the coolingpad will be my next choice. Thanks for the help

No worries - it's really disgraceful that companies sell laptops that are so in danger of overheating...

 

[FunkyFeatures]

Yea, i thought it could hold out, but apparently not. Havent seen it run so hot, and first time it shut down. I was afraid it died -.-

Btw - should the laptop just be rised by the book, or should it have some kind of slope like on notebook coolers?
When i had it as a slope, it felt like the book was making too much pressure against the plastic cover.

 

[snowctrl]

I haven't made a scientific study of it, it's just a solution that I came up with - I was doing 3D rendering and saw my per-frame render time drop by half when I mounted the laptop on a small book instead of directly on the desk - that got me thinking...

My guess is the slope that you typically see on laptop cooling stands and the like is probably an effort to minimise any awkwardness caused by the laptop being raised

 

[FunkyFeatures]

Well, raised works fine for me, now my keyboard cable wont have to be bend(ed?) all the time, so the slope is only for ergonomics i think