Overheating AMD chip sets?

[John_P]

Back last spring, my 3 year old Lenovo laptop died and the guy at the local computer repair shop (pretty well rated by online reviewers) said that it was a known problem with computers using an AMD chip, that the processor can overheat and fail, and the only options are to dump the computer, or get a new motherboard. I went with the new board, although it cost $200 and I only paid $300 for the computer, but it seemed to be less hassle than shifting everything onto a new PC. The guy said he couldn't promise that the new motherboard would be any better than the old one, but so far so good.

Now my wife's HP laptop, the same age as the Lenovo, has failed--not with quite the same symptoms as mine, but the repair shop diagnosed the same problem. We've got a third, newer computer now, so we haven't had the HP fixed. But I'm wondering if this is really a pervasive problem and whether anything can be done about it; I'm typing this on the Lenovo, but now I wonder if it's going to quit any moment. One thing I did after a web search was install a program called Core Temp, which can apparently give a readout and a record over time of processor temperature. It says the rated max for the chip is 100C, and so far I've never seen it go over 55, so that seems very safe. I'm wondering what I could ever do on the computer that would stress it beyond a safe temperature level; but maybe it's a question of operation at lower than the maximum temperature over an extended period of time. Or could it be that the processor chips just die randomly, and the computer shop guy tells all his customers "It overheated" when he should really say "Who the hell knows"?

 

[tiny voices]

Yes, the last sentence is partly correct. He just told you it overheated because non-computer-savvy people believe that. Doubtful that is actually what happened. CPUs don't randomly die, but other things do and on cheap laptops it is easier to replace the entire motherboard than troubleshoot the issue. They make WAY more money that way.

Rule of thumb, NEVER pay $200 to fix an old $300 laptop. That is a mistake for sure. Just put that towards a new laptop.

I have a 14.1" AMD based HP laptop that is 3 going on 4 years old, and I treat it like crap (drop it, let it get way too hot, let it freeze in my car in the winter and fry in the summer, etc.) and it has never given me a single issue.

 

[John_P]

I think you're wrong about "They make WAY more money that way". The guy in the computer store is a technician, not an electrical engineer. He can recognize that a component in a complex system has failed, and he can replace a module like a motherboard. But you can't expect him to diagnose an exact cause of failure, then have the skills and equipment to replace a large integrated circuit, most likely a ball grid array. By the time the needed repair was figured out and done, it would cost way more than $200. That's just the way the machines are built.

As for spending $200 to fix a $300 computer, I did take a deep breath before telling him to go ahead. But I thought of the amount of time and hassle it would be to get everything set up on a new machine, even if I had backups (which I have!) and even if the hard drive isn't damaged. And at the time, I was thinking that these failures are most likely entirely random, so my chances were as good and as bad with a new machine as with the old one, once it was fixed again. You say you treat your HP badly and it works fine, but my wife's HP lived indoors all its life and she'd only occasionally move it around the house, and it got sick and died. Where's the logic? It could be true that computers fail for some predictable reason (so I'm asking if the AMD chipset really has a weak point with temperature) but all the evidence says that they die randomly.

 

[tiny voices]

No the AMD chipset doesn't really have any temp issues. I have never had issues with mine unless I use it on a soft surface like a bed where the vents were blocked, but that is clearly improper operation and 100% my fault. In normal use, it never had heat issues. I'm typing on it right now and it is chugging along at 38c and it is 3 years old and I have never replaced the thermal paste.

Laptops die randomly for sure. Sometimes it just happens.