Hello all. I've been worried that while I'm playing games on my laptop which has an i7 processor, that it's getting too hot. What is a danger temp for an i7 system? I just checked the temp while playing Napoleon Total War and the first core (listed as core # 0), was peaked out at 80 degrees Celsius. The rest were around 78. The first(or 0 for that matter) core was at about 50% load at it's peak temp. When should I be worried?

Hmm, not sure if I did the math correctly(stupid google wont load a converter), but assuming I did, that would mean your machine is running at approximately 112 degrees Farenheit, which is exactly 2 degrees hotter then my computer has ever run, and that was in the middle of the summer when my main A/C unit went kaput(and our summer here was the hottest ever on record, with the 2nd highest temp ever recorded for a single day). So, yeah, I'd say you're machine is running a little bit warm. Have any of your cooling fans gone kaput? Is there a lot of dust inside the case(and/or on the fans themselves)? If there is a lot of dust, get a can of compressed air and spray it all out, that will reduce over-all temps by several degrees(moreso if the fans themselves are completely coated). If no to either of those, I'm honestly not sure, maybe get an external fan and point it towards your computer, or move it away from a Heat Duct(assuming where you are right now is in the middle of winter), or towards an A/C duct if you're in the middle of summer. Don't turn it on and off frequently, but when you do turn it off, try to leave it off for a few hours so it can cool down.

K, i'm out of ideas, hope that helped at all.

Edit: I may have done the math wrong, if so, it would actually be that your system is running at 176 degrees F, and if so, I'd get a Fire Extinguisher ready, cuz it's about to asplode!!!!!!!!! But I think I did the math right. If I can get stupid site to load, I'd know for certain.

100 degrees C is the max.


80 degrees c is 176 degrees F.

Pfft thats fine as.

That's not a dangerous temp, but it's not good, and could easily reduce the life of your CPU. When it's that hot just playing a game, you should probably figure out why. A cheap way to go would be to spend $6 on some arctic silver 5 thermal paste (or, if you already have some other thermal paste, to try this with that first), and re-seat your heatsink, and make sure you do it PROPERLY. Those stock intel heatsinks can be a pain to get down right, and usually come with way too much thermal paste, that just ends up full of air bubbles from being smushed around as you struggle with the finicky heatsink.

Basically, just take the heatsink off, clean all the thermal paste off of it and the CPU with rubbing alcohol and a cloth, and try putting the heatsink on a few times with no thermal paste, until you're at the point where you can put it straight down and get it properly locked in very quickly with one motion. Then put a single dab of thermal paste about the size of a grain of rice in the middle of your CPU, and put the heatsink straight down on it. Make sure not to twist, or pull back at all once it has contacted it. Is it a bit overkill to make sure it's perfect? Yes. But if you do it right, and your temps drop, you know what the problem was. I'd want my load temp somewhere around 70C with a stock cooler.

I know laptops can be warmer but damn, my tower I7 doesn't even get to 80C when I run P95 64 let alone a game. Did I mention I'm overclocking from 3.07GHz to 4.2GHz?

@ iGuess

I have no laptop experience, but is that even possible with a laptop? I don't think it would be all that desirable of a task for your average user.

I have no idea about dust on my fans or anything, and I don't know what heatsink is...Well I do, it has to do with cooling, but you know what I mean.

It's certainly possible to reapply thermal paste, at any rate.

That and OEM heatsinks are rarely good enough to effectively cool a CPU under load.

I have an i7 and I used http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608012.
Noctua NH-U12DX 1366 120mm SSO CPU Cooler...or one just like it....with TWO fans.

It's honking huge and needs a support brace on the back of the MB (included), but its whisper quiet and was about the top rated one at the time I bought it.

For a laptop or desktop?

I'll help you out, johnny3tears:

HE HAS A LAPTOP

With laptops cooling is generally an issue and the suggestion to apply different thermal paste would be valid if it was an easily accessed CPU which most laptops do not have this.

Try and keep the vents clear of debris and any sort of blockages (blankets, flat on a surface, etc) which should help. You could look into an active laptop cooling pad but those only have limited usefulness. I would say that your temps could also be influenced by other components in the laptop since it is such a tight space. With Napoleon Total War I would guess your video card is getting too hot and the heat is not dissipating enough so it has transferred to the CPU, try to lower graphics settings to see if you do get lower temps.

Yeah, I didn't know it was a laptop. In which case 80C is pretty expected, or at least not at all surprising. That's just what happens when you put a powerful processor in something small. Re-applying better thermal paste is certainly possible, and it's probably what I would do, but... don't bother.

:banghead:

Sorry. Missed that.

I'm not sure there's much you can do for a laptop other than place it on a cooling stand that helps facilitate air flow through the laptop.

I have an external fan for my laptop, it certainly helps.

Could anyone point me in the right direction for a good external fan that isn't overly-expensive? My friend is going to take my laptop apart and clean out the fan later today for me.

I saw one at Sam's the other day. Basically it was just a hollow wedge with two USB-powered fans drawing air away from the laptop.

I got one of those basic wrist pads and used it to prop up the rear of my laptop. That alone does wonders...the intake at the bottom only has an air gap as big as the little rubber bumpers they put on the bottom of the laptop case. :shakehead:

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod1510689&navAction=

How would this help? Would it blow cool air into my laptop?

edit: It looks like the fans are facing in the direction that would blow the hot air back into the computer...

Well, let's just say I needed to defrag my drive...
although I don't know how much it will help.

Depends. My laptop pulls air in the bottom and vents out the side. Some blow out the bottom. Any time I look at a laptop cooler, I have to see which ways the fan blow because I need them blowing into the laptop and some need them pulling air away from the laptop.

People who make these devices should make the fans reversible by the user.

After the defrag, that same first core maxes at about 75 and hovers at 72 C while playing NTW. A little better, but I think I'm going to get the fan pad you suggested.

edit: Although that was measured with the program Core Temp. I just exited Napoleon and started SpeedFan and it reads every core at about 55 along with the GPU at 55. It didn't cool that much in a minute, so one of them must be wrong.

No, cooling down that fast is pretty normal.

EDIT: I really didn't mean to post in a 4 day old thread. I just... saw this topic near the top of my "your content" thing... above things that I posted in today. I blame the forums.

:laugh:

I think you were the first to notice.

I've always recommended laptop coolers, I've seen too many people kill their laptops leaving them on blankets or couches, should help get the temps down.

I can't rememeber are you playing on a laptop or desk top? If laptop, is the bottom clear? I forgot about that yesterday and I was wondering when playing Morrowind my computer just shut down completely, no log off, nothing just off. Then I realized my temperatures were up high and I noticed the chair I was using, was cushinony and it preveneted the heat to come out. I let it cool off, and then put the left side hanging off, and I was ok.

Make sure the lap top can breathe.

But, but.....



:P

/facetiousness