Windows 7: Acer Aspire 5742 Series Laptop Over Heating

Hello everyone, I purchased an Acer Aspire 5742 Series Laptop . That is an I3 processor.

MY daughter was having problems with it simply turning off. After looking at and running Real Temp and Prime 95, I believed it was simple over heating .

It is under warranty so I took it in for repair, I just picked it up and they said the fan and vents needed cleaning, that is why it is getting hot and shutting down.

Now I re-ran Prime 95 and it still shut down after 1 hour roughly. Real Temp said it was 89 Degrees C.

So is this normal for laptops??? I costume build my PC and it never shuts down on running Prime 95. Even I did overclocked it.

SO what recommendation do you have? I can take it back (warranty) but I do not have the faith they will fix it ! Since I say no BSOD I am not sure any reports will help. It is a Clean windows 7 install.

Hello Becky -

By design, laptops just aren't as efficient as desktops when it comes to cooling. Components are bunched together in a small space and the fan is usually underpowered and doesn't move a lot of air. Generally speaking, laptops need to be used on a hard, flat surface like a tabletop and not on a pillow, bedspread, or even a lap. Vents and fan will surely be blocked adding to the heat build up. Many people even use a laptop cooling pad to help with air circulation.

Laptop cooler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But there's another consideration that may prompt you to take the laptop back in for warranty service. It's possible that a heat sink or thermal paste was improperly installed during production. No amount of cleaning will correct that kind of problem. Some additional thoughts:

HowStuffWorks "How to Keep Your Laptop Cool"