Dust and CPU Temperature correlation

dreamer · 13 Jan 2012

Dwarf said:

Are there any other computer specialist stores in your area you could take your laptop to, other than Dell's service centre?

Yes there are of course.Just a niggle of doubt regarding what they might or not do to my laptop.I am torn between whether to accept DELL offer regarding extended warranty or take my laptop to nearest computer shop.

Dwarf · 13 Jan 2012

It's entirely up to you. You could try a few of them to see what it would cost you, even if you do decide to go the Dell route in the end. It would be worth stressing that you don't want a system reinstall, and possibly removing the HDD before letting the technicians loose on the laptop.

Layback Bear · 13 Jan 2012

What ever you decide to due is up to you of course, but I would not use the laptop until the over heating problem is repaired. Over heating can destroy a computer.

dreamer · 13 Jan 2012

Dwarf said:

It's entirely up to you. You could try a few of them to see what it would cost you, even if you do decide to go the Dell route in the end. It would be worth stressing that you don't want a system reinstall, and possibly removing the HDD before letting the technicians loose on the laptop.

This is precisely why i am afraid of these technicians especially where i live.Will update as soon as i get time to visit nearest shop.

Layback Bear said:

What ever you decide to due is up to you of course, but I would not use the laptop until the over heating problem is repaired. Over heating can destroy a computer.

Nope i am not using laptop since yesterday just logged in into Ubuntu to transfer my data to external just in case.

Thanks both of you

Edit: Using Mac in meantime but missing Windows 7 already

dreamer · 20 Jan 2012

Just an update.
Took my laptop to technician.He opened the case and a lot of dust had accumulated on the fan and was stopping it from rotating.Just the usual cleaning and servicing and laptop & fan is working normal now.

Thanks all

3D Jed · 20 Jan 2012

Slightly off-topic, but dust related -

I had a desktop in for repair this week that was stuck in a boot-up loop, never getting past the Windows splash screen. I opened the case and there was so much dust and fluff it looked like the inside of a vacuum cleaner. The heatsink fins were solid. Seemed the cpu was reaching shutdown temp just trying to load Windows.

Even after cleaning it was still overheating. Guessing that the thermal paste had degraded with the extreme temps, a new blob of Artic Silver finished the job.

Should have taken a photo . . .

ReviverSoft · 20 Jan 2012

Unfortunately, a sizeable portion of PC Users around the world are unaware of or ignore the fact that dust can accumulate inside a PC case and cause overheating of the hardware components in the long run.

They only realize this when it's too late.

dreamer · 20 Jan 2012

ReviverSoft said:

Unfortunately, a sizeable portion of PC Users around the world are unaware of or ignore the fact that dust can accumulate inside a PC case and cause overheating of the hardware components in the long run.

They only realize this when it's too late.

I know about dust accumulation on desktop towers probably because i own one.Never knew about dust affecting laptops until mine's fan stopped working.Fortunately cleaning the fan n heatsink solved the problem.Have to be more careful in future about the same.

rraod · 20 Jan 2012

You could go to a third party service station in your city's computer market, where they will do the fan replacement, ( a simple job for them) at a fraction of cost what you have to pay to Dell.

Later on buy a laptop cooler with a USB fan underneath which helps in good air circulation and will keep the laptop cool.

Frequent cleaning and blowing with a air blower will keep the dust out of the heat sink and will keep your laptop spick and span. I am using two laptops (one dell and one toshiba in Riyadh, where we have frequest dust storms and lot of dust). All I do is blow the dust out of the laptop and they have never given me a problem in last 2-3 years. I monitor the temperature of the CPU and whenever the temp goes up, I do the cleaning.