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I realize that 75 degrees celsius isn't THAT bad, but while playing a game or watching videos/multitasking the processor goes up to 97 degrees and after a few hours will reach 100 and shut off. I've turned the processor down to 99% max output which turns off the turbo boost, limiting the processor to just 2.0 ghz, but it still gets up to 80 degrees or so while playing a game.

When I first got the laptop it never ran that hot. I realize that games will stress the computer, but even the idle temperature is higher than it should be. Running at 75+ constantly kills the processor faster right?

So what can I do? I have it on an elevated stand with fans on it. I blow it out weekly, but that doesn't do anything. Is there a chance there's internal damage? Do I just use it until it dies? It's our of warranty now fyi.

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Overtime dust can build up and thermal paste can break down reducing the ability to transfer heat away from the CPU. You mention blowing out the dust which is a good practice.

Other ideas to try out:

  1. You mention it's on an elevated stand with fans. Desktop fans blowing at the laptop will not provide much overall cooling. A dedicated laptop cooler (for example this one from Zalman) could provide better cooling.

  2. Make sure you BIOS is up to date and check the cooling profile. There may not be many options but something to double check.

  3. If you confident it your hardware skills you could take the laptop apart and reapply the thermal paste between the CPU and fan (I recommend something Arctic Silver). Please note this comes with risk and only attempt if you are sure you can put everything back together.

Intel has a good writeup of options for Thermal management for notebook processors.

Otherwise I would just use it. 75C is probably not going to kill the processor.

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  • Sorry I wasn't more clear--the laptop cooler is one like you mentioned. Aluminum with 3 fans that are all positioned over the left front and back where all the heat buildup appears to be. The laptop goes up to 85 degrees or so while playing games, but that's at 99% power and I'd like to actually use the full power of the processor. I've built desktops a few times, but outside of that I haven't really messed with modifying electronics. Would it be more effective for me to take the laptop to a shop and have them reapply the thermal paste?
    – Chris
    Commented May 9, 2013 at 17:23
  • You might want to get a quote from a shop and evaluate if it's worth it to you. It definitely could help but it may not solve the issue completely. If you do decide to take it in make sure you backup your data in case anything goes wrong.
    – Brad Patton
    Commented May 9, 2013 at 17:47

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