The laptop heats up quickly. What to do if your laptop gets too hot? Reasons for laptop overheating

All tips

Why is this happening and what to do. This question can be answered immediately. And, most likely, you know the answer yourself. Yes, overheating is dangerous because it can lead to breakdowns and, as a result, to spending money on repairing a laptop or buying a new device. What exactly will have to be done in a particular case depends on the degree of damage and the reasons why the laptop is heating up. Let's figure out what overheating can lead to and, most importantly, why it happens. Everything is very simple….

Consequences of overheating...

A laptop is like any other electronic device, consists of a set of boards and microcircuits having the maximum permissible temperature operation. If it is exceeded, the microcircuit fails (burns out), which can lead to complete (the laptop will not turn on) or partial (some elements, such as USB ports, will not work) failure of the device.

Why does my laptop get so hot...

Poor ventilation. Each laptop has fans installed, they “drive” the air and thereby cool the most important elements. In order for air to get inside the device, there are special holes on the surface of the case. Sometimes they become clogged with dust and thereby interfere with the effective cooling of the laptop; the article presents photographs of what will happen to the computer if it is not cleaned. In addition, ventilation properties may deteriorate due to improper use device, for example, when using a laptop on your lap, blanket or any other soft surface that covers the openings intended for air exchange.

Thermal paste drying. Thermal paste helps dissipate heat from the processor to the heatsink. If it dries out, the processor stops cooling.
Damage to the cooling circuit inside the laptop. Heat is no longer effectively dissipated, the temperature rises and particularly energy-intensive elements (processor, video card, hard drive) fail.
Faulty electronic components. For example, one of the microcircuits on system board and started to get very hot. As a rule, in such cases, the laptop case begins to heat up very much in the place where this chip is located. In this situation, laptop repair will be required, including replacing the faulty element.

The first signs that your laptop is overheating...

Continuously running fan, especially when playing games or watching movies.
The laptop turns off by itself. This happens especially often when launching system-intensive programs - the same games and video players. During some time required for cooling, the laptop does not turn on.
The laptop often freezes. However, it is worth saying that this is not always due to the fact that the laptop is overheating. In most cases, freezing can be caused by errors in the operation of programs, operating system, drivers.
There are periodic slowdowns in games. Extra squares, lines and other “artifacts” appear on the screen, the laptop turns off during the game.

All of the above is related to the operation of the laptop protection system. The processor and video card have special thermal sensors that record the temperature of the chips. As soon as it exceeds the maximum allowable, the system forcibly reduces the laptop's performance until it cools down. It is at these moments that slowdowns appear, in some cases protective system may lead to self-shutdown laptop or reboot (most often).

Check the temperature of the most important components of the device and determine that it is overheating, and not software errors, Can special programs(eg HWMonitor). To determine that the laptop is heating up, it is enough to look at the temperature of the device immediately after turning it on and after some time (10-20 minutes) of intensive use (for example, playing a modern game).

My laptop is overheating, what should I do?

Carry out prevention. With a certain frequency (1-2 times a year). It is best to contact a service company about this, as it may lead to serious damage. There are often cases when, while cleaning with a vacuum cleaner, users knocked out the video chip (above which, in fact, the fan is located) with static electricity or, having confused the bolts, broke motherboard. In both cases, laptop repair is inevitable.
Change thermal paste. This needs to be done every few years. Just like in the case of cleaning a laptop, this operation is best left to specialists.
Use cooling pads. Today there are many devices on the market designed for forced cooling of laptops. They are very effective and can extend the life of the device for many years. If suddenly such a stand is not at hand, and the laptop gets hot, you can use a folk trick - raise the laptop above the table level, placing some object under it. Thus, you will increase the air gap under the device and provide more efficient cooling.
Follow the rules for using a laptop. Try, if possible, not to use the laptop on your lap or a soft surface (for example, placing it on a pillow), and do not cover the openings on the device body used for air exchange.

Performance of computers and laptops for Lately has grown significantly. This led to increased performance in resource-intensive applications and games, as well as increased heat dissipation during device operation.

The following laptop components are subject to the most heat:

CPU;
video card;
south and north bridge.

In the worst case, increased heat can lead to a broken mobile PC and costly repairs.

Cooling system design

Each laptop has a special inside compact system cooling, which is designed to remove excess heat and provide normal functioning components.

Let's look at the main types of cooling systems:

passive;
active;
liquid.

Passive systems include only a variety of radiators and heat-conducting tubes. They are used most often in devices characterized by relatively low productivity.

In addition to radiators and tubes, the active system includes radiators, heat pipes and fans. The latter are responsible for blowing heated passive elements and thereby improve heat transfer. This is the system used in most modern laptops.

Liquid systems differ somewhat in their design. Instead of air, they use liquid to remove heat, passing through special tubes and cooling the heated PC components. In laptops, liquid cooling is used extremely rarely, for example, in some experimental Toshiba models.

A standard laptop cooling system consists of the following parts:

radiators;
heat-conducting copper plates and tubes;
thermal paste;
one or more fans.

During operation, radiators and tubes heat up, and fans blow them, blowing hot air through special holes in the mobile computer case. Thermal paste serves to improve contact between the chip and the heatsink, which improves heat transfer.

Signs of heating

The service life of a mobile computer depends on operating conditions and maximum temperatures to which he is exposed. In some cases, overheating may even cause the device body to melt. Recognizing cooling problems can be quite simple.

Let's look at the main signs of excessive PC heating:

If the situation has not yet gone too far, then problems may only appear when using resource-intensive applications or while playing games. Do not put off solving the problem until later, as this may lead to device failure.

Video: Cooling device

Causes and solutions

There can be many reasons for overheating. The user can eliminate most of them independently.

Main causes of overheating:

dustiness and contamination of internal parts;
dried thermal paste;
cooling system malfunction;
failure of motherboard components.

Dust

Over time, dust and fur accumulate inside the computer case, causing the laptop to become very hot. This problem will not arise if you periodically carry out preventative cleaning using a compressed air cylinder, which can be purchased at any computer store.

If the computer still begins to overheat, then removing dust is the first thing that needs to be done.

Steps to clean your laptop from dust:

disassembly;
removal of radiators, fans and heat-conducting pipes;
dust cleaning;
fan lubrication and thermal paste replacement;
assembly;
checking the temperature of important elements ( CPU, video card, etc.).

It is worth noting that a user who is looking for an answer to the question for the first time: “Why does the laptop make a lot of noise and get hot?” It is not recommended to clean it yourself without the help of a specialist, since there is a high probability of damaging small parts during the assembly and disassembly stages.

Thermal paste has dried out

Typically, the thermal interface is replaced 1-2 times a year for the purpose of prevention. If this was not done, then dried thermal paste can lead to mobile computer starts to slow down while playing or working. In this case, immediate intervention is necessary, cleaning and replacing the old thermal paste with a new one.

Present on the market great amount fakes, which makes it quite difficult to choose high-quality thermal paste on your own. It is better to use recommendations from reliable service centers or even conduct your own testing on drying time and other characteristics.

After replacing the thermal paste, you need to clean the laptop from dust and check the temperature of the processor and video card. For this you can use special utilities, for example AIDA 64 or regular means BIOS, if available.

Launching modern games

Modern games and some programs, for example, for video processing or 3D modeling, place a heavy load on the processor and video card. In some cases, the computer overheats when performing these tasks and slows down too much or even freezes.

You can try to solve the problem with excessive heating when launching modern games in the following ways:

Important! Laptops are fairly compact devices and all the parts inside their case are located close to each other. This makes efficient cooling difficult. Therefore, it is recommended to always use a cooling pad when running modern games, video or graphics applications.

Failure

Problems with some components can cause your laptop to overheat. In this case, this can happen simply when you turn on the computer without load.

Parts that, if damaged, could cause your computer to overheat:

cooling system;
south bridge and other elements of the system board.

Cooling systems

The cooling system of modern laptops consists of several parts and is responsible for the effective removal of heat from the main elements of the PC. A malfunction of the cooling system leads to overheating and, as a result, brakes or a complete freeze of the computer. As a rule, fans that remove hot air from the case fail.

Let's look at the main reasons why the cooling system fails:

power failure;
manufacturing defect;
mechanical damage;
excessive accumulation of dust.

A power failure can damage the fan motors, causing them to stop working. In this case, most of the heat will remain inside the case and the components will be susceptible to overheating.

A low-quality fan installed inside a laptop PC can quickly fail and disrupt normal work devices. Fortunately, most laptop manufacturers try to test components and this malfunction is rare.

Unlike the previous two problems that cause failure of the cooling system, the user himself is responsible for dust and mechanical damage. The computer must be cleaned regularly to avoid shock to eliminate this problem.

Board elements

Overheating can be combined with failure of some board elements. For example, southern or north bridge. In this case, if the microcircuit is completely faulty, the mobile PC will stop turning on, and if it is partial, various glitches may appear.

Let's look at the main manifestations of problems with the southbridge due to overheating:

frequent shutdown of the laptop;
freezing;
malfunctions of the keyboard, touchpad or USB ports;
laptop gets very hot;
sound problems;
Incorrect charge level data.

Such problems happen with the south bridge both due to manufacturing defects and short circuit, which can occur, for example, when a flash drive or other device is suddenly pulled out of a USB port.

Danger of overheating

Overheating is very dangerous for any high-precision devices and laptops in particular. As a result of elevated temperatures, malfunctions in the operation of the device or its complete failure may occur.

Let's look at the main possible consequences overheating:

slowdown;
sudden freezes or reboots;
failure of the video card;
damage to elements on the board.

Many consequences are irreversible and require expensive repairs. Therefore, you should not allow a situation where your mobile computer overheats.

Video: Laptop gets very hot

How to check if a laptop is heating up

Overheating is dangerous for computers. It is better to detect an excessive increase in temperature in time and eliminate its cause or seek help from service center specialists.

The following factors may indicate overheating:

decreased productivity;
increased body temperature;
loud fan noise;
appearance of image defects;
random freezing or rebooting.

Today, all significant computer parts are equipped with temperature sensors. By looking at the information from them, you can determine whether overheating occurs and by how much. To do this, you can use special utilities, for example, AIDA64.

Here are the temperature standards for the main components of a laptop:

processor - up to 70 degrees; in rare exceptions, under load, heating up to 75-80 degrees is allowed;
video card – up to 85 degrees under load and 40-65 in idle mode;
hard drive - up to 45 degrees, recommended no higher than 30-40.

Exceeding standard readings clearly indicates overheating. You need to urgently contact a specialist or fix the problem yourself.

Preventing overheating allows you to avoid costly and time-consuming repairs, and also increases the life of your laptop.

A few tips to help avoid overheating:

Implementation of these simple actions will help protect your laptop from overheating and ensure its long-term reliable operation.

A laptop is a complex device and operation at elevated temperatures inside the case can cause great harm to it. If you suspect your laptop is overheating, you should immediately check it using specialized utilities and if necessary, contact the service center.

Harmful, every owner knows. But not everyone has an idea of what exactly this “terrible beast” threatens a mobile computer. Meanwhile, excessive and prolonged overheating is the main cause of laptop breakdowns during the post-warranty period, and repairs are usually expensive for the owner.

Now we will talk about what to do if the laptop overheats, what it leads to and what the owner can do to avoid serious consequences.

What causes laptops to overheat and what are the consequences?

One of the differences between mobile computers and stationary computers is a cramped case in which it is impossible to accommodate a cooling system (CO) of significant power, especially with a reserve in case high loads. Manufacturers of mobile platforms are looking for, but do not always find, a compromise between the level of heat dissipation and the compactness of coolers. Therefore, laptop cooling systems do not cope well with exceeding the design load.

playing games for many hours, especially if the laptop is not designed for them;
blocking the ventilation holes of the case, for example, when the laptop is running on a soft surface;
contamination of the ventilation system with caked dust;
incorrect installation and poor fixation of the cooler in the case, as a result of which the radiator does not fit tightly to the surface of the cooled chip;
breakdown of the cooling system (cracks at the junction of radiators with heat pipes, etc.);
unsuccessful design solutions of the mobile platform.

But, in 80-85% of cases, laptop overheating occurs due to clogged ventilation. Depending on how dirty the room is, this occurs 3-12 months after purchasing or cleaning the device.

The most severe consequences of insufficient cooling of a laptop are violations of the solder contact of large microcircuits with their subsequent failure. Such microcircuits include a video chip, system logic(north and south bridges, hubs), central processor. All these components actively generate heat and must be adequately cooled.

If the heat dissipation is disrupted, a series of heating and cooling of the chip occurs with larger than normal temperature fluctuations, which gradually leads to the appearance of a soldering defect. Because of the bad electrical contact heating at the defect site intensifies, and the defect itself grows with each turn on and off of the laptop. A vicious circle arises: at this stage, even when eliminating external reasons overheating, the malfunction will progress and expensive repairs can no longer be avoided.

Diagnosis and elimination of cooling deficiency

You can determine whether a laptop is overheating or not by the following signs:

after a short period of work or when launching resource-intensive programs (games, videos), the laptop suddenly turns off;
cooling system fan spins high speed and makes noise;
utilities for monitoring temperatures of hardware resources () show figures of 70 ° C and above;
The laptop body is hotter than usual.

The presence of any of these signs is a reason to clean the cooling system.

Closed cleaning (preventive)

Closed cleaning of the laptop gives a good result, as long as the dust in the ventilation grille is not compressed into a felt boot. The technique involves blowing contaminants out of the ventilation system using a can of compressed air.

Procedure

Holding the cylinder vertically, bring its spout to the edge of the ventilation grille, and cover the rest of it with a napkin.
Press the cylinder valve for 1-2 seconds. — at this time, dust will be blown out from the opposite side of the grille.
Repeat the action until all the dust is gone.

There is no need to worry that you will spread dirt throughout the entire interior of the laptop: the fan compartment is fenced off from the inside with a wall, so dust will only come out.

It is optimal to carry out such prevention 1-2 times a month.

Open cleaning

The method by which the cooling system is dismantled can only be practiced experienced specialists. In some cases, this is very labor-intensive and requires great care.

Instructions for disassembling a laptop will help you correctly dismantle the system - a service manual, which can sometimes be found on the Internet by the name of the model. To access the cooling system, you usually first unscrew the screws on the bottom, then remove it, remove the bottom cover, and disconnect all interfering wires and parts. It is important to follow the order of unscrewing the radiator screws - it is indicated by numbers next to each screw.

After removing accumulations of dust, the fan impeller is wiped with a cloth moistened with isopropyl alcohol or dry, the old one is cleaned from the processor and other components, a fresh one is applied instead (a little bit) and the cooling system is put in place. Reassembling the laptop is done in the reverse order.

Open cleaning should only be carried out if there are obvious signs of overheating. There is no need to do it unless necessary.

Is your laptop starting to get hot? Does it work slowly, slow down in games, make a lot of noise or turn off completely? All laptop owners face this problem. Why does the laptop heat up and what to do in this case?

First you need to determine the cause of overheating and eliminate it. And in the future, in order to prevent overheating, you need to follow a number of tips. Read more about how to keep your laptop from overheating below.

Which laptop doesn't get hot? There is no such thing. Firstly, because compact sizes air circulates worse in it (compared to computer system units). Secondly, laptops are usually not designed for games and other “heavy” programs. Of course, you can run them, but not for long - the processor, video card and other components heat up very quickly, and the cooler does not have time to cool them. Therefore, it is impossible to do without breaks.

Why does my laptop overheat?

The reasons for a laptop overheating are very commonplace. And half of them are the negligence of users who do not comply with operating rules.

For example, the first and most common reason why a laptop makes noise and gets hot is dust. The noise comes from the cooler: the more dusty it is, the louder the sound.

In addition, dust clogs the ventilation holes, which impairs the performance of the cooling system. As a result, the laptop heats up to 90 degrees and begins to glitch and slow down.

In some cases it turns off completely. This protects the laptop from overheating. When the temperature becomes critical (above 100 degrees), the processor or video card may burn out. This is why the laptop turns off due to overheating (to prevent damage). And in the next 30 minutes it may not turn on at all - until it cools down.

The laptop also heats up quickly if you work on soft surfaces. Once again, this problem is caused by the users. They watch movies on the bed and then wonder why the laptop gets so hot. The reason here is simple: soft surfaces block the holes and interfere with normal air circulation. Plus there is much more dust on sofas and beds than on the table - and it also gets inside the laptop.

If you play modern toys, the laptop video card will overheat. After all, when starting the game, it heats up to high temperature(it’s the same on computers). But on laptops you have to take breaks, because one cooler cannot cope with cooling (in system units usually several fans are installed).

If you run heavy programs (Photoshop, video editors), the laptop processor will overheat. Although it is also loaded during games. IN in this case you also need to take breaks.

Of course, there are reasons that are beyond the control of users. These include cooler failure and thermal paste drying out. How to determine this? If the laptop heats up when idle (on the desktop) or turns off by itself, then most likely there are problems with the cooler or thermal paste.

Thermal paste is applied to the processor and video card. And it is absolutely necessary! With thermal paste, the temperature of the components is 30-40 degrees, and without it - 60-80 and higher. And this is in idle mode!

Another reason why a laptop overheats is high air temperature. This usually happens in the summer: during the hot season, everyone's laptops get hot. And even without any particular reason. But if in winter you sit near a radiator or heating device, then don’t be surprised why the laptop heats up and makes noise. In this case, it must be placed away from the heat source.

The above reasons are typical for all models: Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, HP Pavilion. Even powerful ones gaming laptops from MSI with a good cooling system are not immune to overheating. Especially if you play for a long time.

How can you tell if your laptop is overheating?

You can determine that your laptop is overheating by the following signs:

Loud cooler noise. Due to the high temperature inside the case, the system increases the number of fan revolutions. And you start to hear it. The laptop also makes a lot of noise if the cooler is clogged with dust. This is acceptable while playing or working in a program. But if the laptop makes noise immediately after turning it on, then there are obvious problems with the cooling system.
Heating of the case. You can easily understand this from the keyboard. If the buttons are warm, this is normal. But if they are too hot to touch, turn off the laptop and let it cool. And then look for the reason for such a high temperature.
Unstable work. The laptop slows down, works slowly, and sometimes freezes. This also signals possible problems with a cooling system (although this may not only be the case, but also the hard drive).
There are defects on the display. If strange stripes, squares, or ripples appear on the screen, this clearly indicates problems with the video card (possibly not only overheating, but also breakdown).
Malfunction of USB ports. The South Bridge is responsible for their work. If it gets too hot, some USB ports may not work.
Shutting down or rebooting for no reason. This protects the laptop from overheating.

The laptop is heating up: what to do?

So, you have determined that your laptop is getting very hot. What to do in this case? How to fix this problem? Here it is necessary to build on the cause and symptoms of overheating.

For example, if the laptop gets very hot and makes noise, then the problem is most likely dust. Remember when you last time did you clean it? If it’s been a long time, it makes sense to take it to a service center or clean it yourself (if you know how). It is recommended to remove dust at least once a year.

If your laptop gets hot while gaming, there are several solutions:

take breaks every 2-3 hours (depending on how quickly the laptop heats up);
play only on a discrete video card, and the rest of the time use the built-in one - it generates less heat (and the first one will cool down at this time);
Place the laptop on a flat surface and away from the battery and other heat sources.

Another reason why a laptop heats up while gaming is insufficient performance. Modern toys put a lot of stress on weak laptops, causing them to constantly overheat. And there are 2 options: either play old games or buy new model. Or try to reduce the load by setting the minimum settings in the game.

If the laptop heats up when idle, you need to check the functionality of the cooler. And if it breaks, repair or replace it.

If the laptop heats up to 90 degrees, be sure to check the thermal paste on the video card or processor. If it is dry, you need to contact a service center or apply it yourself. If after replacing the thermal paste the laptop still heats up, then there are 2 options: either it was applied incorrectly, or this was not the cause of the overheating.

What to do if the laptop overheats and turns off? In this case, you also need to check the thermal paste and the functionality of the cooler.

If the laptop overheats and turns off while playing, then the problem is most likely with the video card. Either there are some defects or the thermal paste has dried out. Although your laptop may simply be too weak for the game you are running. That's why it goes out.

place it only on flat surfaces (table or stand) and forget about sofas, armchairs and beds;
periodically take the laptop to a service center to clean it from dust (at least once a year);
install new system cooling (if the old one does not cope with its task);
Use a laptop cooling pad.

The last option is the most effective. It allows you to reduce overheating even in summer, plus with the stand you can work on your favorite sofa.

Remember that overheating of components is no joke. They can burn out, which will require expensive repairs. Or even buying new parts. Therefore, if your laptop gets very hot, you need to fix it as soon as possible.

That's all. Now you know why the laptop heats up and what to do in this case. Go through the tips described above (from simple to complex) - and the overheating problem should disappear.

The performance of computers and laptops has increased significantly in recent years. This led to increased performance in resource-intensive applications and games, as well as increased heat dissipation during device operation.

The following laptop components are subject to the most heat:

CPU;
video card;
south and north bridge.

In the worst case, increased heat can lead to a broken mobile PC and costly repairs.

Cooling system design

Each laptop has a special compact cooling system inside, which is designed to remove excess heat and ensure the normal functioning of components.

Let's look at the main types of cooling systems:

passive;
active;
liquid.

Passive systems include only a variety of radiators and heat-conducting tubes. They are used most often in devices characterized by relatively low productivity.

In addition to radiators and pipes, the active system includes radiators, heat pipes and fans. The latter are responsible for blowing heated passive elements and thereby improve heat transfer. This is the system used in most modern laptops.

Photo: liquid cooling system

A standard laptop cooling system consists of the following parts:

radiators;
heat-conducting copper plates and tubes;
thermal paste;
one or more fans.

Signs of heating

The service life of a mobile computer depends on the operating conditions and maximum temperatures to which it is exposed. In some cases, overheating may even cause the device body to melt. Recognizing cooling problems can be quite simple.

Let's look at the main signs of excessive PC heating:

Video: Cooling device

Causes and solutions

There can be many reasons for overheating. The user can eliminate most of them independently.

Main causes of overheating:

dustiness and contamination of internal parts;
dried thermal paste;
cooling system malfunction;
failure of motherboard components.