Laptop Temperature?

michael_w
michael_w Posts: 2,813
edited April 2024 in Clubhouse Archives
Well I've been working as an intern at this large company, that is based on making products for data capture solutioins, for about three months now. They had a whole wack of computers they were going to sell. Among those was everything from decent servers to 3" thick ibm laptops :p . I was going to buy one of the laptops they were selling off (not one of the ancient ones) and the night before they were going to sell them I was told I had a christmas present. That night I got to take home a laptop of my choice for free :D I couldn't believe it... that totally made my day. (been a few days now and I'm still giddy ;) )

Anyways, my question was concerning how hot laptops are supposed to get. The bottom of it where the processor is seems to get fairly hot. I also have a hard drive monitor that shows the hard drive is running at around 40° (104 farenheit). I looked up the hard drive specs and it's ambient temperature rating is 5 to 55 degrees (celcius). Are laptops supposed to run fairly hot on the bottom? It only has a single tiny fan that kicks in when things start to get pretty hot or the system is working hard.

Thanks,
Michael
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited December 2005
    O yeah forgot some info on the computer so I'll just do a little double post here...

    Compaq Armada M700
    Pentium III 850 Mhz
    576 mb of ram
    40 gb hitachi hard drive
    14.1 inch screen
    dvd-rom drive
    Right now I have it running on windows xp pro and I'm loving it so far.
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 6,838
    edited December 2005
    Laptops run hotter, no doubt about it. Those are prefectly normal temperatures for a laptop hardrive. The CPU will probably run 50-60C. Other components are a little cooler. If you want to see what the CPU temp is, there are a slew of CPU monitoring software tools out there. Nice present from them.
    For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore...
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  • ublguy
    ublguy Posts: 51
    edited December 2005
    Most laptops can't be used on your lap for a long time because of the heat. It is recommended to use it on a flat surface. Places to be careful are, on your bed/blanket will block the fans.

    Also, most laptops/OS have protection on heat. So if you have run into problems with shutting down then look into solutions.

    Congrats on the kick **** xmas gift!
    Receiver: Denon-3802
    Pre-Amp: (2) Outlaw 200-m
    Fronts: Lsi9's
    Center: CS1
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited December 2005
    You definitely have to keep the bottom of any laptop clear because of the air flow, but yes, they will run much hotter than a desktop. Typically, a Centrino will run cooler, but not by a huge amount.
    comment comment comment comment. bitchy.
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2005
    That laptop is using a standard desktop processor, which makes it run much hotter than a modern laptop. However, you're still within the limits. As others have said, always try to have it on a hard, flat surface for the best airflow. Anything else will block in intake vents. And, be happy you got a good laptop for a great price! :D
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited December 2005
    Thanks people. I've been making sure that when I use it with it just sitting on my bed that it's propped up by a couple small boxes and not just sitting flat with a blanket moulding to the bottom with no room for anything to get out.

    It's perfect if I'm cold. Just boot up the laptop and let it run for a while :p

    Since I got rid of my ht setup and gone strictly 2 ch I havn't been watching movies much... Now I can just use the laptop to play movies and hook it up to my bed 2 ch system (modded sonic impact t-amp, athena as-b1's). ;)
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  • cmy330go
    cmy330go Posts: 2,341
    edited December 2005
    Here is some useless trivia for you. :D

    Laptop computers are now usually referred to as "Notebooks" because of the excessive heat making it uncomfortable to hold on your lap.
    HT
    Mits WD-65737, DirecTV, Oppo DV-970HD, XBOX ONE, Yamaha RX-A1030, Parasound Halo A23, Rotel RB-985, Music Hall MMF-7, Parasound PPH-100, LSi-15, LSi-C, LSi-FX, LSi-7, PSW-1000, Monster HTS2600

    2 CH
    Parasound Halo P3, Parasound Halo A21, Sutherland Ph.D, VPI Classic 3 w/ 3D arm & Soundsmith Aida Cartridge, Arcam CD72T, B&W 802 S3, Monster HTS2500,
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited December 2005
    That's pretty funny... I have noticed at times that it starts to get almost uncomfortable to have on my lap because of the heat.

    Has anyone tried a notebook cooler? I'm thinking about this one ~link~ I wouldn't mind one with a usb hub built in, a memory card reader and all that other fancy crap but can't really be bothered to spend that much extra for features I'll use once in a while.

    I'm wondering if I just cut a grid into a piece of aluminum (like a heat sink) would be more advantagous... Just have to figure out how to cut aluminum like that :p I could do it easily at school with mdf or something but it doesn't have nearly the same conductive properties of aluminum.
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  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited December 2005
    is it a dell?

    http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,123979,00.asp
    Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
    Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
    Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
    Backburner:Krell KAV-300i
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2005
    michael_w wrote:
    O yeah forgot some info on the computer so I'll just do a little double post here...

    Compaq Armada M700
    Pentium III 850 Mhz
    576 mb of ram
    40 gb hitachi hard drive
    14.1 inch screen
    dvd-rom drive
    Right now I have it running on windows xp pro and I'm loving it so far.
    ....
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2005
    Hey michael... see if you can score one for a friend in need ;)

    I'm in need... really! I need one so that I can go into businesses and work on their networks without displacing an employee, but I don't have the money to go get a new one :o.
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited December 2005
    haha... oops. it'd help if I read that. Anyhow, high temps on a laptop are pretty normal. On my roommate's you could feel the heat through 3/4" plywood after about a half hour of it sitting on his desk. Some models use the back of the computer as a heatsink...
    Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
    Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
    Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
    Backburner:Krell KAV-300i
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  • ublguy
    ublguy Posts: 51
    edited December 2005
    michael_w wrote:
    That's pretty funny... I have noticed at times that it starts to get almost uncomfortable to have on my lap because of the heat.

    Has anyone tried a notebook cooler? I'm thinking about this one ~link~ I wouldn't mind one with a usb hub built in, a memory card reader and all that other fancy crap but can't really be bothered to spend that much extra for features I'll use once in a while.

    I'm wondering if I just cut a grid into a piece of aluminum (like a heat sink) would be more advantagous... Just have to figure out how to cut aluminum like that :p I could do it easily at school with mdf or something but it doesn't have nearly the same conductive properties of aluminum.

    The problem with some of these is that they take away power from the notebook and your battery dies even faster. But I have heard they do work a bit even if it is just blowing the same hot air around.
    Receiver: Denon-3802
    Pre-Amp: (2) Outlaw 200-m
    Fronts: Lsi9's
    Center: CS1
    Rear: R15
    Sub: 12" Velodyne
    TV: Sony 42" LCD - KDF-E42A10
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited December 2005
    I think I'll just stick to a piece of wood with some feet on it to raise the laptop up a little. Last night I was looking around for something to prop it up a bit and remembered I had four feet leftover from when I put feet on my sonic impact t-amp. (see pic) Hopefully they'll raise it up enough to help out a little. This way I'll actually have something to do for about 20 minutes in shop class at school :p I could try installing some small fans if I get really ambitious....

    I'd love to help you get a laptop but I don't think I can... It was pretty much an employee thing and everything was auctioned off at work on friday. My uncle even asked me to get him a cheap desktop but I wasn't able to get anything for him.
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