Using an overheating computer..

TerrorFirmer

Hi,

Firstly this is about a laptop, but I felt it would get more response here. I have an old ibm thinkpad t21, it's working fine but the fan doesn't work at the back. The weird thing is that when I start it up, the fan spins at a normal speed, but just stops almost straight away. Hence the laptop gets roasting hot when I'm playing counter strike or the like, and the very odd time it locks up. I'm sure all of this cannot be good for the internals of the lappy so I'm wondering, how long is it safe to use a laptop for that has no working fan? And why is the fan not working, is it a bios problem? Because the fan does work at start up every time....tried looking for a fan control program like the fangui for dell lappies but cant find anything...Don't care about games any longer, just for basic web browsing...

Specs are 700mhz p3, 8mb ati mobility, if this has a bearing on the overheating..

thanks

Karoma

no excuse.
Laptops forum

TerrorFirmer

my question was really about how long the cpu can stay running hot without damaging....I thought it would be a universal thing really

netman

HavoK wrote:

my question was really about how long the cpu can stay running hot without damaging....I thought it would be a universal thing really

In my experience it is damn near impossible to damage it with heat. I certainly never managed it... I've heard of people removing the entire heatsink & fan from a fully running CPU and that killed it, but you have to be pretty daft to do that.

Your system will suffer instability and lock-ups before you get to the point where you'll do any real damage.

Why not look into replacing the fan? Surely they couldn't cost more than a few euro

zuma

HavoK wrote:

my question was really about how long the cpu can stay running hot without damaging....I thought it would be a universal thing really

I think 700MHz Mobile P3's have thermal sensors which should shut down your computer once the temperature exceeds a certain level.

My OLD and now dead(old age!) P3 450MHz had a similar graphics card and cooling solution to yours and when I would leave it on the bed without proper airflow for too long the computer would turn off and refuse to start until its temperature returned to a certain level...I though I killed it when it first happened!!!

The SODIMM modules were protected by a metal shield and would become incredible hot....hot enough to burn almost and that scared me more than the actively cooled CPU in terms of overheating.

If performance decreases drastically as you play the game then turn if off and let it cool down, place it in a more ventilated area and relax!

TerrorFirmer

Thanks guys. Glad to hear that long term damage is difficult to acheive. I don't use it for gaming anymore, just net browsing and it hardly ever overheats at this use( at least not for a long time)...I'm convinced its a mobo issue, not the fan, as I said the fan starts up perfectly everytime, just cuts out once windows loads up. It passes diagnostics tests, just won't feckin turn on during regular use, so I think its a basic problem with the mobo controlling the fan.

By the time it locks up I could nearly cook a meal on its underside....

anyway, I will probably just sell it on as slightly faulty hardware...:D

KamiKazi

dont be too easy going.

my old laptop recently died because of overheating. ( not v. good for a €4k one )

get the fan issue sorted now.

TerrorFirmer

Jesus lads the laptop I just got to replace it, an old dell cpi, I'm after messing it up so that the k keys inputs 6, the l key inputs 7....was working fine before I installed a load of software, trying reinstallin os and no difference.....i must just have the worst luck with laptops

SouperComputer

HavoK wrote:

Jesus lads the laptop I just got to replace it, an old dell cpi, I'm after messing it up so that the k keys inputs 6, the l key inputs 7....was working fine before I installed a load of software, trying reinstallin os and no difference.....i must just have the worst luck with laptops

You sure numlock isnt on?

TerrorFirmer

lol....

yes

edit: lol unbelievable - I tried numlock and no avail but when I restarted it went back to normal....all that reformatting for nothing! my face sure is red...

paconnors

i use this when charging my battery and it doesent overheat anymore got one in galway branch 2 weeks ago for €30

zilog_jones

I'd be more concerned about the hard disk than anything else in the laptop - they certainly do not go down well with heat!

Cochise

boot the laptop and enter the bios and check if the fan is still running if so it has something to do with your windows. you could also invest in something like this; http://www.deltacomputers.com/images/NOTEBOOK-COOLER-ANGLE-200-2.jpg