Hardware Temperatures on Older Laptop

Hello,

We have and older laptop, HP G60-127NR.
We also have it on a laptop pad with builtin fan.
Lately, in the lower left and around the touch pad it seems warmer than usual.

So, we installed Speccy and CPUID HDMonitor to check the temps.
The CPU and HD seem to be at normal temps.

The motherboard....well, seems warm to us, but not sure what normal temperature ranges are!
It does get up to 70C.

The computer seems to be running OK.....no lock ups, problems turning the system on, no shutdowns, no BSD at all.

Do we have a problem?
Is the MoBo hard to replace, ie any soldering involved.


Thanks.

No soldering for a laptop motherboard, but they're not fun or easy to replace. Usually the CPU comes soldered on, so they're expensive... More than a used latitude of eBay, usually.

I'd Google the model, see if there's a heatsink anywhere but on the couch. If there is, yours might be dirty, or just need fresh paste.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe
I think MOBO's on a laptop are like me replacing the bearings in my alternator. It is possible, but perhaps not cost or time effective??

You would have to completely disassemble the entire housing as opposed to simply popping the covers for RAM and HDD. It may make more sense for the sake of saving hardship to perhaps find a refurb??

Lord knows I need one! Im missing half my keys, and its connected to a monitor due to broken screen. Its also loaded with a # ton of malware due to chirens downloading everything that pops up!

I assume yours is in better order.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Often times the thermal paste gets dried out, so you can re-do the thermal paste on the fans/cpu/gpu. It's a bit of work, but you can also just blast out some dust with compressed air.

If it's really crusty inside, the motherboard can be ultra sonically cleaned but that might cost as much as the board. It depends on who does it and knows how to do it.

Did the battery every get changed? Old lithium ion batteries get really hot. Try using it plugged in minus the battery. An old battery will get damn hot.

If you go with thermal paste you might as well just splurge for a new after market fan since it's just as much work re-pasting.

a reply to: Umberto
Good idea on leaving the battery out. Due to how quickly the kids killed the portability on mine, it stays in one spot so I never used the battery. In fact, I do believe I sold it on ebay since. Keeps your battery life much longer too.

All I know is that my cousin does notebook rebuilds, and he never does anything with the MOBO's. He just upgrades RAM, HDD, and/or CPU depending on the product. If its fried he salvages what he can and gives me whats left for scrap.

My Uncle's name is Umberto

a reply to: Umberto

We replaced the battery last year.

Also, what is this paste that is mentioned? OK...looked that up...seems a bit beyond our comfort level.


We vacuumed the outer vents, so no visible dirt/dust.
And removed the back where the HD and MoBo is....no visible dirt there either.

The fan is hard to get at....you'd have to take the whole back off the lappy, as it has no separate panel.

Interesting idea on leaving the battery out while plugged in!!!


Is the MoBo running too hot?
We could not find a definite answer for temp ranges online.

If u have a aircompressor blow it out with that or buy some simply vacuuming probly wont do the trick ... oppen the drain plug of ur air compressor first if u have humidity

70 is not exactly insane high temps but high it will thermal shutdown if in danger

Mobo temps are so variable its most likaly dust and compressed air will fix it

That temp could be taken from under ur cpu socket or from the southbrige hard to say

If it boots u dont need a new mothboard nore would i recomend oppening a laptop but some not all have a pannle that gives u accsess to the cpu for upgrades check for that also

To make u fell better tho my coolent temps hit 50c all the time gpu hits 65 to 70c thermal shutdown is 100c my cpu shutdown is 65c most computer parts are tough as nails people just dont give credit to the abuse they can take

When u hit 70c tho make shure u dont make it cold fast ull crack the solder

I used to run various simulations on my old Sony VAIO laptop - it was the CPU that would meltdown first - reaching 91C and then automatically shut off. Funny thing was that GPU based texture mapping didn't bake the CPU or the GPU. Not even Blender. If the CPU and GPU and memory are OK, the system is OK.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Hey there DToM!

Few options here. First 70C is normal for consumer hardware. It's at the very top of normal but still within operating range. It's summer time now in the US so you would expect those temps to rise from the ambient temp as well. First thing you should do, as another user pointed out is spray out all the nooks and crannies with canned air. Make sure you have no dust bunnies lying around and make sure those fan blades are very clean.

If that is done, you may have fans that are not operating at maximum efficiency. You could attempt to replace those if you think that may be an issue.

From my experience and preference, when you are considering changing mobos, it's simply time to upgrade to a new system.

a reply to: markovian
a reply to: JinMI

Yes, we have canned air....will give that a try.



a reply to: stormcell
Well, we don't know if the GPU is doing anything abnormal.....or running hot.
How would you know?


THANKS!!!

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
Yes, we have canned air....will give that a try.

Probably not strong enough. Know any SCUBA divers? They can help you with your compressed air needs.

a reply to: Snarl

Nope!
Canned air will have to do.
And, the insides we can see look pretty darn clean!

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: Snarl

Nope!
Canned air will have to do.
And, the insides we can see look pretty darn clean!

Try a vacuum cleaner with a narrow nozzle . After removing the battery and power from the laptop, vacuum out from where the fan exhaust is
Key is to remove dust from laptop , nor pack it in.
Surprising how little dust on just the trace lines can cause a lot of resistance
And resistance = heat.
70 C is warm even for the CPU

ETA - the above will not do much good with canned air or vacuum if the laptop has heatpipes.Will actually have to open it up
Fear not. Most manufacturers have a good service guide on their respective websites that walk you through the process
Required :
A hell of a lot of patience
A good screwdriver and a couple of extra bits for it (some laptops are user friendly and have just a handful of screws)
Most likely a magnifying glass or reading glasses (a lot of laptop connections are ZIF sockets)
More patience
Time (take breaks)

a reply to: markovian
You have a desktop or laptop ?

A friend had a laptop that would overheat and shut off after a few minutes. I looked and found the cpu heatsink and fan assembly was stuffed up with dust. I cleaned it all out and repasted the cpu with new paste. Ran normally afterwards. Check out youtube for videos on how to add memory to you specific system and taking it apart. You might have hidden dust bunnies that could still be blocking the system. And new paste on the cpu never hurts too.

The GPU in the HP G60 is on the left of the touchpad. The CPU is a little higher than that - under where the WASD keys are on the keyboard.

Your problem sounds like it's GPU related, and it probably just means that the thermal paste that conducts heat from the GPU to the heatsink has dried out or isn't very effective.

Sometimes laptops even use thermal pads instead of paste (which have quite low conductivity).
Your best bet, if you're up to it, is disassembly - remove the heatsink, clean with isopropyl alcohol, and replace the thermal paste with something new and better.

Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut is a great option. It has the best conductivity I've seen. It also comes in a kit with instructions, spatula etc. to help apply it.

If you look on Youtube, or just google "HP G60 teardown" you'll likely find video and info to help.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for contributing your time and ideas and information.
The vacuuming and canned air seems to have helped the most.
The information is valuable to know more about what is what inside the laptop.