Dell Studio 14z hot without heavy use

Dumhed

Honorable
Jun 28, 2013
1
0
10,510
I have a Dell Studio 14z, about two years old. There several issues with it... one, the battery is shot (so I will order a new one... it does not hold charge).

Also, it gets really hot... even when I am not using any video or higher demand programs. It will happen even when the only "active" program I have open is notepad. And, no memory hogs running the background. I am also fairly diligent about malware protection.

Now, it doesn't always happen. But when it does, you hear the fan going at full strength.

I've checked for dust, the vents look clean. Is there anything I should do to figure out what the problem is? Could it be a memory issue?

I have not yet resorted to a clean reinstall... I'd like to avoid it if I can.

 

blackcell989

Honorable
Jun 9, 2013
7
0
10,520
Have you tried powering the laptop without the battery inserted? See if the laptop is running really hot. Check the power settings in the control panel (Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options) to see what it is set to.

Maybe you need to open up the laptop itself to see if there is any dust inside. You may need to replace the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU.

Invest in one of the cooling pads if all else fails.