HP DV7 Heat issue

[Bill MacIntyre]

I have been having tons of issues with my HP DV7 3080CA

8 GB Ram
GT230m gpu
i7 quad Processor
Win 8 Ultimate

When it gets to 58 degrees C (speedfan) it slows down to a crawl and video goes down to 1 or 2 fps. Even watching uTube gets very slow. I don't think 58 deg is all that hot is it?
Yes I realize HP's are known for heat issues.
I have done everything I an to fix this and don't know what else to try.

I leaned the fan and cooling fins
I replaced the thermal compound (metal) .
I checked for rootkits- OK
I checked for viruses using several scanners
I run MalwareBytes (paid ver) often- OK
Shutdown unneeded processes
Added an extra laptop blower fan to the bak of the vent-helps some.
I thought it might be bad ram put I just replaced the 6 GB with new 8 GB and no change.

Any ideas?

 

[ratedk]

When you re-did the thermal paste, did you check between the heatsink and the fan? Dust likes to collect there and create blockage. This can be easily checked by blowing into the exhaust - like a harmonica. Any built up dust will be expelled through the fan intake.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Well yes, DV series is notorious for overheating, but 58 C is not considered overheating, so you should not really be experiencing any throttling. It sounds more like there's a problem with your hardware; hopefully you didn't inadvertently damage something when you worked on it.

Are you seeing these results on battery or AC power?

 

[Bill MacIntyre]

The problem started before I opened the case
It does this on bat and power
The fan was cleaned with compressed air but the only thing is that when I turn the fan by hand it seems like there is a slight lubrication issue as it stops spinning almost right away.
I wouldnt think that would be enough to cause such a big heat problem.
The problem starts when the gpu reaches 58c but the corers are always about 2-5 hotter.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Sounds like there is a faulty component then, whether it actually be the GPU, the thermal sensor, or perhaps the ICH/PCH chip. Narrowing which one it is could be a hassle though.

 

[ratedk]

When you blow out the fan with canned air, you can very easily destroy it IF you don't stop it from turning (with a paperclip or something through the vents). The canned air forces the fan 100 mph faster than it was ever designed to spin. You'll hear the high pitched whirrr sound when it happens, after all, it's just plastic.

If you can remember the timeline of when you blew it out vs the freezing problem this may be the source. Fans are inexpensive on ebay. Since your familiar with taking it apart, it should be a cheap fix. You may consider a good cooling pad (CoolerMaster Notepal U2, or U3) as an alternative.

 

[Bill MacIntyre]

Got it...
When I removed the cooling solution to replace the compound, I failed to unscrew the fan from it. This time I did and it was full of dust bunnies where the air exhausts in 2 places.
Now it runs 10 degrees C cooler and hasn't frigged up yet.
I am thinking of also drilling some vent holes on the case bottom under the fan since the existing vent is tiny

 

[Prostar Computer]

I am thinking of also drilling some vent holes on the case bottom under the fan since the existing vent is tiny

Sometimes that's viable, and sometimes it's detrimental. It just depends on the cooling system and the thermal circulation.

 

[Bill MacIntyre]

I am thinking of also drilling some vent holes on the case bottom under the fan since the existing vent is tiny

Sometimes that's viable, and sometimes it's detrimental. It just depends on the cooling system and the thermal circulation.

Looks like a good idea in this case.
Since its a blower style fan, the air comes in from the top and bottom of the fan and exits the sides, unlike a traditional fan where it enters one side and exits the other. the opening in the case where the air comes in is tiny.
I have a fan like that out of a case and if I cover one side of the fan, the air that exits is reduced quite a bit.
also, the way the cooling solution is built, the dust comes in , blows around inside the fan and collects on the inside of the 2 vents on the way out. It has no other way to get out. The loose dust particles could pass thru but dust bunnies are stuck in there.
If you use compressed air to clean the vents, the dust is pushed inside the fan assy and when you turn on the fan it is again pushed against the inside of the vents.With bigger holes (and a screen) I would think more dust could escape when blown out.

 

[Prostar Computer]

You can get a decent air compressor as well for $50-$60. It will save you from purchasing cans repeatedly and has more power, not to mention it doesn't lose it's force as quickly and isn't prone to moisture. This one seems to get high marks (I'm considering buying one myself): http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16896367002

If you're going to make mods, you could also put some copper RAM heat sinks and/or some thermal tape on there.

 

[Bill MacIntyre]

I am revisiting this post because my Lenovo Laptop died so I had to revert back to this DV7
I installed Windows 10 and it still seems to work ok for several minutes and then gets so sloooooow its almost un-useable.
It is very clean and new metal thermal paste
And I did drill holes under the fan but doesn't help much
It does get very hot when watching video (for example) but even when it feels just warm, just watching youtube will slow down to 1 frame every 5 seconds.

I am wondering if I should try to find a compatible processor and swap it in to see if it works any better.

 

[Bill MacIntyre]

Eureka
It seems to be working ok now
I placed 2 copper shims (from raspberry Pi heatsinks) on top of the 2 smaller chips- GPU and something else between chips and the heat sink assembly.
Ran it for a few hours last night and only seemed to slow down once when I was copying a big folder and trying to process an Outlook PST file with a free PST reader.
The sound got raspy for a bit, other than that seems to run good.
Moral of the story- anyone having CPU/GPU thermal issues, make sure there's good contact between the chips and the heat sinks.

I assume that if there is intermittent solder connections on the chips, that having the extra thick shim would help to give increased pressure pushing the chip against the board and possibly reduce issues.

 

[Bill MacIntyre]

The jury is not out yet on this issue.
I had video choppiness return often after my last post.
I am not positive if this is a fix or not, but I reset some advanced Power settings that seem to improve the situation.
I was thinking it could not be merely a heat issue because the problem seems to begin soon after restarting the paptop and happens qhen the GPU is not much over 55 deg C which is not very hot.
So I set the Min CPU which was 5%, changed it to 50% and Maybe a few other settings like not shutting down the HD or screen after 10 mins.
Seems to work quite well with those settings.
There's one other thing I did that probably helps some but didn't seem to cure the issue by itself and that was to stick a bunch of 1/2 inch square copper shims to the underside of the keyboard- I cut away the plastic in the area above the gpu heatsink on the mobo which helps to increase heat transfer to the metal underside of the kbd.
But like I said, If I reset the power settings back to factory it seems that my issues return