HP DV7t Overheating

[blitzburgh39]

I have an HP D7t.

Since I bought it in August of 2010, it has had major issues. (including freezing during standby and waking up due to the video card (ati mobility hd5850 i believe). But another issue has been plaguing my laptop: Overheating. The shell of the laptop is metal, and it gets scolding towards the heatsink and all around it. It is really starting to annoy me. Running either Ubuntu or W7 at low loads makes my laptop run extremely hotter than necessary. So my question is: Is there a fix without buying a cooler bottom thing? Because I refuse to have one. I just want a normal laptop that does not over heat and does not sound like an airplane (which is does right now as i type this). Should I sell this laptop and just buy a less powerful one? This laptop is annoying to have in public because of the sound. I want to be able to sit down and watch a movie with others around and it not be loud as hell, which it always is.

I am very close to just listing this on ebay and buying a new one.

Specs:

Intel i7 1.6ghz
8gb ram
hd radeon mobility hd5850 (i believe)

Halp!

 

[blitzburgh39]

My current cpu core temperatures are 75°C for browsing just the internet in google chrome. I just want a laptop that is not hot all the time and is quiet. Is this just because this is an HP and they have poor air flow designs? Or is it because of the i7 and the graphics card? Because i am sure it is mostly HP.

 

[hpdeskjet]

It's poor airflow design. My old Dell never had a problem with overheating.

 

[LordConrad]

I've had three different HP laptops and never had any issues with them. No manufacturer is perfect, you probably got a bad one that slipped through the production line. Call HP and do this: Talk to customer service and ask to speak with a supervisor, then tell them about all the problems this laptop has had. Tell them they need to get your laptop working correctly or you will have to stop recommending their products.

 

[blitzburgh39]

But my warranty is up? Does that matter? I hate this piece of crap.

 

[LordConrad]

If your warranty is up, and you didn't get an extended warranty, then HP will require you to pay for repairs. No manufacturer will help when you're out of warranty. All you can do now is buy a laptop cooler and make do with what you've got, or buy a new laptop.

 

[blitzburgh39]

Yeah. I think I am just going to sell this on ebay and then buy a less powerful one.

I paid 1200 for it in August of 2010. What do you think I could get for it? 600 maybe?

Thanks.

 

[Wave Fusion]

Having owned on myself, I can tell you the i7-720QM runs very hot even while idle.
Furthermore, the Radeon HD 5850 is a very large card for an HP laptop.

The ENVY 17 was the last computer to use this card, even through 2011; and it got numerous complaints about excess heat.

There is very little in the way of native cooling that can be done. These parts are simply very thermally inefficient.

Also owning a modernized dv7, the i7-2720QM idles much better, the fan can shut completely off. Also, my AMD Radeon HD 6770M is half the physical size of the 5850, but just as fast. The smaller size means less waste heat even under load.

Assuming you don't want to buy an updated unit; your best bet is unfortunately to use a cooler.

This CPU/GPU combination was indeed a lemon, hence why HP doesn't combine similar parts anymore. (Perhaps until they advance in cooling technology, which they have [coolsense])

 

[Wave Fusion]

Depending on whether you need the same processing power, or could get by with less,..

You could pick up the AMD version of the dv6 for around $600.
I've gifted 3 of these units, and since they use a single 35W APU instead of a 45W CPU + ~40W-60W GPU, they are cool and quiet pretty much all the time.

Or you could get the DV7 quad edition (which I use personally) and get the associated performance and efficiency improvements on a familiar platform.
It's also the only unit with a 2 year standard warranty and a subwoofer, which when tuned correctly is amazing.

 

[blitzburgh39]

Yeah. I cannot even go into standby correctly or it freezes. sometimes playing flash video makes the green video thing happen and it bsod's.

Damn. Well... I wonder how much I can get for this laptop, because I am done with HP. I want to go to Asus/Acer. I have no idea why I went with HP anyway.

 

[Wave Fusion]

Yeah. I cannot even go into standby correctly or it freezes. sometimes playing flash video makes the green video thing happen and it bsod's.

Damn. Well... I wonder how much I can get for this laptop, because I am done with HP. I want to go to Asus/Acer. I have no idea why I went with HP anyway.

Of the two I think ASUS is more reputable in the performance/reliability range.
Lenovo is also expanding very rapidly.. I've seen some interesting designs from them.
I also like Toshiba, but I'm wary about Nvidia so that more or less pushed me with HP.

It sucks that you have to know the thermodynamics of the internal components just to guess whether or not it will run too hot or sound like a power drill, or both.
Some OEMs are putting wattages next to parts now on the spec sheet, but you still depend on them to use some good judgement in grouping up parts and finding ways to cool them.

In general, I try to get 2 year standard warranties if possible, but they are exceedingly rare in the industry today. I've always found the longer a free warranty is, the less likely you'll have to use it.

Paying for an extended warranty feels just like gambling on a failure to happen in year 1 or 2 but NOT the 3rd year.

You might want to wait until this year's hardware refresh, if you can.
Otherwise, good luck

 

[soccerdocks]

I own a Dell Studio XPS 1645 with a i7-720QM and HD 5730 mobility. I had similar issues to what you were having about a month ago. My idle temps were about 70 C and my load temps were 95+ C. It would shut down from getting to hot anytime I played a game for more than 5 minutes and the case of the laptop would be extremely hot to the touch.

So I decided to take a look at the thermal paste. It had solidified leaked out everywhere (Dell used WAY too much paste). So I replaced it with Arctic Silver 5 and now my CPU idles at about 48-50 and my GPU at about 45. Load temps for both haven't gotten above 78. And when they are that high, the rest of the laptop isn't that hot. Even after a 4 hour gaming session it stays pretty cool to the touch.

If you're comfortable I'd recommend doing the same thing and replacing the thermal paste on both the GPU and CPU with AS 5 or a similarly well rated compound. Its a cheap fix and isn't too hard to do.

Oh, and while you do that make sure you clean out any dust that's in the fan or exhaust fins.

 

[blitzburgh39]

What sucks is that over the last summer I reapplied arctic silver thermal paste on the gpu and cpu. It was cooler for like a month. Then it just went back to normal. I just ordered some more. I will do that again and clean it out, but it is probably mostly clean. Since I am at college I live in a dorm with minimal dust and no pets obviously. But at home I have multiple pets... We will see. Like I am just sitting here typing in chrome and my fan is loud and spewing heat. It is just annoying. Its good to know that it is something I have little control of.

But like I asked before, does anyone know how much money I could get for this? Besides these issues it is great and plays games very well.

 

[blitzburgh39]

Well. All is well. I just went and bought some arctic silver and reapplied. I forgot when I cleaned everything out last summer that i missed cleaning out where the heatsink and the fan part connects. I did not know it came undone. As soon as I opened it, a thick padding of fur and dust came out. I think that was my problem. The thermal paste was fine but i reapplied some anyway.

With the same conditions by current cpu temp just typing this is 49°C. Down almost 25°C from before. Holy crap.

 

[cbrunnem]

Also owning a modernized dv7, the i7-2720QM idles much better, the fan can shut completely off. Also, my AMD Radeon HD 6770M is half the physical size of the 5850, but just as fast. The smaller size means less waste heat even under load.

[coolsense])

just because its a smaller die doesn't mean it runs hotter. in some cases it would actually be the other way around. its easier to cool something with a larger surface area then a small one. and if you say they have the same performance chances are they have the same power usage approx.

not relevant to the OP though.

 

[LordConrad]

Well. All is well. I just went and bought some arctic silver and reapplied. I forgot when I cleaned everything out last summer that i missed cleaning out where the heatsink and the fan part connects. I did not know it came undone. As soon as I opened it, a thick padding of fur and dust came out. I think that was my problem. The thermal paste was fine but i reapplied some anyway.

With the same conditions by current cpu temp just typing this is 49°C. Down almost 25°C from before. Holy crap.

By any chance, do you ever set your laptop on the floor while it's still turned on?