Question if my laptop overheated and died,

[Marking]

if my laptop overheated and died, what is it that is probably damaged? the motherboard?

 

[Wolfshadw]

Just about everything in a laptop requires cooling, so without knowing WHAT overheated and caused the shutdown, it could be just about anything; the motherboard, the CPU, the RAM, the graphics card... just about anything.

-Wolf sends

 

[Marking]

GOOD NEWS! The laptop I though had completely died actually started up today. I had tried several times yesterday and nothing. Now on 3rd day it is running normally although a bit hot still and I worry it will overheat again so am thinking I should take it apart and give it a good dusting/cleaning. Especially the fans. Anything else I should do while it's apart? Change out the thermal paste maybe? Any ideas/help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Good news indeed! Just make sure everything is as it should be:

• CPU speed
• RAM amount
• Disk Space
• Primary Graphics (if a discrete card was installed)

How old is the unit? If it's less than a few years, I doubt the thermal paste needs changing (unless it's been under extreme conditions the entire time). For the record, I've owned several laptops over the years and have never felt the need to change the thermal paste.

To be honest, I'm not sure taking it apart is even necessary. The only thing I've ever done is use a can of compressed air on the exhaust vents (blowing into each side straight on as well as at an angle) and that usually was enough. This isn't to discourage you from doing so, just my experience.

Heh... of course, that might be why one of my RAM slots died on my last Dell laptop. 😉 Or it could have just been the fact that it was seven years old.

-Wolf sends

 

[Marking]

Okay, thanks for info. Laptop is 5 years old and it probably could be considered under extreme conditions somewhat as I use a wood fire stove so it's pretty dusty and sometimes for months and months I have gamed 24/7 . Now mostly I do photo editing which is resource hog too.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'd still start with just cleaning the vents with a can of compressed air to see if that helps at all. Now that it's running, I'd probably take note of the running temps while under your normal usage. Then I would shut the unit down, let it cool down for an hour or so; then hit it with the compressed air and then recheck the temps under your normal usage again to see if they've decreased at all. If so, you're good. If not, that's when you might want to consider taking it apart for some more detailed cleaning (still not suggesting a thermal paste replacement yet).

-Wolf sends

 

[Marking]

I'd still start with just cleaning the vents with a can of compressed air to see if that helps at all. Now that it's running, I'd probably take note of the running temps while under your normal usage. Then I would shut the unit down, let it cool down for an hour or so; then hit it with the compressed air and then recheck the temps under your normal usage again to see if they've decreased at all. If so, you're good. If not, that's when you might want to consider taking it apart for some more detailed cleaning (still not suggesting a thermal paste replacement yet).

-Wolf sends

okay thanks Wolfshadow.