Is my laptop running too hot?

[DanyAFS]

Hey guys!

So, I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop. It has an Intel Core i5-3230m and an AMD Radeon HD 7670M 2GB.

It's summer here and temperatures are getting pretty hot... my room temperature is around 26-30 degrees Celsius. And I notice my laptop getting a bit hotter, but a bit more than expected (I suppose).

CPU on idle runs at 58-60 degrees, under full load, 68-70 degrees. After 3-4 hours of use, idle goes up to 65-68, and full load up to 77-78.

When playing games, it can get as high as 95 degrees. Highest I got was 98 degrees.

The graphics card is around 57-58 degrees on idle after the 3-4 hours of use, forgot to check before those 3 hours. When gaming, it can go up to 80 degrees.

I am using RealTemp and HWMonitor to check the temps.

These temps are for Power Saver mode. When Gaming, I put my computer in High Performance. If I put it in High Performance when not gaming, temps can go up 5 to 10 degrees.

My laptop is gonna complete 2 years on August 31st 2015. And that's when the warranty ends.

I am using a stand like this one, so the air flows quite well: http/www.divinecreations.co.in/image/data/Laptop%20stand%203.jpg

Are those temps normal, because it's summer and ambient temperature is high? Didn't had these issues before summer started... CPU used to be around 45-48 degrees when idle, and 60-65 under full load before summer. 75-80 when gaming, could get to 85 degrees in long gaming sessions.

I tried cleaning the fan through the holes with a compressor (very carefully, short bursts, etc etc so I wouldn't damage it). Almost no dust came out of it.

I haven't opened the laptop yet because it will void warranty if I do so.

Since the warranty hasn't ended yet, should I take it to the store where I bought the laptop and see if they can fix it?

If you need any more info, let me know. Thanks in advance.

 

[velo3100]

The temps are way too high. You will need to cool down the laptop as 98 is approaching critical. Anything above 90 for laptops is considered bad. Try and keep it between 60 - 80 if it is possible.

 

[DanyAFS]

They only get above 90 in long gaming sessions. First 2 hours it doesn't go above 88 degrees, after that it can go as high as 98 in rare instances.

As I said, I only started having these problems when summer started and the ambient temperature went up considerably.

The other day, the room temperature was 22-25, it was a colder day than usual, and the PC was idling at 53-55 degrees Celsius. I gamed a bit and it went up to 84 max. And that was playing Witcher 2, which is the most CPU and GPU intensive game that I have for my laptop.

With this said, I am more convinced that it is the ambient temperature causing this more than anything, but I may be wrong.

Today the ambient temperature is pretty high again. My room temperature is at 30 degrees celsius. But the laptop seems better today, it has been on for 5 hours and it's still idling at 60-62 degrees, it's not going up to 68 idle after 3 hours of use like the other days.

Thanks for the answer velo!!

I considered getting a cooling pad, but it's probably not worth it... what do you guys think?

 

[DanyAFS]

Turns out it was an AVG issue... it was putting too much load on the CPU (for some reason, it didn't show up in the Task Manager). Today it updated and it no longers loads the CPU as much as before. Now I'm idling at 44-50 degrees and when gaming it only goes up to 75-80 max.

 

[velo3100]

Then most likely then it is the ambient temps as 44 - 50 is hot for idle. Gaming is understandable but still on the high side. I would get a cooling pad to cool down the laptop. Also something that I have learned that may help you is to remove the battery as this can increase the temps by 5 - 15 degrees in my experience. This assumes that the battery is removeable.

 

[DanyAFS]

Then most likely then it is the ambient temps as 44 - 50 is hot for idle. Gaming is understandable but still on the high side. I would get a cooling pad to cool down the laptop. Also something that I have learned that may help you is to remove the battery as this can increase the temps by 5 - 15 degrees in my experience. This assumes that the battery is removeable.

Thanks for the tip about the battery! Didn't knew that.

I just ordered a cooling pad today

 

[DanyAFS]

Just posting this here so people know how effective the cooling pad that I bought is on my laptop.

I acquired a DeepCool X6 Multi Core. 22 euros, 121.4 CFM, 2 big fans + 2 small fans. The big ones have 1000 RPM and the small ones 1300 RPM.

After using the cooling pad, the computer idles at 45 degrees Celsius max (as opposed to 50 degrees before using the cooling pad). Minimum idle temp now is 42 degrees celsius.

While browsing the web, it goes up to 52 degrees max, it could go up to 58 before putting the cooling pad.

As for gaming, it stays on the 65-73 degrees range. It can go up to 80 degrees, but only on loading screens for example.

Not a huge difference, but it's better than nothing. The biggest difference was on the HDD temps. Since the two small fans cover the HDD area of my laptop, the temps of the HDD went down from 42 to 34.

GPU also stays 3-5 degrees cooler than before.

The only complaint I have about this product is that the panel where the laptop rests isn't all connected. If you see some pics of it you will understand. As such, some areas of the laptop aren't cooled because there is no air flowing there.