Although a common problem among most if not all laptops, my gateway m460e puts off more heat than my barbeque grill. Most of the heat seems to come from the hard drive, unless im gaming. Then the fan switches on and blows out some HOT air. I was thinking about roasting some marshmellows next time i play quake 4. My roommate also has a gateway lappy. Its a different model, but it doesn't seems to get nearly as hot. So my question is, are there any solutions for this?
I thought about replacing the fan, but its integrated into the whole heatsink.

my camera is packed away somewhere, or i would post some of the heatsink assembly.

The only thing i could find was the laptop coolers that the lappy sit on. Do you think those are worth it?

Thanks

I have only owned 1 laptop, but I have read posts from other people that said they are pretty useless. How are your temps? If they are in a decent range then I wouldn't worry about it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sn0wMan I have only owned 1 laptop, but I have read posts from other people that said they are pretty useless. How are your temps? If they are in a decent range then I wouldn't worry about it.

Im not sure of the temps cause i can't find what motherboard is in there. I've looked everywhere. It doesn't come up on CPUz either. Right now i have it up on cig packs and a 8 inch fan blowing underneath, which seems to help. One time i even rested the laptop on four ice packs.. lol

Notebook Coolers
Vantec LPC-401 LapCool 3 Notebook Cooler
Buy.com - Vantec LapCool 3 Laptop Cooler - LPC-401
Syba CL-NBCP-4U Notebook Cooler Pad w/4-Port USB 2.0 Hub at ZipZoomfly

If Gateway M460E Specs. Laptops Specifications. is your laptop, this is surprising. It doesn't even have external graphics...and has a mobile CPU so it should be pretty cool.

My main rig's CPU (I have a laptop) runs at circa 70c under load, and the GPU around 100c in FEAR - but note, these are safe temperatures because mobile processors have more tolerance to heat (that's a reason why they're more expensive.)

OK, first thing I would suggest is to crack her open, apply some AS5 to the CPU and GPU (most laptop manufacturers use cheapo thermal pads that really suck) and air-dust the entire inside. You'll be amazed at how much dust can accumulate in a laptop, and more importantly, how much it can affect your running temps too.

Also, you could see about removing any unnecessary mesh that is covering your fan intake(s). Reza found a second layer in his machine, and apparently removing it has cooled his machine down.

Regarding laptop coolers, people generally tend to benefit from using them. I don't have one, but Akasa and Vantec have a decent range. They help because firstly they have integrated fans, and secondly they act as an additional heatsink.

Lastly, you could try undervolting your CPU. Mobile CPUs have quite a lot of leeway when it comes to voltage and by undervolting you can save power and heat. Download Notebook Hardware Control from Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) - Homepage, Downloads, Help, Docu, FAQ, News - www.pbus-167.com and Prime 95 from |MG| Free Download - Prime95 23.8

Besides being an excellent utlity that will give you temperature readouts and decent power management options, NHC can also let you change voltage settings. If you want to go ahead with this, you should change them small amounts, and then run Prime 95 for several hours to check for stability.

Anyways, hope these tips help.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux If Gateway M460E Specs. Laptops Specifications. is your laptop, this is surprising. It doesn't even have external graphics...and has a mobile CPU so it should be pretty cool. My main rig's CPU (I have a laptop) runs at circa 70c under load, and the GPU around 100c in FEAR - but note, these are safe temperatures because mobile processors have more tolerance to heat (that's a reason why they're more expensive.) OK, first thing I would suggest is to crack her open, apply some AS5 to the CPU and GPU (most laptop manufacturers use cheapo thermal pads that really suck) and air-dust the entire inside. You'll be amazed at how much dust can accumulate in a laptop, and more importantly, how much it can affect your running temps too. Also, you could see about removing any unnecessary mesh that is covering your fan intake(s). Reza found a second layer in his machine, and apparently removing it has cooled his machine down. Regarding laptop coolers, people generally tend to benefit from using them. I don't have one, but Akasa and Vantec have a decent range. Lastly, you could try undervolting your CPU. Mobile CPUs have quite a lot of leeway when it comes to voltage and by undervolting you can save power and heat. Download Notebook Hardware Control from Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) - Homepage, Downloads, Help, Docu, FAQ, News - www.pbus-167.com and Prime 95 from |MG| Free Download - Prime95 23.8 Besides being an excellent utlity that will give you temperature readouts and decent power management options, NHC can also let you change voltage settings. If you want to go ahead with this, you should change them small amounts, and then run Prime 95 for several hours to check for stability. Anyways, hope these tips help.

Hey thanks man for the help. I bought this laptop from this boarding school i was working at so its not really what i wanted, but i doubled the memory to 2gb and it runs pretty decent.
Undervolting, however, won't that lower the speed of the processor?

Edit: those specs aren't quite right.
Here they are:
Pentium M @ 1.73
1 Gb ram PC 4300
533Mhz FSB
60GB HD
dvd/cdrw

Quote: Originally Posted by OCBeats Hey thanks man for the help. I bought this laptop from this boarding school i was working at so its not really what i wanted, but i doubled the memory to 2gb and it runs pretty decent. Undervolting, however, won't that lower the speed of the processor?

Nope, because Notebook Hardware Control allows you to alter the voltage for each step of the multiplier. So I could still have my CPU running at 2.13ghz with 1.15v instead of 1.212v if I had tested it and it was fine.