Laptop overheating? Causes and the fix
Hot underside, a roaring fan and dropping performance? Laptop overheating has clear causes and usually a simple fix.
Overheating is very common on laptops, especially after a few years of use. It shows up as a hot body, a loud fan, slowdowns and, in extreme cases, the laptop shutting down on its own. Here are the causes and what to do about them.
The most common cause: dust and old paste
A laptop draws in air and with it dust, which over time settles in the cooler and clogs it. At the same time the thermal paste between the processor and the cooler dries out. The result: heat has nowhere to escape. Cleaning and repasting helps and can lower temperatures by tens of degrees. Details in repasting and cleaning a computer.
What you can try right away
- Do not use the laptop on a bed or a blanket. A soft surface blocks the vents underneath. Put it on a hard, flat surface or a cooling pad.
- Check the vents for visible dust build-up.
- Close unnecessary programs and tabs. The more the processor is loaded, the more heat it makes.
- Update the system and drivers. Sometimes a software bug causes needless load.
When it is something more
If the laptop runs hot even after cleaning, the cause may be a faulty fan, a power problem or incorrect performance settings. For shutdowns, see also computer shuts down by itself. Overheating also often lies behind a slow computer, since a hot laptop deliberately slows down.
Why not to ignore it
Long-term overheating shortens the life of components and, in the worst case, damages the board or processor. The fix, however, is cheap while it is caught in time.
We will help
We will take the laptop apart, clean it thoroughly and repaste it (on laptops we often use higher-quality thermal materials) and test the temperatures under load. Get in touch and give your laptop a quiet, cool run again.