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Step 9Cooling
Here’s my GEEK thoughts on cooling:
Most laptops have fans in them that turn on when the CPU gets too hot. I believe they’re also designed to shut down if they still overheat before the CPU is damaged. Even with older models, any decent design would allow it to run on a flat surface for extended periods of time. Admittedly, this may be too hot to put on your lap. Most CPUs have a TjMax of 100º Centigrade. This TjMax is the maximum temperature the device can run without damage. 100º Centigrade is the boiling point of water (at sea level).
Here is a nice little program called CoreTemp that will tell you the temperature of your CPU and it will tell you the TjMax for your CPU.
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
If you have a multicore Intel processor, it will tell you the temperatures of each one. The suggested maximum running temperature is 10-20º Centigrade below TjMax. Unfortunately, it won’t work on older CPUs that didn’t have temperature sensor built in to them.
My laptop stand is slanted at about 60º. You have probably heard the statement ‘hot air rises”. It is true because hot air is less dense, e.g. hot air balloons rise. With the laptop slanted the hot air rises away from the laptop much easier than when it’s flat so it should run cooler.
My Lenovo has a cooling fan exhausting out the side that only comes on when the CPU cores are too hot. My Core temps run between 50º and 60º C.
Here’s another theory of mine. CPU temperatures are largely dependent on clock speed and voltage. Most computer GEEKs noticed that newer/faster CPUs had faster clock rates getting up to 4 and 5 GHz. But now with Dual (and higher) Core CPUs the clock rates have dropped. My dual core Lenovo is only running at 1.66GHz. It used to be CPUs ran at 5VDC. My two cores are running at 1.15VDC. Hence, it should be cooler. To be fair there are other factors like two cores and more transistors.
You certainly should make your own decisions about cooling.
About the only situations, I would be concerned are if I was doing a lot of multimedia editing like video translation or if I was an extreme gamer. If you are an extreme gamer, then you probably have a gamer laptop with built-in cooling. You might be more concerned about all that weight on little ole ½” PVC.
As an aside, I think most commercial advances in high speed multi-core CPUs and super fast graphics is driven by the gamer markets as they are the first ones to buy them.
If you are concerned, I would definitely install and run CoreTemp or a similar program if you have a newer CPU that it will work with.
I’ve been running my laptop for about four years typically ten hours a day without a problem.
Several years ago I did some failure analysis on some computer systems. Most electronic components including CPUs have advanced to the point of insignificant failures over the lifetime of the systems. Highest failure rates are in mechanical components such as fans and hard drives.
Okay, the hot air balloon is not very relevant but it's got my initials on it!!!
Most laptops have fans in them that turn on when the CPU gets too hot. I believe they’re also designed to shut down if they still overheat before the CPU is damaged. Even with older models, any decent design would allow it to run on a flat surface for extended periods of time. Admittedly, this may be too hot to put on your lap. Most CPUs have a TjMax of 100º Centigrade. This TjMax is the maximum temperature the device can run without damage. 100º Centigrade is the boiling point of water (at sea level).
Here is a nice little program called CoreTemp that will tell you the temperature of your CPU and it will tell you the TjMax for your CPU.
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
If you have a multicore Intel processor, it will tell you the temperatures of each one. The suggested maximum running temperature is 10-20º Centigrade below TjMax. Unfortunately, it won’t work on older CPUs that didn’t have temperature sensor built in to them.
My laptop stand is slanted at about 60º. You have probably heard the statement ‘hot air rises”. It is true because hot air is less dense, e.g. hot air balloons rise. With the laptop slanted the hot air rises away from the laptop much easier than when it’s flat so it should run cooler.
My Lenovo has a cooling fan exhausting out the side that only comes on when the CPU cores are too hot. My Core temps run between 50º and 60º C.
Here’s another theory of mine. CPU temperatures are largely dependent on clock speed and voltage. Most computer GEEKs noticed that newer/faster CPUs had faster clock rates getting up to 4 and 5 GHz. But now with Dual (and higher) Core CPUs the clock rates have dropped. My dual core Lenovo is only running at 1.66GHz. It used to be CPUs ran at 5VDC. My two cores are running at 1.15VDC. Hence, it should be cooler. To be fair there are other factors like two cores and more transistors.
You certainly should make your own decisions about cooling.
About the only situations, I would be concerned are if I was doing a lot of multimedia editing like video translation or if I was an extreme gamer. If you are an extreme gamer, then you probably have a gamer laptop with built-in cooling. You might be more concerned about all that weight on little ole ½” PVC.
As an aside, I think most commercial advances in high speed multi-core CPUs and super fast graphics is driven by the gamer markets as they are the first ones to buy them.
If you are concerned, I would definitely install and run CoreTemp or a similar program if you have a newer CPU that it will work with.
I’ve been running my laptop for about four years typically ten hours a day without a problem.
Several years ago I did some failure analysis on some computer systems. Most electronic components including CPUs have advanced to the point of insignificant failures over the lifetime of the systems. Highest failure rates are in mechanical components such as fans and hard drives.
Okay, the hot air balloon is not very relevant but it's got my initials on it!!!
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