computer cooling problem

[craig7]

so, my hp compaq dc5100 keeps over heating and freezing, im not puting a huge load on it, mostly just facebook right now but the temp is up to 54 degrees, the max temp its supposed to go to is 64. in the winter it would only hit 50 degrees when im playing a fairly demanding game such as need for speed world (graphics setting set to high) or grand theft auto. on windows its been going for 15 mins without crashing so far but on linux, i cant even get it to start. what should i do? i cant be spending $100 on liquid cooling because money is tight and there is no room in my computer for that.

 

[ErnieM]

If your computer is older or has been in a dusty situation, chances are dust has accumulated inside which causes heat issues. Buy a can of compressed air and blow it through the exhaust openings. Do take care to follow the instructions as blowing too long will cause mosture condensation inside the machine - which ain't good.

If you are confident enough to remove parts of the casing (I assume it's a laptop?) then do that before using the air. Be sure to wear a static wristband (available at many electronics stores) to avoid static discharge.

I did this procedure with my daughter's ancient laptop that was running very hot and afterwards it ran great (and much cooler).

 

[craig7]

If your computer is older or has been in a dusty situation, chances are dust has accumulated inside which causes heat issues. Buy a can of compressed air and blow it through the exhaust openings. Do take care to follow the instructions as blowing too long will cause mosture condensation inside the machine - which ain't good.

If you are confident enough to remove parts of the casing (I assume it's a laptop?) then do that before using the air. Be sure to wear a static wristband (available at many electronics stores) to avoid static discharge.

I did this procedure with my daughter's ancient laptop that was running very hot and afterwards it ran great (and much cooler).

its a desktop from 06, the cover on the case is usually off and there is very little dust

 

[ErnieM]

Well, I'm not sure how to proceed then. I wonder, since you say you keep the cover off, if some dust hasn't accumulated anyway? It might not look like much but might still affect things. I'm not a tech expert, so I'm just guessing here.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

dc5100 could come as Mini-Tower or a Desktop. More likely you have a tower version. Front cover is easy to remove as just pull the plastic from the bottom opening. If you have problem, remove the side cover and help by pushing the pins holding the front cover. Its there dust gathers always.

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12145_na/12145_na.HTML

And while the side cover is open try to remove any dust you see, but make sure NOT TO TOUCH any electronic components. You could carefully vacuum it.

 

[craig7]

actually, i have the desktop version, and there was a little bit of dust in the heatsink but not much at all, i find my computer seems to accumulate less dust than most

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

actually, i have the desktop version, and there was a little bit of dust in the heatsink but not much at all, i find my computer seems to accumulate less dust than most

Ok, are all fans inside still functional?

 

[craig7]

Ok, are all fans inside still functional?

yes i have a program that monitors all temps and fans and this morning it was saying the front case fan that blows into the cpu heatsink was running under 999rpm, it was only at like 980rpm and it kept going from 1000+ to 980. i figure that could be a bit of the problem but the max rpm is usualy 1100 so there must be some other problem

 

[craig7]

now the case fan and the power supply fan are slow, in the bios settings or whatever i set the idle fan speed higher, could this be why the fans are slowly dieing?