Inspiron 9300 runs hotter and hotter - what can I do?

[jkies00]

Hi All,

I've had Dell Inspiron 9300 for about a year now, and it's been running hotter and hotter of late. Is this normal?

I'm not a hardware guy at all, but I'd like to learn a bit more, at least enough to keep my pc running properly.

Here's my basic system info:

I typically will run several apps at a time, because I'm a web developer. Here's a list of my typical processes:

I think I'm a pretty good pc user. I know not to install malware. Periodically, I defrag and run AdAware. I only have five icons in my system tray.

My notebook didn't always run this hot. What can I do?

~jeff

 

[ArbY]

Dust is probably the biggest culprit behind your heat problem.

Also, your notebook can save power by making use of the Windows Power Management options.
Control Panel --> Power Options
The electricity flowing through the notebook's components is (obviously) what creates the heat. So this is a viable option.

Under Power Schemes, you can essentially regulate the amount of power being pumped through your notebook at a given time or in a given scenario. This feature is directly tied into the Pentium-M's speed step feature which lowers your CPU clock speed based on the activity of the notebook. If you're running a demanding application, it'll use all 1.86GHz of processor power. If you're browsing the web, it may receed to 800MHz at some points.
The "Always On" scheme will make sure everything is running at its highest level ... producing the most heat.

 

[zenmaster]

Any chance you are using different software?

I know the 9300 runs very hot playing games and other intensive graphics programs if you have the high-end video card option which I have.

 

[towely]

I'd stand back and keep a fire extinguisher handy. Dells have a habit of bursting into flames.

 

[angry_ducky]

Look HERE. The Inspiron 9300 IS one of the models covered under that battery recall. You'll also need to check the model number on your battery.

I'd stand back and keep a fire extinguisher handy. Dells have a habit of bursting into flames.

LOL; so true.

 

[jkies00]

I have a replacement battery already coming, good idea.

The battery isn't the problem though, it seems to get really hot right near the middle back of the laptop, under the monitor hinge.

I haven't had a chance to go pick up some compressed air, but I'll keep it on my to-do list.

 

[antichrysler]

Pray it doesn't catch fire

 

[kona]

The thing to do man is to just carefully open this thing up and thoroughly clean out the heatsinks and reseat them using Arctic Silver 5. It will make a difference I promise. I did this to several laptops including my own and any heat problems were instantly solved. Other than that just be mindful of where you are putting your laptop when using it. (i.e. avoid using it on a surface that would likely get a lot of dust into the fans...some people like to use their laptops on their beds...bad idea really because it sucks in a lot of dust and does not get enough air flow through the fins on the heat sinks)

You should at least blow out the heat sinks ASAP as suggested by the other guy because even the Pentium M runs hot. Good chip with low TDP but the heat sink isn't that big so the low TDP is negated.

 

[jkies00]

Hi All,

I used some compressed air to blow out my fans a bit - wow, what a difference. My laptop now runs at its more normal (albeit warm) temperature.

Kona, if I experience more problems like this in the near future, I'll try your approach.

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

~jeff