4820TG-6847 Overheating/Fan Problems HELP

[pww82]

I have an Acer TimelineX 4820TG-6847, the other day while doing nothing but browsing the web the fan just kicked into full speed and CPU temps rose to 90c-100c. I checked and here are no processes putting load on the CPUs or using any system resources. The fan sounded like a really loud like a go kart+a baseball card in bike spokes. I shut the system down let it sit for a whole night then tried turning it back on, as soon as I turned it on I could hear the sound coming from the fan but it was very low, by the time I got to the Win7 login screen the fan was already at full speed and the temps were very high again and the laptop was very hot to the touch. I let it cool down again over night then turned it on and F2 into the bios and let it sit, it did the same thing, after maybe 10-20 seconds the fan was at full speed and the temps felt very hot to the touch. I took apart the laptop to check the cooling fan, there is one fan that cools both the cpu and gpu, I made sure the brackets on the heatsinks for both the CPU and GPU were tightened and cleaned all the dust and dirt from the fan vents, when I turned it on same thing, crazy loud fan and overheating. The fan seems to be spinning fine and blowing air from the vent, even though it is extremely hot and running at full speed. I noticed the area where the fan is around the Esc key is the hottest area followed by the middle of the keyboard(CPU) then the GPU around the lef Ctrl key. What could be causing these extremely hot temps and the fan running at full speed without even being logged into Win7? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[pww82]

i have to read this much.....

why even post if you have nothing to contribute?

 

[Kiowa789]

Did you hear any noises? Before the heat picked up?

 

[pww82]

Did you hear any noises? Before the heat picked up?

the fan always kind of had a low buzz sputtering type sound, but even now as the heat temps are really high and the fan is full speed and making the ridiculously loud buzzing/sputtering sound it is still moving air and spinning, i even took it out and cleaned it. im starting to think its a problem with the heatsinks on the cpu and/or gpu not working correctly causing the temps to sky rocket and make the fan go into overdrive. still seems really weird the the temps can get that hot and the fan goes crazy and im only at the win7 login screen. ive had the unit for a year and a half and normal idle temps have always been around 40 and around 85 after hours of gaming.

 

[C12Friedman]

..., i even took it out and cleaned it. im starting to think its a problem with the heatsinks on the cpu and/or gpu not working correctly causing the temps to sky rocket and make the fan go into overdrive...

The laptop was disassembled and HSF was removed and cleaned? Or simply taken outside and and blown through with compressed air?
If simply blown out with compressed air, I will suggest opening it and physically cleaning the HSF - once dust bunnies form, they are near impossible to remove without opening the unit.
If the HSF was removed, I will recommend replacement of all thermal pads and thermal compound.

 

[pww82]

The laptop was disassembled and HSF was removed and cleaned? Or simply taken outside and and blown through with compressed air?
If simply blown out with compressed air, I will suggest opening it and physically cleaning the HSF - once dust bunnies form, they are near impossible to remove without opening the unit.
If the HSF was removed, I will recommend replacement of all thermal pads and thermal compound.

yeah i took the fan out and cleaned it out completely, but did not mess with the pads or paste. it still heats up extremely fast and fan gets very loud and makes a fast sputtering sound even though it is blowing air. im thinking its a problem with the heatsinks and/or paste and pads, i checked some online retailers and the whole unit is sold together, fan, heatsinks and all, gonna try replacing the whole unit and putting good thermal paste on the cpu and gpu and see if anything changes.

 

[Tibsmoke]

yeah i took the fan out and cleaned it out completely, but did not mess with the pads or paste. it still heats up extremely fast and fan gets very loud and makes a fast sputtering sound even though it is blowing air. im thinking its a problem with the heatsinks and/or paste and pads, i checked some online retailers and the whole unit is sold together, fan, heatsinks and all, gonna try replacing the whole unit and putting good thermal paste on the cpu and gpu and see if anything changes.

It's a software issue.

There are certain programs (Recent Windows Updates are guilty, as are iTunesHelper - try stopping iTunesHelper) that cause the computer to go into overdrive.

This has simultaneously happened to my laptop AND my desktop PC, in the last few weeks. It's driving me crazy, trying to find out which updates are causing the problem.

Has anybody managed to figure it out?

 

[C12Friedman]

yeah i took the fan out and cleaned it out completely, but did not mess with the pads or paste... ...im thinking its a problem with the heatsinks and/or paste and pads, i checked some online retailers and the whole unit is sold together, fan, heatsinks and all, gonna try replacing the whole unit and putting good thermal paste on the cpu and gpu and see if anything changes.

You really do want to replace those thermal pads also (although it has been said that thermal pads can be reused if one is careful, I have had no luck trying that - I will recommend replacement), I've used these which worked well
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13409/thr-114/Phobya_Thermal_Pad_XT_120mm_x_20mm_x_15mm_-_7Wmk_V-Regs_RAM_Ramplex_Koolance_MIPs_Innovatek_19101.html?tl=g8c487s1289
but for the best (I know of) it'll be hard to beat this pad material
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17501/thr-183/Fujipoly_Ultra_Extreme_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_60_x_50_x_15_-_Thermal_Conductivity_170_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1289
Note that I linked 1.5mm thick pads - they come in other thicknesses but they can be compressed to about 50% of their described thickness - I've found 1.5mm seems to be good for most applications

 

[pww82]

It's a software issue.

There are certain programs (Recent Windows Updates are guilty, as are iTunesHelper - try stopping iTunesHelper) that cause the computer to go into overdrive.

This has simultaneously happened to my laptop AND my desktop PC, in the last few weeks. It's driving me crazy, trying to find out which updates are causing the problem.

Has anybody managed to figure it out?

please read the OP closer before posting next time, it is not a software issue, it overheats just sitting in the bios.

 

[pww82]

You really do want to replace those thermal pads also (although it has been said that thermal pads can be reused if one is careful, I have had no luck trying that - I will recommend replacement), I've used these which worked well
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13409/thr-114/Phobya_Thermal_Pad_XT_120mm_x_20mm_x_15mm_-_7Wmk_V-Regs_RAM_Ramplex_Koolance_MIPs_Innovatek_19101.html?tl=g8c487s1289
but for the best (I know of) it'll be hard to beat this pad material
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17501/thr-183/Fujipoly_Ultra_Extreme_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_60_x_50_x_15_-_Thermal_Conductivity_170_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1289
Note that I linked 1.5mm thick pads - they come in other thicknesses but they can be compressed to about 50% of their described thickness - I've found 1.5mm seems to be good for most applications

thanks for the links, i will def try these pads out, im using a backup laptop at the moment, will report back after i try to repair this thing.