Computer service

[ExTaZ]

Yesterday i sended my computer to acer service why?? i will tell you why becuase my both processors and my graphic card was on 95 degress :O and my computer started to lag and you would burn yourself if you touched it...

So i won't be able to do any 3D or play games on my computer until 2-3 weeks
I am not suprised kkinda regulare problem the heat one... And i just found a very good 3D book on the library

[Fisher]

Wow... 95 degrees C or F?! i dunno where to begin with that one, man. I know what MrTom must think "Acer; theres your problem" lol

what kind of heatsink+fan combination did you have on your processor? i had a problem with my cpu overheating but bought an aftermarket cooler and its fine now... if youre running quad core, they tend to run hot so the stock coolers are mediocre. an aftermarket cooler might be something to think about. what is are the Acer support guys going to do for your computer, or have they not said?

another thought for your heat problem might be the ambient temperature in your room. if your room is hot, your computer will be hot. your cooling system can only dissipate so much heat relative to the ambient temperature in your room....unless youre running a water-cooled system in which case it would be relative to the water temperature. yea... heat transfer. but if your room is cool, how is the air circulation in the tower? lotta things to consider i guess...

i once had a pentium 1 chip, 33 mhz, 66mhz on 'overdrive'. lol i took the heatsink off the cpu and fired the thing up on 'overdrive' and touched the processor. yea that was a dumb idea - that thing was HOT!

i know im getting side tracked but have you seen the youtube vid of some dude overclocking his cpu to 5 ghz? takes the cooler off his CPU, puts a styrofoam cup directly on it instead and fills it with liquid nitrogen. awesome.

good luck with the computer, bro. hope those acer guys help you out so you can get back to 3d!

[ExTaZ]

I have checked several it's in C :O I still got guarantee so i refuse to buy a cooler-plate... The temperature are like 18 degress when i start my computer, i would have to like sit in 5 C for the computer not to be heated :P And what the support will do i don't want to know They haven't said anything but i hope they won't reboot the whole system but if they will i have created a backup so i wont lose any files...

Here's my computer:
* Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0 GHz Dual-Core
* RAM - 3 GB (installed) 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM
* Hard Drive - 250 GB
* Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* Screen - 15.4 in TFT active matrix 1280 x 800 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
* Optical Drive - DVD±RW (DL) / DVD-RAM
* Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - 512 MB
* Bluetooth - No
* Notebook Camera - Integrated - 1 Megapixel
* Warranty - 1 year warranty


Products

[MrTom]

Acer; theres your problem !

Toward the arse end of 2008 I had a similar problem, my 'Acer' lappy just wouldn't run for more than a minute before shutting down...a quick investigation found that one of the two cooling fans had died.

Considering the abuse the thing has had in the last 4 years its not done bad, and by Acers standards it's an absolute miracle. A quick search on a well-known auction site came up with the goods I needed....the bottom plastic bit complete with the two fans. Although I had no way of knowing how old they were or what hours they'd done, for £10 I couldn't complain.

It was a relatively easy fix too, the most tricky bit was getting the small plug from the lead under some of the plastic housing, but a crowbar and 4-ton car-jack soon had me up and running again.

All was well until a couple of weeks ago when guess what? Yep! The other one died too......this time though I already had the spare ready and waiting in the wings.....I was surfing adult material again within the hour!

To add insult to injury, just the other day, I got that faint smell of 'somethings getting hot somewhere'...you know the one? Turned out the fan in my PSU of the PC had died as well! It had been making an intermitent noise for a while but as usual I ignored it and payed the price. Fortunately I managed to turn off the PC before total meltdown....good job it happened while I was there and not during an overnight render!

A trip to the local electronics store found a new fan for £5.......far cheaper and less hassle than trying to find a new PSU for a 6 year old PC that was obsolete the day I bought it.....not even a well known auction site had anything similar in the UK.

3 hours later I had the thing back up and running and surfing, no, rendering again with a nice cool PSU....still a bit smelly but at least it was cool.

So, you're not on your own ExTaZ, I know what you're going through and its a downer, lets hope those guy's @ Acer just fix it quick and don't try to fob you off with some cock-and-bull story and keep you waiting for weeks.

I don't know if the problem for ExTaZ was the fans or something more serious but my situation shows that giving your hardware a darn good clean every now and again can save you a lot a down-time in the future. One word of warning though, if you use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of dust DO NOT let the cooling fans spin....it may look cool to get those babies spinning under 'vacuum power' but this will reduce their life considerably. By all means use a vacuum cleaner but prevent the fans from spinning at all costs.....seriously.

I hope it's not too long before you're back up and running again ExTaZ, but if Acer's repair dept is anything like their customer support dept.....well, I dunno.....best brace yourself for a wait.

Good luck, my fingers are crossed for ya.

Regards.

[ExTaZ]

Thanks Tom, do you happen to know how many degress your computer got to before it shut down? mine goes to 95 C but no shut down. I don't dare to keep it on when it goes hot as h*ll, a friend of mine told me how they sent their computer to support then a half year later they got it back :/ and they had to pay 500 euros.

I hope this will take 1-2 weeks like they said and no " sorry we can't find the problem or we found the problem but you have to pay for it"

All you can do is hope for the best...

[MrTom]

All you can do is hope for the best...

LOL....especially with Acer....sorry, but thats just how they are.

As for temperatures, well, no. Most modern laptops (and PC's for that matter), have sensors for the CPU and motherboard temps as you know, the difference is that most laptops will almost certainly just shut down without warning when temps reach a certain level. In my case it detected that one fan wasn't operational and so just shut-down before any damage could be done, all too easy when the fans are located in the bottom of the unit.....which then gets put on a soft surface, (your lap), and blocks the airflow.....stupid eh?

It really depends on the sensors installed and their set-up as to whether PC's do the same....some motherboards accomodate shut-down and some don't. Some also monitor fan speeds and HDD temps and some don't. In your case it seems as though you can monitor the temps, but no action is taken if those temps reach a critical level......if it should and didn't then this could be another problem...sorry, but as you say, you just don't know.

My Acer laptop dosen't have any sensors that I can monitor, but obviously there is something there keeping an eye on temps and shutting-down if things get a bit toasty. My other laptop, (Toshiba), does have sensors that I can monitor...for both CPU and Motherboard.....it's currently sitting on the bed, (not the best place for airflow), and is @ 51°c and 49°c respectively.

The PC also has sensors and is running @ 39°c and 31°c....although both the lappy and the PC are idle and have been for some time....if that's any help?

As to what is classed as 'hot' is difficult to say. I usually go by touch....feel the air being extracted by the fans...take into account whether you've been CPU bashing or at idle....if it seems a little warmer than usual then check out those temps.....I use AIDA32 which is available from the MajorGeeks.com website. A very useful little tool that is self contained....no installation required....and its free!

As I said before, regular cleaning will keep everything working smoothly, it's amazing how much dust can accumulate in a short space of time.....and you won't notice the gradual decline in performance until something goes wrong....I'm sorry to say.

Keep it clean, keep it cool, keep it happy. Feel the airflow and check for 'hot' smells! .....and keep those fans still if using a vacuum cleaner!!!!!

Regards.

[ExTaZ]

yepp i know all about Acer computer i have had many friends computers that got to warm and they crashed (Acers) I tested severeal programs for my CPU heat and the best was "Speedfan" is the best program it monitors, your processors and your graphic card, you can also improve your computer power stabilty and all taht with it too if you know what you are doing..

here's the link
Download SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

[MrTom]

Thanks ExTaZ....I use Speedfan too....although I find AIDA32 a bit more 'user' friendly for an old codger like me! LOL.

Lets hope you get sorted soon....bloody Acer's eh? LOL.

Regards.

[ExTaZ]

Hurray my computer got back yesterday so i spent like 4 hours reinstalling everything.. Anyway got many big tests in school so 3D will have to wait until the vacation comes...

Note from acer " your CPU temperature is fine, keep it on plane surface" -____- like i didn't know that... you were right Mr.Tom never fully trust acer :/

[MrTom]

Glad to hear you got it back so soon.......did they actually do anything with it?

As for re-installing...yeah...takes a while. I have a spare drive on which I make an 'Image' of the drive in the machine. This takes a little longer but it's one click and forget.....just leave it overnight. If I have to replace the drive in the machine I then just copy the 'Image' back onto it.....no installation required.....again I just leave it overnight and everything is back to normal by the morning. The other advantage to this is that any preference settings within different applications are also restored so no wasted time setting up apps again.

Anyway good luck with it....and remember....keep it clean....keep it cool.....even if it's ok.

Regards. (And good luck with your tests!)