1.) overheating laptop & 2.) upgrade from 4gb to 8gb ram?

[zas123]

1.) Right now I've got a HP dv5-1113us and I've had it for 2 years or more. The laptop still functions, only slowed down a little bit but I've been running it on 'low performance mode' since I have owned it because apparently there is an overheating problem with the laptop. I have bought a generic cooler and it seems to keep it just a little warmer than ambient temperature, but I was hoping there was a fan I could upgrade or perhaps some settings I could adjust either in the OS or in BIOS. I used to be a pretty novice geek but I've let myself go over the years.

If I put it on high performance or moderate mode, within the hour it will warm up and crash (completely black, blink for a while, turn back on once it has cooled down). If it runs to many programs like downloading big files over night, without a cooler it'll probably crash.

Another idea I was bouncing back and forth was slowing the settings and adding RAM. Or just adding RAM may be that extra boost I need?

2.) It currently has the stock 4gb of ram and I was wondering if it would even be worth it to upgrade it to 8gb of ram (found it for around $100 on amazon). Eventually I will need a computer that can handle solid works, auto-cad with no problem. I always keep it plugged in 99.9% of the time and even now when I unplug it I still get a solid hour of good battery.


Anyways, first time poster. Hopefully I can get back into messing with computers. Thanks for the advice ahead of time.

 

[MindoverMaster]

If you had it for 2 years, have you ever cleaned it out? Could be the reason you are overheating. Blast some canned air into the side vents.

Have you done a virus, malware check lately? That can slow down your computer as well. Might want to use CCleaner as well.

As to your RAM, yes you can upgrade to 8GB. Show us a screenshot of the Memory and SPD tab from CPUz. Will give us more of an idea what you need. $100 is way darn overpriced. We can find you cheaper ones that work just as well. Just show us those screenshots.

 

[Talyor]

Things to help you out there could be dust in your computer so you may need a can or airosol or open ur computer and use a vacuum to get hte dust out. You can also by a laptop cooler. Also its not good to have ur battery plugged in 99.9 percent of time >.< its how the battery whares out.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Actually, Taylor, newer batteries don't wear of power when plugged in. They simply will not charge beyond capacity.

 

[zas123]

I cleaned it out. I had a can of 'clean safe' I found at the house. No viruses and such, it has always ran hot since the day I bought it (if you google it, you'll see they tend to over-heat, HP Pavilion DV5 Reviews - alaTest.com).

The 2nd slot is identical to the first. Thanks again for the help yall.

took pics, waiting on mod to approve posts.

 

[zas123]

I ran the CPU cleaner and its running a lot cleaner now. But the computer has heated quickly from day 1, dust or no dust. Any help?

 

[Frosty is a Snowman]

Things to help you out there could be dust in your computer so you may need a can or airosol or open ur computer and use a vacuum to get hte dust out. You can also by a laptop cooler. Also its not good to have ur battery plugged in 99.9 percent of time >.< its how the battery whares out.

Never ever ever use a vacuum on any electronics goods.
They are a magnet for static electricity and can discharge onto the components and this will fry them.


Back on topic
The overheating could require you to re-seat the heatsink/pipes on the chips with some new paste and maybe making sure the fan is functioning correctly.

You might need to see if the CPU % is getting high at any point as a faulty application could be working the system too hard.
Does the HDD light go nuts for long periods even when you are doing nothing or very little.

After a couple of years it can be worth doing a full re-install of your OS, I know this is time consuming but it could rule out any issues with software.

 

[TechNoob123]

Actually, Taylor, newer batteries don't wear of power when plugged in. They simply will not charge beyond capacity.

I think he means that the battery has a limited overall life. Charging it for, let's say, 10000 times will cause it to deteriorate in battery life. So a laptop with 4 hours of battery, after being deteriorated, only lasts for 2 hours. And as you keep charging over and over again, it will completely wear out. So you take out the battery, and use it's charger as an externnal power source for your laptop. Only when you are, like at a library or on a train do you need your battery. Otherwise, it would be better to take it out and use an external power source.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Nope, Taylor said "not good to have ur battery plugged in 99.9 percent of time >.< its how the battery whares out" Nothing to do with overall life.

With newer batteries, it will charge it until you no longer need to charge the battery. So if you keep it on power 24/7, your battery is not being worn out.