Would really appreciate a bit of advice.
 

Very difficult times, so got rid of the Asus executive toy and purchased a huge Vaio to take over from my PC which has been my brain's link to the world for a long time. However, the replacement runs hot and I daren't rely on it for everything we have to do to sell the house and get back to the UK etc.

It's a Sony VPCF 125FX An i7 running on W7

Piriform Speccy shows the CPU temps c 48 (amber) on Power Saver setting, but on Balanced, they quickly go to 50+ sometimes going into the red around 60c

The fan exhaust seems too hot and the speed tends to hunt around a bit - something I didn't realize during a quick test. (only paid $275 for it so no protracted time spent.) Oddly now, it's hovering on 51c on balanced, but it's a cool 28c today.

Goo goo shows quite a lot about these fans, but the house has been stripped of all my stuff and I daren't open it up with limited tools.

Do you think I can used this - even on reduced power - to get over this period as I really need to take the communications and data up to DFW

It's even cooler when you get back over here!

Sorry, can't help re the Vaio.

Is that a Haswell i7? Those temperatures are pretty similar to my Haswell i5, it's around 50C in normal web browsing/word processing use when the CPU isn't doing much, and the fan doesn't even seem to come on until it hits about 60C.

Of course mine might be broken too :).

Loose rivets Hello its me again..
 

On reading your origional post: I downloaded a prog called SpeedFan - the AV said that it was legitimate - as you may remember I run a Dell Vostro 1300 series with Vista - The Mother board is damaged due to a previous [The only Fan failed ] - I'm running a Norton Full system scan in the background too -

The Base temps are HD0 36-40 C , Core 0 48 C, Core 1 48 C - The Cooling fan is intermittent; a good sign. Fan(s) at full tilt = trouble.

As I type the stats are as follows:- (Keep an ear open for NO FAN SOUND ! ) Ambient temp 19 C.

its an old Dual core 1.8 GhHz P.C(Found Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5670 @ 1.80GHz) HD0 50 C (ST9160823ASG ) core 1 56 C Core 0 56 C (little funace icons next to the temps) - Running after 4 hours (One for the bone Yard)

Its still running OK age 7 Years. I cleaned out the Dog hairs to day !

CatIII speaks well.

I used Speedfan with my erstwhile laptop, and it did solve the overheating problem. The fan ran all the time, and speeded up when it needed to.

That laptop's screen died a year or so ago (not related to heat). I've not bothered to replace it since the iPad does most of what it used to do. The desktop machine in the study "just works" - and very well, despite what the Indian Microsoft Windows phone calls try to tell me.

A quick google suggests that it's a i7-740QM inside (a spec sheet on the Sony site says this but I guess there may have been other processors fitted). If this your CPU, it's a pretty power hungry beast with a corresponding high heat output. Take a look at Tom's Hardware for a discussion and go from there. But to put it simply, it looks like it's a hot running CPU and the sort of temps you're seeing are not unusual.

I'm sure if you underclock it a bit you'll see a big drop in temps and not much effect on performance.

Most machines are ridiculously overpowered these days for what the average person does 98% of the time.


:8

Thanks chaps. Downloaded Speedfan and the first thing that stands out is CPU fan is 4560, but Fan 2 is 0.

Has this really got two fans, if so I guess the second one would be the graphics, but I can turn the screen off for a while and it makes no difference.

I'm sitting in piles of boxes with my tools . . . somewhere. Pity, this machine would have been a good stop-gap despite not being able to carry it far.

Mac, under clocking. I sort of am with Power-saver, but today that's not making much difference despite being in slightly cooler conditions. The BIOS seems to have very little to offer. VERY little. I can't find any hidden toolboxes to manipulate . . . anything much.

In haste

Not looking good. Fan making wild changes, and speed-fan 4.49 has no knobs to turn as per web site instructions. Just a lot of warnings. Yes, I've un-checked the auto box and not a sausage.

Those Fan changes
 

LR:

Those Fan changes do not sound good - It was the wild behaviour of the one and only fan on the Vostro that alerted me rather late to the fact that the Air Exit Grill had become clogged up - too late by half, HD0 had already rached 60-62 Degrees C - without shutting down.

See if the base of the unit feels hot: Common sense, I know; but I missed the situation creeping up.

Can you look in side to see what is actually fitted ?

I cannot see the fan speeds either, but look in the options menu - I think the's an option to look for other sys components somewhere.

As a general rule of thumb 50 Degrees C is hot for even a portable HD - The Chip's core(s) from experence should be less that 60 Degrees C. [Edit: upper 30's to mid 40's C]

I'm not talking about Gaming P/C's but ordinary bod's stuff.

The GPU's seem to run a bit hotter under load.

Final Note: Fan Speed on the Vostro/Win Vista - has to be run in isolation (for me) EMET 4.XX and Malware bytes fight it with BSOD results Firefox as well.

It co-exsits with Norton of all things !


CAT III

It looks as though I'm going to have to wait for being in the UK All tools are packed. Total chaos here as sale of house was held up, so week of sorting up near DFW was lost. PC now just MB and HD in old meat boxes of all things. Hope they work in a new case - didn't want to lose the OEM OS.

I probably could clean this unit in an hour or so, but not in son's house. I did put the Dyson vac on the outlet and could not see ANY sign of fluff, but it might be it's just sucked it into a tighter blob.

Better not linger.

I'm wondering if you are getting a zero report for Fan 2 because there simply isn't one?

Software reports in mysterious ways.

Yes, wondered that. It'll have to wait, Rivetess has spent 3 hours on BA site trying to make sense of our flight tomorrow. Grumpy as she is, she's running on red-line for days trying to get stuff sorted. I'd have never done it - not a bit like the old days.

I did in fact try to take the Vaio apart last night. Limited tools, but of all things, I couldn't get the DVD drive out. One screw, but it refused to pull out. Tried little clips and bits on the edge - accessed where the HD came out, but nothing would release it. I put it back and it's just useable in short burst.

Thanks again, and I'll report back when I'm ensconced back 'home'.

Sony eSupport - VPCF125FX - Support

then click on "VPCF1 Series Optical Disk Drive Replacement Instructions"

Another utility to try
 

Dear Rivits

Another moioring utility to try; it's less problematic on my little furnace.

HWMonitor CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Just try the freeware for starters - The fuifures I get correlate well with speed fan

[I have no pecunary or other interests with CPUID]

CAT III

Absolutely nothing wrong with 70-80 degree temp on a CPU. I've seen 105 on a Core 2 in a Macbook (that is now 7 years old and still working).
Also, buying a laptop with a core i7 is probably the first mistake... :E I have a low-end i5 in mine that runs very cool indeed (not Haswell, but generation before), and handles everything I throw at it (30 programs open, 100 browser tabs, etc.) with ease. Even a modern Core i3 is way more than most people need in a laptop.

That's an unhelpfully general statement. You should check what the acceptable temperature range is for your CPU from the manufacturer's specs.

BTW, is that degrees F or C? :E

SD

Arrived in the UK. Brain fade makes things not work, but the computer seemed to have repared itself after hours of flying. Sat there doing normal things on balanced power with normal coolish air out. Mmmm . . .

A day later it played up again, but this time became a paint stripper. No demanding use whatsoever. No reason to pick that moment.

I haven't looked inside yet, and Bush, I'll search in that site again, but first try I could not see the item. But then, brain not working at all well.

There could I suppose be a lump of soggy fluff that can be displaced, but somehow I doubt it. It seems something turns on that causes the chip to heat like hell.

If my host heads back to the City, I'll make a determined attempt to have a look inside. I'll also get a case for my MB and HD and hope that it's survived the security inspection that took place. (note in my case and loose memory unwrapped)

i7? It's funny, but it was on this forum that someone said in an answer to something, i5 would be alright, but i7 would be better. When offered this PC replacement object for so little, I thought it a good idea, but I'm almost regretting selling the Asus now. :rolleyes:

Click on the "manuals, specs and warranty" tab. Open the PDF at bottom left, titled "VPCF1 Series Optical Disk Drive Replacement Instructions". It's two screws then the unit slides out. But I think it's a pointless thing to do. Other manuals on the site tell you how to replace various bits. If you DID get the machine apart, and I don't think you should, you'd probably want to check the compound between the CPU and the heat sink.


http://i.imgur.com/cAUvMOv.jpg

Bush. I don't think I should either, but then if I didn't, I wouldn't be me. Thanks to you I've removed the DVD. The darn rear screw has multiple arrows indicating it does more than one job.:ugh:

Days of sleeping in and loads of REM sleep has my brain half way back. Can't recall much REM for the entire time of selling the house. Anyway, my voluptuous host has zoomed off in her Jag and I've commandeered the kitchen table. First look, not much more than a light dusting of fluff.

Delving further.

It's either a screw length indicator or a pairing indicator, showing that if you remove it, there's another screw somewhere that should be removed at the same time. The HD cover should have similar marks next to its screws if it's a pairing indicator.

Seems like this is how to clean the fan, by lifting the keyboard. It seems to be the same series Vaio.

Well it's back together and 'Speccy' is showing mid 40s with a fairly quiet fan.

Yes, a lad that set out to do this job on Youtubby did remove the keyboard, but I was able to see all I needed from the bottom. A multi vane outlet had to be poked out (with soft copper wire) above and below the heat conductor rails, thus doubling the tedious task. I had no means of blowing but vac'd on the fan side while puffing into it or poking. The strange thing is how much was just inside those vanes given that I'd vac'd it in Texas. It just did not pull the dust through. I think there is a good chance that carpet of dust did move away during the flight, and flopped back as described. However, I'm braced for a sudden change and a hurried build of my Texas PC should this occur.

Average temp is reported as 45 - 48, so not as cool as I'd hoped. I'll have to put some work in to see if I can control that speed a little as described earlier.

I'll look at your link for future reference. I'd like to keep this and make it my PC replacement. My smaller Vaio is fine for lugging. Thanks again. Fingers crossed for now.

I have (second hand from my daughter) an HP laptop that did the same. Tied everything I could think of, but a bios update from HP has 'almost' completely solved it.

Long/short. Ran very very hot and was shutting itself down regularly (almost daily), fan running at stupid speeds. Has now run continuously (never turned off) for a couple of months and is cool and quiet. It has shut itself down once in that period, which was due to heat I think. So not perfect but hugely better.

Yes, it might be that even though it's fairly new - in terms of chip anyway - , operating experience might make Sony make changes to the fan settings.

I'm frustrated by not being able to get at any control to effect the change, BIOS or software. However, I have not spent that much time on it lately.

I've just noticed that although Piriform Speccy reports the overall clock speed of c 1700, the individual core reports swing between 800 and 2900 ish. Has someone set this to exceed normal limits? I note the literature says it can be turboed up to such speeds, but I never need that and still can find nothing to get into the deeper workings of the machine. Is there ever a secondary set of BIOS settings? There is a menu setting in there which implies more control, but it just does nothing when enabled.

While on that subject, again while in BIOS, the fan ran faster and oddly, the output was hotter. (This happened before I cleaned the heat exchanger.)

Does the computer run flat out during BIOS setting procedures?

Dear Rivits
 

With Reference to you comment:

"Does the computer run flat out during BIOS setting procedures? "

As one's virtual "unwanted IT Butler" - Has Sir, had a little tinkle with the RAM settings as a person known to only you and me!!!!!! - CAT III has never done such an amazing little tweak, to his recently new power supply re equipped/installed Advent intel Core II Bit Coin Miner -[My] new power supply seams to be breathing like a caged dragon.

600 W "Vital" unit - border line for the Old Girl

No the fans should be at resting rate ! - Rivets some thing is wrong !

CAT III

I haven't come across Speccy before - clever isn't it?

I'm using the aforementioned laptop at the moment. 'Tis not that old (18 months ish). My mention of one shut down was wrong. I live on a farm, and hadn't spotted that I'd had a brief power cut! Which means that the bios update has cured it completely. The intarweb is awash with people complaing about heat in the HP Pavilion G7, and I'd virtually given up on a conventional fix when I just thought a check on the HP site might be worth a last shot. (The unconventional fix was going to be a big hole in the bottom with a man-sized fan in it).

This machine is also running way above 'stock core speed' occasionally, so mebbe just an average thing?

As to the bios and fan, I wonder it it's a protection in that if you're actually in the bios there is a chance that you could start a process that makes it run hot but the bios can't do anything about the fan whilst you have it open?

Sounds logical. One is just using it and hoping at the moment. See my plaintive cry on the bad luck thread. I'll be back to pen and notebook soon.

Oh, the screw markings. Yes, I'd missed the point completely. Thanks for that.