Overheating laptop

[Demure_Mcclure]

I have a dell 1705 with the 7900GS videocard, and 2gig of RAM. Since it has started getting warmer it has really started to heat up. Just last night I installed LOTRO and I couldn't get through the character creation screen before it over heated and crashed the system. The CPU temp seems fine, low to mid 50s, but the GPU starts to have problems around 70C. Not sure what it was when it crashed since I wasn't in windowed mode, so I couldn't see the temp. At 70 though I start to have colors messing up, and then get lines that shoot across the screen. I can't track memory temps, but the bottom of the computer where the memory is seems to be the hottest part of the bottom of the computer. Not sure where the video card is in it.

I have it sitting on one of the stands that raises the back up about 1.5-2 inches.

Usually the only game I play is WoW. That had problems after I updated my drivers, but at the same time I increased the screen resolution, and when I put the screen resolution back down one setting it hasn't had problems since, probably 3 weeks now.

Is there anything good out there that will help keep the temps down on a laptop? Do those fan bases work better than the stand I am using? I really want to get this problem under control. The Dell is under warranty for 2 more years so if it is anything with the system itself it should be covered. I'm also wondering if when I updated the drivers it is actually worse than what I started with, so if anyone knows of a good Nvidia 7900GS driver please let me know.

Thanks

[SprySpectre]

From my experience, the fan bases help a little, but you won't see much of an improvement over a riser. The fan's ensure that cooler air is moving over the bottom of the unit, where as a riser just allows air to move if conditions are right. If there wasn't much airflow when it was crashing, a base might help, but I'm not gonna recommend spending the money at this point...I'd try to exhaust other options first. As to what those other options are, I'll let the real laptop experts step in.

[fargan]

I'd say that it shouldn't overheat at all...even without a stand or riser. It appears to be a newer machine and it should be an all in one unit capable of taking the heat the card produces. I'm thinking I'd check my warranty and get some sort of support from the manufacturer.

[Demure_Mcclure]

I picked up a fan base, and also placed a tabletop fan on the desk to help air circulation (guessing this had the bigger impact), and the temps are now low 50s for CPU, and low 60s for GPU. The GPU peaked at 63C at high graphics settings. The previous night I was getting to 71C (and still climbing, when it crashed) in character creation and the lowest graphics settings. I also started tracking memory temps and that peaked in the mid 50s. I don't know if the 1705 design is best without something below it, since the 2 fans blow down in the back corners. I set the fan base up to not cover the two fans in the back of the computer, so now it acts like both a riser, and it has 2 additional fans below.

I think the fact that it is getting hot here (I live in South Korea right now), and the room the computer in doesn't get AC had a big impact. I think the room temp was probably higher than 30C. The cooler rooms in the apartment are getting to 30C without the AC going. There are 2 computers in my office (1 desktop, 1 laptop). Before I got the laptop I had 2 desktops in there, and it was unbearable in the summer.

I do have the 3 year warranty for the computer so if things do go bad I can always have them fix it, at least for a little more than 2 years from now.

[ChaosEnsues]

A fan base will help a bit - it lets air get into the case, and if it's made of metal it will help take away some heat from the case. Still, your laptop should be able to handle those temps. My CPU (see laptop specs in my sig) gets up to the high 60's when running BF2142. I can't monitor the GPU temp but I'm guessing it's somewhere in the high 70's or more. GPU's should be able to handle those kind of temps.

If it keeps happening send it back - any new computer should be able to handle playing a game without overheating. That would be like your new car overheating after 3 minutes on the freeway - unacceptable.