Has anyone else heard of these Laptops with Intel Chips and their heat problems?

felinusz · April 4th, 2003, 01:44

I was recently reading a computer magazine (something I find myself doing a lot these days

) and came across and article on laptop heating problems. Apparantly there have been hundreds of fires and overheating problems with various laptops put out by major companies because of their (laptops) use of the bottom of the case as a heatsink...

the aricle even mentioned one guy who had his pants go up in flames (and who suffered some serious burns) because he didn't notice the gradual temperature rise untill it was... too late.

This brings me to my next 'question/point'. What the heck is this Centrino mobile P4 that intel is putting out? I have heard that it simply incorporates better cooling than typical mobile P4 processors in an attempt to overcome this serious issue.

Also, anyone out there a laptop owner who has had similar heating problems? (I ask because if your house has burned down you may be a ble to file a succesful lawsuit...

)

Sorry for the rambling post

**Razor Blade** · April 4th, 2003, 01:46

I have a PIII in my laptop and boy does it ever overheat. It even rumbles!

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Gamer1 · April 4th, 2003, 01:51

i'ver heard of overheating laptops b4, something about buring a guy's finger because the keyboard was too hot. Thankfully, i don't have an overheating issue on my friend's 1800+ hp laptop.

I love that laptop, during lan parties when i can't bring my comp.

__________________
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Morrigan: (Proc:AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 11x200) (Mobo: Asrock K7V88) (RAM: Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: NEC 16x DVD Burner 3200AG) (GFX Card: Radeon 920064MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1)

Dark Zero · April 4th, 2003, 01:53

They should call em hot-tops, as they'll make your lap hot if you have them on your lap. Ok, that was a corny joke

*shuts up*

felinusz · April 4th, 2003, 01:53

What I have read indicates that it is mainy laptops with Intel Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 Procssors that are suffering these sorts of problems.

Razor-Blade, you mean that it actually shakes physically?? That is very, very odd.

Dark Zero · April 4th, 2003, 01:54

My uncle has a dell laptop with a celeron, it doesnt seem to get that hot, but I haven't used it long enough to determine anything. But the exhaust slot does blow lots of hot air for what it should.

**Razor Blade** · April 4th, 2003, 02:46

I like desktops cuz it wont cost you 400 bucks just to get a bigger hard drive thats like 20 gigs. Laptop parts are more expensive and IMO not worth it unless you travel alot or are a business man.

__________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM
Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home
Premium ● Dell 2007WFP LCD ● Dell XPS M1330 Laptop ● 1TB Western
Digital MyBook External HD ● Logitech Z10 Speakers ● PLAYSTATION 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gamer1 · April 4th, 2003, 03:16

or during lan parties... i just have to add that....

pcs are way better though, i love the way that a pc can be easily upgradable and interchanged.

__________________
Iris: (Proc:Intel Pentium4 2.8Ghz w/ HT UNLOCKED @ 15x200) (Mobo: Asus P4C800-E) (RAM: Corsair XMS 2x512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: Lite-On 16x DVD Burner 1673S) (GFX Card: Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder Pro 128MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy)

Morrigan: (Proc:AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 11x200) (Mobo: Asrock K7V88) (RAM: Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: NEC 16x DVD Burner 3200AG) (GFX Card: Radeon 920064MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1)

**Demigod** · April 4th, 2003, 06:36

Quote:

Originally posted by felinusz
I was recently reading a computer magazine (something I find myself doing a lot these days ) and came across and article on laptop heating problems. Apparantly there have been hundreds of fires and overheating problems with various laptops put out by major companies because of their (laptops) use of the bottom of the case as a heatsink...
the aricle even mentioned one guy who had his pants go up in flames (and who suffered some serious burns) because he didn't notice the gradual temperature rise untill it was... too late.

The Pentium 4 tends to run very hot (upwards of 60 watts) and the Pentium 4-M is no exception. Although it has power-saving features it's still based on the same architecture as the desktop variant. A Pentium 3 doesn't run nearly as hot as a Pentium 4 and in fact the mobile Pentium 3 and Celerons run pretty cool. The Athlons are the worst in terms of heat production and voltage requirement and are terrible for laptops (high heat, low battery life). I don't know if they produce enough heat to start fires though; most laptops are built around a certain heat threshold and are usually configured to shut down or slow the CPU down in case of overheating. At any rate if you're too dumb to realize that your laptop is heating up to the point of igniting fires then you get what you deserve.

Quote:

Originally posted by felinusz
This brings me to my next 'question/point'. What the heck is this Centrino mobile P4 that intel is putting out? I have heard that it simply incorporates better cooling than typical mobile P4 processors in an attempt to overcome this serious issue.

First of all there is no such thing as a "Centrino mobile P4". The Intel Centrino is not, I repeat not based on the Pentium 4 and was not developed to solve the "heat issue".

The Centrino is the next-generation of laptops that Intel will be creating and will quite literally revolutionalize the mobile industry. Centrino laptops will be high-performance machines that are both light and portable with a long battery life. Laptops owners no longer have to sacrifice performance for long battery life and portability and the concept of a "desktop-replacement laptop" will be obsolete. For the first time a mobile computer will outperform a desktop computer at the same clock speed and configuration.

The Pentium-M is at the core of the Centrino and it's what drives this new technology. It's a new chip developed by Intel's Israel design team, specifically tailored for mobile computing. It's a massive processor consisting of up to 77 million transistors (P4 Northwoods = 55 million transistors). It has more IPC (instructions per cycle) than both the Pentium 3 and the Pentium 4 and in most situations the Athlon as well. A Pentium-M 1.6 Ghz runs neck-to-neck with a desktop Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz in most situations and will completely destroy a much higher-clocked Pentium 4-M (remember that the P4-M runs slower than the desktop P4).

However, despite having a higher IPC and more transistors the Pentium-M will only require 1.48 volts of power and only produce 24.5 watts of heat (Pentium 4 2.6 Ghz produces about 60 watts). Low-end models running at 900 Mhz will reduce this to 0.8 volts and only 7 watts of heat. In other words it has low power requirements and very low heat production, which are critical for laptops. It's optimized for low power consumption but also has high performance. To give you an idea of the power savings the IBM ThinkPad T40p can run on battery power for 6 hours and 18 minutes on a single battery, a record in mobile computers (previous record was a little over 5 hours on two batteries).

As Anandtech stated:

Quote:

In our opinion, the Pentium M processor is the best thing to happen to notebooks since 3D graphics chips arrived on the mobile scene some three years ago.

If you were around for the release of the GeForce 2 Go then you'd realize how significant a statement this is (the GeForce 2 Go revolutionalized mobile 3D-accelerated gaming).

Some links to Anandtech:
Intel's Centrino CPU (Pentium-M): Revolutionizing the Mobile World
Intel Centrino/Pentium-M Notebook Roundup: Dell, FIC and IBM Examined

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Chinoz · April 4th, 2003, 09:05

The Centrino also has built in WiFi and doubled L2 cache (1mb)

Gismo · April 4th, 2003, 09:13

hello,

I used/use different notebook models (from unknown one, I mean from not a big company, and ASUS one), but I have never experienced heat problems: once time I was watching a film on my bed and my notebook shutted down automatically because it was too hot, I didn't remember to leave a bit of space around the fan

Quote:

Originally posted by Razor Blade
I like desktops cuz it wont cost you 400 bucks just to get a bigger hard drive thats like 20 gigs. Laptop parts are more expensive and IMO not worth it unless you travel alot or are a business man.

I love notebooks because of its portability, even if a desktop-replacement notebook weights about 3Kg...

On the other hand, about performances, I don't have this problem ATM, because I can change my notebook quite every 2 months for free (ehehe, don't ask the reason

) and I don't have such a lot of free-time to play games. I think games r the only reason for upgrading a computer: I don't know other SW which requires such a lot of specs! Anyway, u can play also at decent resolution/speed w/ not an ATI/NVidia gpu...

Thx, bye

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< half-december '02: ASUS L2480C (14" TFT / Athlon XP 1600+ / SiS 630/730 / 256MB SDRAM / 20GB HDD / DVD-ROM+CD-RW)

> half-december '02: ASUS L3562T (15" TFT / Pentium4 2.0GHz / SiS 650 / 256MB DDR / 40GB HDD / DVD-ROM+CD-RW)

> end-march '03: ASUS L3568T (15" TFT / Pentium4 2.4GHz / SiS 650 / 256MB DDR / 40GB HDD / DVD-ROM+CD-RW)

> june '03: ASUS M3410C (14" TFT / Intel Centrino Pentium-M 1.3GHz / Intel 855GM / 512MB DDR / 40GB HDD / DVD-ROM+CD-RW)
==============================

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Last edited by Gismo; April 4th, 2003 at 09:18..

Aleksei (St) · April 5th, 2003, 02:49

intel isnt launching centrino for desktop?

__________________

Gamer1 · April 5th, 2003, 06:59

no, centrino is too costly to produce, and if you thought that the 3000+ and the 3.06Ghz are too overpriced, the centrino is even more costly.

the main reason that centrino won't make it to the desktop is because of cost and it puts the p4 to shame.

__________________
Iris: (Proc:Intel Pentium4 2.8Ghz w/ HT UNLOCKED @ 15x200) (Mobo: Asus P4C800-E) (RAM: Corsair XMS 2x512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: Lite-On 16x DVD Burner 1673S) (GFX Card: Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder Pro 128MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy)

Morrigan: (Proc:AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 11x200) (Mobo: Asrock K7V88) (RAM: Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: NEC 16x DVD Burner 3200AG) (GFX Card: Radeon 920064MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1)

takwu · April 5th, 2003, 07:21

Quote:

the aricle even mentioned one guy who had his pants go up in flames (and who suffered some serious burns) because he didn't notice the gradual temperature rise untill it was... too late.

That's just plain stupid. I mean whoever made up this story. You don't seriously believe that do you.

Quote:

What the heck is this Centrino mobile P4 that intel is putting out?

Why not just read the Intel website instead? I read about it a while ago and the website was quite informative.

Quote:

Also, anyone out there a laptop owner who has had similar heating problems?

I don't have a modern laptop, just an old Pentium MMX. It's an "ultraportable" and it does get a little warm on my lap after several hours of web browsing in the couch. I don't consider that a problem, but certainly a cool laptop would be, um, cool.

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takwu · April 5th, 2003, 07:28

as a side note,
I noticed a general confusion about the Centrino name. Centrino is a combined cpu, chipset, and 802.11b. The cpu in the Centrino is called the Pentium-M.

I hope this clears things up a little bit.

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Chinoz · April 5th, 2003, 16:25

Hey....is Centrino compatible with 802.11g?

**Betamax** · April 5th, 2003, 18:02

Yes, I've heard and seen problems with some p4 laptops here. We got a bunch of them from computing services, most of them have had problems at one time or another has had overheating issues.

__________________

Superior marketing of an inferior product will always win over inferior marketing of a superior product.

felinusz · April 8th, 2003, 19:33

Hey, thanks takwu, you have cleared it up QUITE a bit. thanks for the info.

As for these stories being false...

I believe every word of them.

April 4th, 2003, 01:44	#1
felinusz overclocking magus Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,372	Has anyone else heard of these Laptops with Intel Chips and their heat problems? I was recently reading a computer magazine (something I find myself doing a lot these days ) and came across and article on laptop heating problems. Apparantly there have been hundreds of fires and overheating problems with various laptops put out by major companies because of their (laptops) use of the bottom of the case as a heatsink... the aricle even mentioned one guy who had his pants go up in flames (and who suffered some serious burns) because he didn't notice the gradual temperature rise untill it was... too late. This brings me to my next 'question/point'. What the heck is this Centrino mobile P4 that intel is putting out? I have heard that it simply incorporates better cooling than typical mobile P4 processors in an attempt to overcome this serious issue. Also, anyone out there a laptop owner who has had similar heating problems? (I ask because if your house has burned down you may be a ble to file a succesful lawsuit... ) Sorry for the rambling post

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April 4th, 2003, 01:46	#2
Razor Blade Locked and Loaded Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I AM CANADIAN! Posts: 12,032	I have a PIII in my laptop and boy does it ever overheat. It even rumbles! __________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home Premium ● Dell 2007WFP LCD ● Dell XPS M1330 Laptop ● 1TB Western Digital MyBook External HD ● Logitech Z10 Speakers ● PLAYSTATION 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 4th, 2003, 01:51	#3
Gamer1 Anti-Brand Loyalist Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Its too dark to tell... Posts: 3,241	i'ver heard of overheating laptops b4, something about buring a guy's finger because the keyboard was too hot. Thankfully, i don't have an overheating issue on my friend's 1800+ hp laptop. I love that laptop, during lan parties when i can't bring my comp. __________________ Iris: (Proc:Intel Pentium4 2.8Ghz w/ HT UNLOCKED @ 15x200) (Mobo: Asus P4C800-E) (RAM: Corsair XMS 2x512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: Lite-On 16x DVD Burner 1673S) (GFX Card: Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder Pro 128MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy) Morrigan: (Proc:AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 11x200) (Mobo: Asrock K7V88) (RAM: Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: NEC 16x DVD Burner 3200AG) (GFX Card: Radeon 920064MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1)

April 4th, 2003, 01:53	#4
Dark Zero 黑零 Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,444	They should call em hot-tops, as they'll make your lap hot if you have them on your lap. Ok, that was a corny joke shuts up

April 4th, 2003, 01:54	#6
Dark Zero 黑零 Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,444	My uncle has a dell laptop with a celeron, it doesnt seem to get that hot, but I haven't used it long enough to determine anything. But the exhaust slot does blow lots of hot air for what it should.

April 4th, 2003, 02:46	#7
Razor Blade Locked and Loaded Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I AM CANADIAN! Posts: 12,032	I like desktops cuz it wont cost you 400 bucks just to get a bigger hard drive thats like 20 gigs. Laptop parts are more expensive and IMO not worth it unless you travel alot or are a business man. __________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home Premium ● Dell 2007WFP LCD ● Dell XPS M1330 Laptop ● 1TB Western Digital MyBook External HD ● Logitech Z10 Speakers ● PLAYSTATION 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 4th, 2003, 03:16	#8
Gamer1 Anti-Brand Loyalist Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Its too dark to tell... Posts: 3,241	or during lan parties... i just have to add that.... pcs are way better though, i love the way that a pc can be easily upgradable and interchanged. __________________ Iris: (Proc:Intel Pentium4 2.8Ghz w/ HT UNLOCKED @ 15x200) (Mobo: Asus P4C800-E) (RAM: Corsair XMS 2x512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: Lite-On 16x DVD Burner 1673S) (GFX Card: Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder Pro 128MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy) Morrigan: (Proc:AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 11x200) (Mobo: Asrock K7V88) (RAM: Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: NEC 16x DVD Burner 3200AG) (GFX Card: Radeon 920064MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1)

April 4th, 2003, 09:05	#10
Chinoz ... Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Desa Park, Key Ell, Malaysia Posts: 2,307	The Centrino also has built in WiFi and doubled L2 cache (1mb) __________________ System specs P4 2.6c \| Abit AI7 \| Radeon 9800pro \| 1024mb kingston ddr400 \| 120gb seagate sata \| 40mb wd \| And all the minor bits and pieces 3dMark2001SE

April 5th, 2003, 02:49	#12
Aleksei (St) In Love! Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ensenada Mexico Posts: 704	intel isnt launching centrino for desktop? __________________

April 5th, 2003, 06:59	#13
Gamer1 Anti-Brand Loyalist Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Its too dark to tell... Posts: 3,241	no, centrino is too costly to produce, and if you thought that the 3000+ and the 3.06Ghz are too overpriced, the centrino is even more costly. the main reason that centrino won't make it to the desktop is because of cost and it puts the p4 to shame. __________________ Iris: (Proc:Intel Pentium4 2.8Ghz w/ HT UNLOCKED @ 15x200) (Mobo: Asus P4C800-E) (RAM: Corsair XMS 2x512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: Lite-On 16x DVD Burner 1673S) (GFX Card: Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder Pro 128MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy) Morrigan: (Proc:AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 11x200) (Mobo: Asrock K7V88) (RAM: Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400) (HDD 1: Seagate 80GB, 8MB Buffer, 7200 RPM) (Disk Drive 1: NEC 16x DVD Burner 3200AG) (GFX Card: Radeon 920064MB) (Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1)

April 5th, 2003, 07:28	#15
takwu previous extinction Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 1,857	as a side note, I noticed a general confusion about the Centrino name. Centrino is a combined cpu, chipset, and 802.11b. The cpu in the Centrino is called the Pentium-M. I hope this clears things up a little bit. __________________ Latest toy: Sharp LCD TV Monitor LL-M17W1U

April 5th, 2003, 16:25	#16
Chinoz ... Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Desa Park, Key Ell, Malaysia Posts: 2,307	Hey....is Centrino compatible with 802.11g? __________________ System specs P4 2.6c \| Abit AI7 \| Radeon 9800pro \| 1024mb kingston ddr400 \| 120gb seagate sata \| 40mb wd \| And all the minor bits and pieces 3dMark2001SE

April 5th, 2003, 18:02	#17
Betamax Resident Movie Critic Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 9,506	Yes, I've heard and seen problems with some p4 laptops here. We got a bunch of them from computing services, most of them have had problems at one time or another has had overheating issues. __________________ Superior marketing of an inferior product will always win over inferior marketing of a superior product.

April 8th, 2003, 19:33	#18
felinusz overclocking magus Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,372	Hey, thanks takwu, you have cleared it up QUITE a bit. thanks for the info. As for these stories being false... I believe every word of them.