Posted 01 March 2010 - 10:30 AM
Hi all. I'm hoping someone can shed some light on my laptop issue.
I use my machine for a lot of video conversion. I have ALWAYS used ConvertXtoDVD (I am currently using version 4.) I bought my laptop in December 2008, and it was working 100% perfectly right up until about a month and a half ago, at which point it began to shut down randomly whenever I used ConvertXtoDVD to convert a video file. Keep in mind that this started happening completely out of the blue.
Since it began happening, I have done countless troublehooting procedures. I've sucked any dust out of the fan vent on the left side of the laptop using a special vacuum for electronics; I've opened up the laptop and cleaned any dust out of the fan and checked the heatsink for dust buildup (there is absolutely none there, by the way.) I have set the conversion priority of ConvertXtoDVD to "idle" and when I try to do a conversion project, I just leave the computer to do its work, and go off to do something else.
I downloaded Everest and had a look at the temperatures while the machine is idle, compared to what they are when the program is running. Here are the results:
IDLE
CPU, CORE 1: 52 C
CPU, CORE 2: 53 C
The third temp is listed as 32 C, but I am not sure what this temp is. Is it the fan temperature?
WHILE USING CONVERTXTODVD:
CPU, CORE 1: 82 C
CPU, CORE 2: 74 C
The third temp is still listed as 32 degrees.
The shutdown is very...undramatic, I suppose you could say. No beeps, no clicks, no nothing....it simply shuts down.
Now, I know that video conversion is very CPU-intensive. But *something* had to have happened to make this start occurring all of a sudden.
I have also *tried* to run a memory test to see if I have any bad RAM. But....wait for it....the laptop shuts down before I can even complete the test. I have also downloaded programs designed to run "stress tests" on the CPU, and the laptop always shuts down before the process has completed. I've also run several anti-virus programs to make sure that there are no viruses that might be causing this.
During my research online, I have seen many, many mentions of "thermal paste/compound", and I've seen diagrams of where it should be in terms of the inside of the laptop. I am pretty sure that there is none of that anywhere inside my laptop, and I have certainly never applied any. I'm also starting to wonder if my laptop needs a bigger fan, or a more powerful one.
I know that the most obvious answer is "Take the laptop to a repair shop", but frankly, there are only two computer repair shops in this town, and they charge at least 50 bucks just to have a look, outside of any repairs they might have to do. I suppose I'm hoping that someone here *might* have an idea, as I have run out of them and am pretty much at the end of my rope.
If anyone has any ideas as to what else I can do, I would REALLY appreciate it. This laptop is practically my baby, and I certainly don't want it to be struggling if there's anything I can do.
My system specs are in my signature, btw.
Snoofie : Computer Geek Wannabe
Dell 15R
Intel Core i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60 GHz
8.00 GB RAM
Windows 8.1, 64-bit