Okay, all electronic appliances and the like get warm when in use-TVs, stereos, computers. But when I was playing a CD, and took it out of the drive, it was noticably warm (the CD, I mean).
Should I worry?
That depends on how warm the CD comes out. If it’s slightly warm (similar to the case warmth, for example), it’s just the CD absorbing heat from the drive (Modern computers tend to run hotter than older systems). If it’s uncomfortably hot, then there might be a problem, such as the entire system running too hot.
Well, I’ve never had a CD get warm before.
And yeah, the computer itself is pretty warm, but it’s been on for about five hours.
And it smells like plastic.
That’s normal. CDs spin REALLY fast in modern computers, they can’t really avoid getting pretty warm. If the air coming out of the exhaust fan in the back of the computer is too hot, then you should worry.
Here’s a dumb question:
Does your PC sound a lot more quiet lately? It’s possible that power supply fan or CPU fan is dead. This could cause unusual heat build-up in your computer’s case. You might also check the inside of your computer to see if you’ve got a bunch of dust and lint that’s accumulated inside.
Some computers seem to be warm. It depends on your system. If this is a new development (something that it didn’t do before) then that is a reason for concern.
However, I am reminded of the old iMacs (the ones that came before the flat-panel “lamp” style iMacs). They always felt warm to the touch. There were many jokes about frying eggs on top of these iMacs. They just ran warm. I also notice that my external CD burner runs warm. It always has, I think.
Reboot the system after it has been on for a while, and immediately go into the BIOS setup. Look for system monitor or environmental monitor or some such. The exact name it will be under will vary, but somewhere in there should be an option to monitor the system temperatures. The CPU temp shouldn’t be above 45 deg C and the case temp shouldn’t be too much above room temperature. Any higher temps than that could indicate a heat problem of some sort.
If you are brave enough to open the case, then check how hot your hard drive is getting. A lot of the higher RPM hard drives get rather warm, and the way some cases are designed you don’t get enough airflow to the drives. If it is too hot to touch then you have a major problem.
You know, it is today. The last couple of days, the fan has been really noisy. Today, not so.
Would I have to replace it myself? I don’t know the first thing about computers, and mine was built by a friend.
Yeah, I just touched the back of the computer near the fan-OUCH!!!
Dammit!
I’ll check the set up. I REALLY hope this isn’t anything major, as I can’t afford a new computer and I have been using the Internet in my job searches.
My laptop gets too warm sometimes and it shuts down. I have noticed that dust builds up on the vents. So I vacuum the vents every month or so, problem solved.
You don’t really have to with a fan. Just open the case, unscrew the dead fan, and disconnect the power connector. Head to CompUSA, and get a replacement fan that is the same size (I’m guessing 80 mm) with the same connector. Shouldn’t cost you more than $5 or $10. Reverse the process to install the fan. Make sure the power is off and the computer is unplugged while you do this.
That’s good to know-probably the reason why it’s been whining lately.
I’ll take the dead fan with me so I know what to get.
Thanks so much!
Also check for air circulation. If the unit is in an enclosed area, then poor air circulation may cause the system to become too hot. If you have a tower machine, and it is in a desk with a door covering the front, then you should keep the door open when the computer is on. Most tower machines have air vents on the front panel, under the drive bays, and these have to be clear as well as the vents on the back.
Okay, now it’s working again, but making a lot of noise. STILL, I can feel the air out of the vent. My guess is that it’s on its last leg.
Again, thanks.
Do you hear beeps from the system speaker? (Thats the one inside the case btw)
Has your computer been crashing or acting glitchy in any way?
If worse comes to worst, open the sidecase and aim a box fan into the case, but don’t run your CPU without a CPU fan. Once the CPU is cooked, you can’t repair it. Or if only the case fan is going out, then just take the side cover off the case and run the computer with the side off. If the power supply fan is going out…buy a new power supply. Don’t jack around on the inside of a power supply, it’s not worth the risk. You can shock yourself, or fry your whole setup. I had a faulty power supply that fried my motherboard, harddrive, CD-ROM, and RAM. Strangely, the CPU survived. So there you have it.
I don’t think your computer is hurting. It’s just the fan, I think, from what you’re describing. Computers have few moving parts – the hard drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD drive, and fans are about it. You’ll know when the hard drive fails, and if the CD drive was bad, your CDs wouldn’t be spinning up and getting warm to begin with.
One bit of advice I’ll give when looking for a fan; check out the db figures listed on the box. If you’re like me and sensitive to noise, you’ll want to get a fan that’s as quiet as possible. Lower db is better, and since the decibel scale is logarithmic, a 40 db fan would be twice as loud as one that is 30 db. It’ll be hard to find a fan that produces under 25 db (Panaflow, Zalman, Papst) without resorting to mail order. Get an Antec, maybe one with pretty blue lights, and you’ll be okay.
Ordinarily I would direct you to somewhere like QuietPC.com but in your case, I would suggest you either get your friend round again to do the buying and fitting for you or take the whole computer to your local PC World or whatever and get them to do the work. Chip fans often hook on to quite fragile lugs which are not repairable. Chip fans are easy to fit; they’re equally easy to misfit. The last thing you want is to walk in with a requirement for a $10 fan and have to walk back in the next day requiring a new motherboard, CPU, and memory.
And whenever you poke around inside a computer, first touch a grounded metal object to discharge any static electricity you may have built up. (Hey, we already know you have an electric personality.)
I mean the FAN is on its last leg.
The fan is working now. It’s noisy, but working.
My friend is out of state-I’m not going to drag him here for this. My cousin knows quite a bit about computers, and I’m going to ask her about it.
My computer is acting fine-it’s just the fan. Admittedly, I don’t dust as well as I should. (Someone advised using a can of compressed air around the back of computers and tvs-in hard to reach places to get the dust out of the way)
I used to use the compressed air stuff, but I picked up what they call a “turbo” vacuum at Home Depot a few weeks ago (about $20). It has some nice little attachments for cleaning computers.