Suny VAIO Runs Hot

Mike McCall

Mike McCall

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I have a Sony VAIO Model# PCG-81114L (VPCF122FX) in for overheating & lockups. I know about the BIOS issue and checked for an update. BIOS is current. Fan & heat-sink removed for cleaning and found the hardest thermal paste I've ever seen. Fan & fins slightly dirty but nothing sufficient to cause any overheating. Thoroughly cleaned off the old paste and applied new. Put it back together and it still runs hot ~146 - 157 deg. F.

It's really quite clean inside and well cared for. There's no high CPU usage, though it acts like it. When it locks up the fan jumps to high speed and a hard shutdown is the only way to get out. Potentially bad CPU? What am I missing?

Edit: Suny? I meant Sony. I must be tired.
 
Its hot in Oregon this time of year and its an old computer since Sonny has not made any Vaio's for many years
My suggestion is to buy a good USB under laptop cooler with as many fans as you can get.
A spinning H/D generates a lot of heat maybe its seen better days try an SSD it will be night and day for little expense
I just put one in a Vaio last week
 
My guess is the GPU is overheating and causing the whole computer to lock up. Did you reapply the thermal paste to the GPU as well? If you have and it's still locking up, then it's possible the solder joints on the GPU have gotten loose from consistent overheating. Try to disable the dedicated GPU if it has integrated graphics. It's unlikely to have integrated graphics and if that's the case then you're SOL.
 
sapphirescales said:
My guess is the GPU is overheating and causing the whole computer to lock up. Did you reapply the thermal paste to the GPU as well? If you have and it's still locking up, then it's possible the solder joints on the GPU have gotten loose from consistent overheating. Try to disable the dedicated GPU if it has integrated graphics. It's unlikely to have integrated graphics and if that's the case then you're SOL.
Click to expand...
I was beginning to suspect the GPU as a possible cause. I found nothing in BIOS allowing me to disable the GPU and switch to an integrated one. Not much left for me to point at but the GPU. I'll suggest they replace the laptop.
 
Mike McCall said:
I was beginning to suspect the GPU as a possible cause. I found nothing in BIOS allowing me to disable the GPU and switch to an integrated one. Not much left for me to point at but the GPU. I'll suggest they replace the laptop.
Click to expand...

You can disable it in the Device Manager if it has integrated graphics to fall back on.
 
MichaelBits said:
The pipe should be hot at the CPU and cool at the fan. If it's NOT hot at the fan, could be a bad pipe.
Click to expand...
FTFY. If the heat is not traversing the full length of the heat pipe, the rad end will be cool and the heat would build up at the CPU/GPU causing the problem. It should be hot, although not as hot as the CPU/GPU end.
 
Well, I meant cooler, not cool... but I'm not sure I follow your logic Larry.
Fan side should always be cooler than the heat sink side if the pipe is working as it should.
Perhaps you mean if the fan side is cold with no heat evident? Indicating heat isn't being dissipated through the liquid/gas exchange along the pipe.
 
Okay, today the CPU at idle has been running between 113 - 161 F, and the GPU between 104 - 136 F.

I can find no integrated GPU in the BIOS or in Device Manager.

The fan & pipe appear to be working properly. Also, when heat increases so does the fan speed with very hot air being pushed through the fins.

Sony VAIO's have a known heat issue Sony claims to have resolved with a BIOS update - this machine already has that update.

Reapplication of the thermal paste appears to have helped some, but given the temperature variations at idle I don't trust it.
 
Your temperatures confuse me as I always deal with equipment in temperatures in C :D

But honestly with a laptop that old I mostly pitch replacement with a new or refurbished system. Especially with an issue like this.

Have you tried a new heatsink?
 
Computer Bloke said:
Amen, Brother.

It's so much simpler than the horse-blood scale: 50 = Good, 100 = Bad, 150 = Very bad. Easy!
Click to expand...
I mean I'm American and daily temp use is in F. But most software reports C and everyone always refers to them in C.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
While there certainly is work I'll turn away, I often get asked to investigate older equipment. Much of my decision is made from the phone conversation before I even see the machine. In this case they were very nice and wanted to know what was wrong and whether it was worth fixing. I could have said no at the very beginning, but they said the had taken it to other techs and they couldn't fix it and didn't know why. They had already put two HDD's in it, once due to Ransomware they said. They also said they had taken it in for the heat problem and the tech had "removed some things" but didn't fix the problem. It didn't take long to me to conclude that if even half of what they said was true, someone had taken advantage of them. The hard drive turned out to be a WD Blue made in 2016, so they had a newer HDD. If someone told them they had Ransomware and needed a new drive that's dishonest at best.

A little time and a little courtesy and I've established a trust relationship with a customer. That customer will bring other work to me as well as recommend me to others. They are also likely to become another Managed Client when they get their new system they went to buy.
 
Mike McCall said:
In this case they were very nice and wanted to know what was wrong and whether it was worth fixing.
Click to expand...
Unless you are not charging much for this diag/expedition there is a time to wave the white flag and sell a good refurb to them.
Worth fixing? That depends on what it will take to fix it (parts/LABOR)

I can see was a high end laptop in its time. 1st gen I7. Larger than avg screen (16.4) It was at least $1000 when new.

You are correct, The previous tech was either shady or uninformed about ransomware or both. Or needed a new drive as well(happens).
 
Porthos said:
Unless you are not charging much for this diag/expedition there is a time to wave the white flag and sell a good refurb to them.
Worth fixing? That depends on what it will take to fix it (parts/LABOR)

I can see was a high end laptop in its time. 1st gen I7. Larger than avg screen (16.4) It was at least $1000 when new.

You are correct, The previous tech was either shady or uninformed about ransomware or both. Or needed a new drive as well(happens).
Click to expand...
Naw, $45. Told them what they needed to hear, the truth, which is what they weren't being told while being charged for what I consider to be questionable work. They left knowing what they should have been told and with a plan to buy a new desktop to replace it.
 
Very rarely (if ever) would I tell a client " to go out and buy a computer" from a competitor.
There are plenty of wholesalers that can supply laptops/desktops at competitive rates, but even if I make a pittance on the price of the new unit, there's money in the setup, AV, Office subscription/sale and the ongoing support.
They will also tell their friends about "our new computer we bought from <your-business-here>!"
 
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