D420

I think heat is an issue with most ultraportables. I have an M1210. The CPU has got up to 72C before the fan kicked in and lowered it down (the norm seems to be mid 60's - at that temp it is extremely uncomfortable on the 'lap'). To save on space the D420 doesn't use a fan. Instead it compensates by using a low voltage processor that doesn't draw as much power, and which is probably why it's staying hot.

When I was deciding between the D420 and M1210 I came across a lot of discussion of heat in ultraportables. Apparantly it's also an issue with the smaller Macs (don't know what they're called).

Solutions to the problem are laptop cooler mats which are discussed occasionally on the forum. There's a program that you can download that can be set to monitor temp. of CPU's. You might find it useful. Good luck.

Actually there is a fan on the D420..your probably thinking of X1 which did not have fan..

 

As for the question from the original poster..my D420 gets quite hot as well..its usually around 60C with just the IE running and I have had it up to 75C when I had couple of intensive programs running. It is quite annoying to hear the fan kick in almost as soon as you boot but I think its just the way the system was designed..If you search the board, you will see others have had the same issue with this system.  You can also checkout notebookforums.com and search for D420 threads and realize that you are not alone.

 

 

It happens to almost all ultraportables.  Just isnt room for a proper heat sink.

 

Mine hovers in the high 30s and sometimes gets into the high 50s.  I have I8kfanGUI running.  It lets you set when you want the fans to come on.  This way my fan is running anytime it gets above 38 but is only running on low.  That is usually enough to keep it from spiking unless I am doing some serious work.

 

Then at 60 the fan goes to high.  This usually only happens when I maxing out the machine for a while, like compressing a DVD.

 

Sure my fan will probably die in 4 years instead of 8 but that is OK as fans are cheaper than anything else.

When you wrote "...hovers in the high 30s and sometimes gets into the high 50s..." you meant Celsius right?  If that is the case then why would you need any fan management program..that is running really cool..

 

As I wrote in my post, my D420 regularly goes past 60C..infact, as soon as I boot and after about 15 min of checking my email with IE the temp is already upto 60C with the fan running at max (I am assuming max since its pretty loud)..

 

This system is very nice and compact but I cannot recommend it to my co workers because of this over heating problem even if it was designed that way..and subsequently, I will not buy another Dell laptop because my experience with this system.

 

I was just curious how your system runs so much cooler than mine..perhaps mine is a lemon..?..!:smileysad:

 

 

Yours sounds a little odd with the fan audibly kicking on when you boot.  As I type this my fan is off and I am at 40c. 

 

I will say that heat is a common problem with ultraportables.  Its been a problem with the small mac notebooks and my thinkpad x-series would heat your lap up also. 

 

Part of the reason my computer would run cooler is BECAUSE of the fan management software.  I have it set to run on LOW really early in the temp range preventing the processor from heat soaking the chassis.  Then it kicks to high earlier too. 

 

Ive never gotten mine to go above 75, even when having both cores peaked out for 20 minutes sitting flat on a tabletop. 

 

Download that program, if it doesnt help then maybe yours has an issue with chip grease or a fan.