cpu - What is the tape-like stuff being applied to the cooling assembly for this laptop?

I have a laptop that's running on the following:

• MSI MS-1634X motherboard
• AMD Turion X2 TL-66 CPU
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD2600

It keeps overheating, especially when I do something more CPU and GPU-intensive such as games. I've tried SpeedFan and Notebook Hardware Control and neither are able to help control my fans. I also have a Targus Chillmat for my laptop which helps cool down my laptop, but it still overheats. Are there any fan controlling programs that I could use to maybe turn up the RPMs on my fans or any other ways to cool down my laptop? My laptop runs pretty hot, maybe 80c core when being used, not even intensively. The Hard drive stays cool though, close to 35c.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

80c core GPU or CPU?

If it's 80c GPU you are well within acceptable levels. Expect up to 90c without many concerns, although it would help to know your GPU make and model.

If it's 80c CPU then you do have a problem. You should check your BIOS settings to see if you are inadvertently limiting the fan performance.

After your comments on this post, there's no doubt really you have some kind of problem. That card, from a cursory look on the web, should run somewhere between in the 50c to 80c range. Hmm... ok:

• Put the back of your hand near the exhaust areas of your laptop. Do you feel air flowing out? At that temp fans should be working at full speed. You should feel a relatively strong rush of hot air.
• During computer normal operations (without playing a game) do you hear the fans starting and stopping, especially as you fire up applications or perform processor intensive tasks? This is an indicator your CPU thermal monitor is working and the CPU fan too. If you can tell if the noise is coming from the HDD or the CPU fan, use a CPU intensive application to test it (the HDD fan will stay quiet). For instance: Prime95
• Download FurMark. Let the computer idle for 10 minutes to cool down some. Start it and do a stress test of any kind. Do you hear a fan starting and getting increasingly more noisy? This is an indication your GPU thermal monitor is working and the fan too.

If all is working as expected, you must have a fabrication defect. Those temperatures aren't normal. If you are still under the warranty send it to be fixed. If not, send it to your local PC repair shop and have it fully cleaned.

It is clean internally? If there is any dust, fluff etc blocking the cooling parts then that will drastically reduce their effectiveness. If the air it is blowing out isn't particularly hot then it may be time to pull a cover off and gently vacuum it out. gently

Laptops run hot, not much you can do about it. Using a stand or a chillmat (like you mentioned) is one of the better ways of keeping it cool.

When I have had temperature control problems on laptops - last time this happened the fan eventually died - I ran my laptop sitting on my ceramic tile floor. It's not ideal, but it allowed the machine to run cool enough, long enough for me to get a complete backup made.

I think any ceramic or stone floor in direct contact with your slab would be enough of a heat sink to keep you going for a short time until you can determine what's really going on.

When my fan was going, I noticed that my CPU temp varied pretty wildly over even relative short time spans. It could go from 60c to 90c and back to 60 in less than 2 minutes.

1) Check the internal fans. If they are working, blow them out with compressed air. Also blow out the CPU cooling ducts with compressed air

2) If the laptop allows, remove the CPU heat-sink and re-seat it on the CPU using thermal compound. (This has worked wonders for me on overheating lappies)

I've had a similar problem with my Dell Latitude D820. It turned out that the cooling element had become loose from the GPU, effectively running it without any cooling. Send your laptop to maintenance.

Do what we had to do in the days of the ZX Spectrum 16K .... balance a glass of cold milk on it.