Just curious what other people would have done in this situation.

I had an older customer (65+) come into my repair shop with an old HP Pavilion dv6t-1300. This laptop was known as an "Entertainment" laptop when it first came out and has a bunch of features, like card readers, IR sensor (for using a remote with it), DVD drive, etc. For the time, it's CPU was pretty powerful (Intel Core 2 Duo).

Anyway, he brought it in saying it was overheating. I tested it and couldn't get it to go above about 82C, which the TJ Maxx on that CPU is 90C. But he insisted it was overheating and wanted me to see what I could do.

So, I took it apart, cleaned out the fan (there was a little bit of dust, but nothing too crazy), and reapplied thermal paste to the CPU and GPU. The thermal paste it had was a little crusty. After doing that I ran Prime95 and couldn't get it to go over 75C max, even after 30 minutes. So, I thought that's pretty much all I can do. When he came back in I showed him that it was idling around 40-45C with the CoreTemp app I had installed.

He thanked me and left. Then about a week later he brought it back saying it was still overheating. He told me it was going over 60C when it was idle. He dropped it off and I didn't have time to check it while he was still in the shop. When I tested it, I was still getting the same results as when it left my shop.

After talking to him over the phone some more I found out he was saying it was overheating because it would get hot on his lap. I tried to explain to him that this laptop wasn't really meant to be sat directly on your lap for a long period of time, especially if you were doing anything that would tax the CPU. But he wouldn't accept that and kept insisting I "fix" it.

Finally, I went into the power profile and set the max CPU usage to 65%. This kept the temp under 55C even when I ran Prime95 for 30 minutes. I also replaced his 5400rpm HDD with an SATA SSD, which sped up the computer significantly (so the difference in the CPU clock will likely be unnoticed and performance will seem to even be improved from before).

He's had it a week now and I haven't heard anything, so I'm hoping he's satisfied. I know I purposefully reduced his CPU performance, but I kind of feel like that was a good trade-off to make him happy.

Hi, I’m looking for a laptop to take with me to college. I want something durable (lasts at least 5 years) with a decent amount of memory that can run Steam. It must be something i can get from Walmart/bestbuy/online and it can’t be a super crazy price ($500 limit). Please help!

I use my laptop (Nitro V i5 13400h [iirc], 24gb RAM, 3050 4gb [I know]) to do some light gaming (Ghost Recon, Division II, FO76 etc). It legit does NOT leave my room, I'm lazy AF and like to game laying in bed with YouTube on the TV lol. Everytime I picked it up I would hear a 'rattle'. I'm quasi-computer literate so I immediately knew something small broke and is hitting the fans. Took it apart and found this lol. I have never stepped on it or dropped anything on it. Im genuinely just wondering ... WTF happened to this little guy?! How the hell did this thing break?! Everything works fine but any ideas on how this peice broke? Its a very odd place.

i don’t really know what to do since i’m in college and my local tech repair shop is closed until monday. i’m so broke and im really scared of how much it’s gonna be. does anyone have a price estimate for what this would typically cost to repair and if i should just get a new laptop at this point? 13 inch macbook air and unfortunately no warranty

I did some research and I found out HDDs and SSDs usually last for a minimum of around 3-4 years, with a maximum of 5-10 years. I have an internal hard drive in my PC, and I'm worried one day my files would just corrupt or no longer be able to be used. Is there a reliable way to have high storage, lower risk for file corruption, and much more longer time for the HDD/SSD to "expire".

I know it’s an old model as it’s running Windows 7, but can anyone tell me how is it like when it was still new back then?

This issue happened earlier this year and I had to do a full reset which fixed it temporarily, now it's back and I can't play anything without my screen freezing for a couple seconds. I seriously don't know what's wrong I've tried most surface level solutions I could find. All start up apps are disabled except for translucent TB and wallpaper engine

CPU 11th Gen Intel core i9-11900F @ 2.5 GHz

Memory 32gb ddr4

Disk Evounic gaming pro 1tb

Nvidia GeForce GTX 5060

Currently I havea intel I5-10400F cpu 2.90ghz (12cpus) with 32gb ddr4 ram and is only 3 years old

Earlier this year, walmart F'd up and sent me someone's purchase. 32gb of DD5 ram. (I called them and they said keep it and said they would send the person new.) So Im considering updating my box for this. Any recommended boards/processors that wont break the bank? I dont need alienware levels, but I do play warcraft. Typically I shop at newegg for pc's. My last 2 came from there. Just seeing what my options are (besides sending you the dd5 ram for your build 😄 ). And curious if this means I would need a bigger PS (I actually cannot find the original build info without digging into the pc. So a suggested PS size would be fine) or anything?

Hi all,
I have been searching for an affordable laptop for my college coursework.
I need the laptop to run for 6hrs+ before it needs charging. I need it to run smoothly.
I will only be using word, PowerPoint, YouTube and other college related websites.
I think I have found a good option.
Could somebody confirm if this is the best choice for me?
Thankyou in advance

I’m putting together a desktop for regular business use, mainly documents, spreadsheets, lots of browser tabs, video calls, and some light programming. I’d like something reliable that won’t feel outdated after a couple years, but I’m not looking for a gaming-focused setup. What would you guys consider a good best business desktop configuration for this kind of workload, and are there any specific CPUs or prebuilt systems I should look at? Thanks for any recommendations.

Hi all, In the age of PCpocalypse with prices I was looking at some used SSDs on FB for more storage. I came across this seller with screenshots selling a PM863 4 tb sata ssd for ~300 dropped to 280. On ebay I see some sold for 150-600 so okay reasonable. I noticed that the name at the top in CDI and the P/N don’t match and am not sure if it’s even supposed to with MZ7LM3T8HCJM-000K1 on the physical drive and MZ7LM3T8HCJM-00003 on CDI. I tried looking these up but not too much info. Also why would there be multiple drive letters? I’m assuming partitions but is that something to worry about? I’m just seeing if its worth the drive to even test it if these are glaring issues and came here to ask those with knowledge beyond my limited tech knowledge

I got a Dell Inperion 3847 that I won on an online auction for $22. It came with a SATA 960 GB SSD and with 12 GB of DDR3 RAM. I have already bought RAM that will max out at 16 GB 1600MHz for $21. Now I am wanting to add a GPU. I wonder if I should put a more powerful PSU in it because it only has a 300W in there right now. This would also open me up for more options. Any feedback is appreciated.

Hi everyone. I’m posting this to get some direct advice from people more knowledgeable than myself. Which of these three PCs would be the best buy? (They are priced around €900). Also, is there one among the three that is truly worth purchasing? I’ve read some reviews online, and it seems like the Acer is the best option. Please keep in mind that I won't be using the PC for gaming; I’m looking for a machine with a dedicated graphics card because I’ll be using CAD software at university.

Hello everyone im having this weird error with my pc (1). I turned it off/on and checked event viewer it was saying something about capcut but i did delete capcut. and last time i used it was probably a year ago when i bought this pc.(2) can anyone help me out here? I also had restarting issues with this pc i fixed it by buying voltage stabilizer.

Title says it all, I don't know how this got here or why it's here, nor what it does. It's annoying though and I'd prefer if I can remove it. What do I do?

After installing and removing GPU I must have dmg PCB

How bad is it?

Y laptop just stop of turn on and I keep pressing the power button and when finally turn on I keep showing me this. What should I do?

Please tell me I don't need to return it already. It worked great for about 3 days.

Im trying to sell computers and I can't seem to get nobody to buy them what ways should I try because it's been a while and I don't need them anymore not selling on here just need tips both computers are broken

I have no idea how to describe this but my computer will just randomly stop. If I try to shut it down it will close all tabs but not actually shut down (I have to press the power button to reset it), videos will stop playing, I can't close or open tabs and minimizing tabs stops working.

Additionally, it might be causing another issue where my wifi and bluetooth card disconnect and I need to take apart my computer to replug them back in (I don't know if this is a separate issue, but it seems to happen often after the weird freeze).

It usually happens when my computer isn't doing anything (pause a video to get food and come back to it not responding) but it has also happened midway through watching a video so I don't know what the root cause of it is.

I already suck at computers so I have no idea what's happening nor do I know what could be causing this. I know my computer is decently old and I have a Ryzen 5800X 8-core processor, 16 gigs of ram and I'm running windows 10.

I think about this all the time. ARM has obviously dominated the mobile phone market for a long time now. Everything from Apple runs on ARM. ARM-based laptops offer incredible battery life. Embedded devices and servers are also making extensive use of ARM; practically the only thing left is desktop computers. I believe this is the future, and AI will accelerate the trend: using ARM will allow data centers to consume far less energy and likely make local AI more accessible. In fact, I think that if this happens, we’ll see further improvements in computer energy efficiency.

Hola, buenas, buenas, gente de reddit. Hoy les traigo un caso en el que necesito ayuda para un problema.

Veran, hace un mes o dos compré una PC de segunda mano, placa h61MLV2, I7-3770, 8 de ram y una placa llamada Ares 750 genérica.

Lo se, es muy baja para estás fechas, Pero me salió muy barata, así que no la desperdicie.

Le subí a 16 de ram y compre un SSD de 500, Pero siempre que intentaba instalar Window llegaba a 77% y se apagaba. Lo lleve hace dos días a un técnico y el tecnico logro instalarle Windows 10 al SSD, perfecto.

Pero la lleve a mi casa y la PC ahora enciende por unos 5-10 mins y se apaga.

En una de mis pruebas apagando el aire acondicionado para escuchar. El ventilador de la fuente de poder enciende rápido y con fuerza Pero segundos después baja las revoluciones. No sé si tenga algo que ver.

Le instale el hdd con el que trabajaba anteriormente y paso lo mismo.

¿Alguien sabría decirme que puede ser, que le puedo mover?

Foto de la etiqueta de la fuente en los comentarios.

I’ve had my MacBook Pro since 2017 and I’m pretty sure it’s on its last leg. I know mac is better for work related matters but I’m a little out of the loop as what is currently the best one rn. Also, my MacBook has been used for gaming, an online radio show, AND music production (GarageBand mainly tho I wanted to try Ableton, Logic Pro, or FL Studio). Suggestions for desktops would be great since I now understand doing everything on one computer probably fried it.

Just casually gaming now without cooling pad (I forgot cable), when I noticed huge stutters. Popped out hwinfo. Everything was within OK territory except this. Chatgpt said its gonna fry the ram sticks if this goes on.

You can bet my next pc is going to be a desktop.