Powerbook G4 heats up when attached to an external display.

[Obsidian6]

So. I just noticed this recently in one of my paranoid stints where i watch the temp. monitor all the time.
when i got my powerbook ( 17" 1.5ghz G4, 2GB ram, 80GB HD ) in 2004 it usually ran around the 110 - 120F range.
when i upgraded to tiger, and 2GB of ram, i noticed that it started to average about 126F ( thanks to mini CPU heat widget for telling me )
now, when i use the laptop under average load on its own, i average 115-126F.
but when i connect it to my delll 2405fpw display it almost instantly heats up to 130F+

ive seen it as high as 136F!

is this normal for a laptop to heat up a whole lot when powering an external display? because that is just WAY too hot, i touched the bottom once and it nearly seared my skin. For the record, when in the office, i keep the laptop elevated on an iCurve the entire time, so it gets plenty of airflow. right now it is running at 118F. with no display attached.

any insight?

 

[macuserx86]

It is heating up beacuse your graphics card it now powering 2 displays. So it has to work much harder, thus heating up as more electrons get shoved through the chip faster. And yes, it is normal. My 12" will reach over 60C on its graphics card and about 55C for CPU. I dont like to measure in F degrees

 

[Obsidian6]

yeah it gets a bit scary seeing it in farenheit.
but i'm just so used to that system, ive never really used celcius before.

thanks for the answer, that is all i needed to know

 

[imacintel]

yeah it gets a bit scary seeing it in farenheit.
but i'm just so used to that system, ive never really used celcius before.

thanks for the answer, that is all i needed to know

Making it simple, because I am canadian.

0C is when liquid freezes
100C is when liquid boils.

Simple as that.

 

[aquajet]

As mentioned, this is normal behavior. My 12" PB runs hotter while in clamshell mode. The fan runs more frequently and at a higher RPM. Just make sure it is on a hard, flat surface to ensure proper cooling. You might also consider an iCurve or similar device to allow more space under the computer, but it's not absolutely necessary.

 

[Obsidian6]

i keep the laptop elevated on an iCurve the entire time, so it gets plenty of airflow.

got that part covered lol. i guess i will just have to accept the fact that it is going to run hotter when connected to my display.

is there really any benefit to using the celcius scale for me? lol i've never even thought of that.

 

[aquajet]

is there really any benefit to using the celcius scale for me? lol i've never even thought of that.

It's a more simplistic scale that's based upon the temperatures at which water changes states. Big deal. If you're used to Fahrenheit, just use that. I say Celsius can go to hell.

 

[macuserx86]

I use it because it is more efficient and all of my PC temp readouts are in celcius (like in the BIOS) so i just learned it because i had to

 

[dextertangocci]

...is this normal for a laptop to heat up a whole lot when powering an external display?

Its not a laptop, its a notebook don't you know?

 

[Obsidian6]

i write in notebooks. and im not so rich that i can write on my powerbook

so you caught me on an off day. lol i usually say notebook.