Vacuuming out from underneath works good if one does it periodically. Other than that, yes, opening up would be the game if it gets packed up due to not peridically vacuuming. It was a lesson to me although the unit was still under warranty.
I just had my motherboard changed out in my Dell Precision M65 - NVidia Quadro FX 350M chip. Seems the chip is glued, yes, no solder, to the motherboard and the heat generated from the clogged fan assembly inadequatly cooling the copper heat sink, caused the chip to lift off. Two things - keep your heat sink on the fan clear of fuzzies and if the fan is on all the time or very soon after boot-up, vacuum out the junk from the bottom of the laptop, not the back. Excesive fan use is a bad sign.
Mark
Slashdot Mirror
Vacuuming out from underneath works good if one does it periodically. Other than that, yes, opening up would be the game if it gets packed up due to not peridically vacuuming. It was a lesson to me although the unit was still under warranty.
I just had my motherboard changed out in my Dell Precision M65 - NVidia Quadro FX 350M chip. Seems the chip is glued, yes, no solder, to the motherboard and the heat generated from the clogged fan assembly inadequatly cooling the copper heat sink, caused the chip to lift off. Two things - keep your heat sink on the fan clear of fuzzies and if the fan is on all the time or very soon after boot-up, vacuum out the junk from the bottom of the laptop, not the back. Excesive fan use is a bad sign. Mark