Hi! First of all I'm a really big noob when it comes to computer stuff so I hope I've come to the right place.

So here's my problem:
When I play poker on my laptop (I play on PS) I have too applications open: Pokerstars and HM3 (I only really keep HM3 open for the rng and to label hands for review). Now I don't know what kind of processing power this requires, but whenever I have my charger plugged in aswell my laptop generates the same amount of decibels as a fighter-jet. This makes it hard for me to concentrate. What could be the cause for this?

My laptop is an hp pavilion x360 convertible 14-cd0xxx. I really never use the tablet function and/or the touchscreen function so I'm thinking about getting a new laptop anyway when black-friday hits.

However if there's a cheap fix to my problem I would prefer that.

Any feedback is appreciated :-).

when you plug it in, it switches to active cooling, i.e. cpu fan starts spinning
your fan is most likely dirty, open the laptop up and dust it off, that fixes the problem 90% of the time.
should be doing this once a year anyway to extend its life span, have it run cool etc.
worst case scenario, dust got into the fan's bearing chamber and mixed with the lube in there or the bearings are scraping against each other, in which case you other disassemble the fan and clean/re-lube or easier, buy a new one off HP's website and replace

Thanks man.

I'll give the bolded part a try. Do you maybe know of a good video tutorial on how to do this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBhbuYj2kVI

can see the fan on the right, blast it with a compressed air can, also blast into the exhaust from the outside, flip it upside down to get more dust out. can also use a brush on the blades after you've done the air can.

if that doesn't fix it and you need to take the screws out and remove the cooling unit with the fan for better cleaning, first thing you do is unplug the battery, don't use a screwdriver when it's got juice, metal on metal can short out something and fry your laptop.

at this point you will also want to remove residues of thermal paste and re-apply with Arctic MX-4 or similar. but you don't have to if cleaning from the outside works.

Thanks,

So for now I do the following:
1. Buy a can with compressed air.
2. Turn off my laptop and flip it upside down.
3. Remove the 4 screws and the bottom pannel.
4. Blow the compressed air on the fan and into the exhaust.
5. Flip it upside down to let some dust fall out.
6. Brush the blades.
7. Apply the bottom pannel again and put the screws back.

I mean you can try blowing on it yourself if you got good lungs and don't have a can
short concentrated bursts and try not to spit on it also you might ingest some dust this way or get it in your eyes
yep to all steps

Haha, I think I'll take my chances with the compressed air. Not really in the mood to pass-out .

Thanks again for the help man, I really appreciate it!

Just cleaned it and my laptop is a lot less noisy .

It's still making some noise (This is normal I guess?) but it's a lot more quiet so thanks man, really appreciate it.

it's also possible HP lets you control the fan speed, either from the BIOS or one of their utilities, so you might be able to turn it down a bit if it really bothers you

it used to make no noise when it was new? or was there a bit of a high pitched noise sometimes?

Yeah, but only while using intensive programs. PS, eclipse, a chess engine, etc.

Otherwise it sounds normal even with the charger in.

welp that sounds like the fan motor having a hard time at full power
I suggest in a year or so or when it starts getting noisy again, do what this guy is doing here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZI_uJ1Y03A
it's a 15 min job, nothing too complicated in your case since you have easy access to it

Thanks man.

I asked my dad if he had any oil and he said that most fan's are self lubricating, so I don't have to do that. Could that be true or should I lubricate it anyway? Also what kind of oil do you use for this?

What does he have on the cotton swab?
And do I have to remove the fan from the front or can I also do it from the back?

they're self lubricating as long as the lube inside doesn't get gunky when mixed with dirt or dries out if the lube used is crap. I've seen fans that needed re-lubing but they were old and in systems that had never been cleaned so dust had been sitting on them for a while, got inside and mixed with the lube to the point where they barely spin anymore.

not saying you should do it now, more of a future thing to take care of your laptop down the road, also the thermal paste on the heat sink(s) should be re-applied every couple of years cause it dries up and no longer facilitates heat transfer from the cpu to the copper pipes that the fan blows on.

use silicone oil, it's really cheap and available at hardware stores and online, it's like 2$ for a small container that lasts you a couple of years, good to have around the house for use on any 2 joints that rub together constantly and safe to use on plastics.

he doesn't have anything on the cotton swabs, just cleaning excess lube and he's applying some more with a toothpick, can do that or with a small makeup or arts and crafts brush.

Ah okay thanks man.

I've had it approx 2 years now so might a be a good idea to do that in the near future then.

Could the dried up thermal paste also be a cause for the noise?

Yeah had a closer look and you're right there's nothing on the cotton swabs, looked that way for a sec.

dry thermal paste means cpu gets hotter cause the heatsink can't do its job properly
and yes the fan will have to spin faster to cool it down so ultimately, more noise and wear on the fan
also the factory paste is almost always of dubious quality and worse performing than after market options, Arctic MX-4 is nice and cheap, either put a pea sized drop in the center or make a thin x, if you use a lot it's going to seep around the heatsink and it's annoying to clean afterwards. Not going to damage anything tho because it doesn't conduct electricity.

Cool, thanks man!

Played a session today and the noise picked up a little it as the session continued, but then dropped down, then picked up again and then was normal for the rest of the session.

It's still less noisy than before at its peak, but I don't think it's fixed completely.

I'm going to do the cleaning in the vid I think, but I'll hold off on replacing the lube for now. I'm kind of a klutz so wish me luck lol.

Thanks for all the help man I really appreciate it.

Let me know if you ever have a question about statistics/econometrics and I'll be glad to try to help you out haha .

sure thing
gl at the tables

Ty and gl to you too

Alright just tried to do it, but I stripped one of the screws while trying to get the fan out...

Any tips to get the screw out?

uh
pliers
or a rubber band placed between the screw and the screwdriver, creates more contact area

Thanks, gave the elastic band trick a go yesterday, but I thinkthe ones I have are too thin.

Will give the pliers a try tonight/tomorrow.

Alright I did, the pliers worked, thanks.

I did encounter a problem though:

So the strip you see was attached to the fan and when I took the fan out, the upper part of the strip came off.

I've put it back, but I'm not sure I did it right. I'm typing this from my laptop rn so I guess it can't be that big of a problem. Or should I be more worried?

I don't even know what that is. it's not a ribbon cable. leave it and enjoy your laptop

Alright lol.

I think it connects the usb outlet that you also see in the picture to the rest of the laptop.

Thank you again :-).

If you're talking about the wide, white cable, that is a ribbon cable for the USB daughterboard. If the port works, leave it be. If that port stopped working after this adventure, you might have to reseat either/both ends of the cable. This is delicate work and best avoided if not needed.

If you're talking about the clear tape with a red dot on it, that looks to be protective tape to guard the high density connector below it from shorts and dust. Either leave it alone or try gently pressing the corner back down.