Notebook Keeps Freezing

J

Joel_Zimmerman

New Member
Hi, thanks for reading.

Throughout the time in owning my notebook, I have noticed that whenever I am running an application, it freezes for a few seconds and then resumes i.e. I am scrolling down using the arrow keys, it freezes, then it resumes. I have related it to when the fan changes speed, whether it be a tiny or drastic change. It's not too apparent when I'm writing documents and browsing the internet, but while playing games, especially online, it becomes very irritating. While playing Call of Duty 2 online, it freezes for about 2 seconds. When it resumes, my Ping goes to 999 and then drastically falls back down to ~30. A lot of the time, people either kill me or start going on about lag.

Maybe it's not the fan, but something else? It does seem to correlate with it changing speed a lot. I have got rid of a lot of Acer's 'bloatware', applications, serivces etc. that I don't redeem useful to me. I'm able to log in and only wait literally seconds until the computer is ready to use without anything loading up in the background as I had deselected unnecessary applications.

Thanks!
 
I would check the CPU and GPU temps with something like Speccy. The reason the fan turns on is due to a temp increase, it's possible that things freeze because of overheating, then the fan kicks in which brings the temps down so things can resume.
 
Download System Information for Windows (SIW free version)
No installation required.

After it scans your computer, navigate to Hardware>Sensors and post all info from there.

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Thanks for the tips. There are drastic changes in the CPU's temperature that I monitor by using SpeedFan. When playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl, it has got up to 80°C at one point. The freezing is less apparent when playing less demanding games. Sometimes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. can freeze for up to 20 seconds before resuming play. My old desktop PC or other people's desktops don't freeze, even while playing Crysis games.
 
A thorough cleaning of the vent system may help but if this has been happening since new (assuming it was new when you got it) it could be due to a poor design. If you typically operate the laptop on a soft surface (blanket, pillow, carpet, etc...) it's possible some of the air vents are being blocked and/or lint has clogged the vents.

As a last resort, you could try one of those laptop cooling pads.
 
True, even 70°C is way too hot for my standard. My old desktop used to top at 50°C and that was a 1.73GHz single core. My notebook was purchased brand new back in early March and I'm very weary of dust. I always use it on a flat hard surface if I can, never on cloth or fabric of any kind if I can help it i.e. never used it while on a bed. Looking inside of the vents I can see a small amount of accumilating dust, though I'm not sure if that's any problem or not. I shall think of investing in a cooling stand; most are inexpensive, yet effective. One other culprit I have is that I hear my HDD clicking every now and again, though its status shows it seems to be healthy.
 
Here is a website with failing hard drive noises, maybe it will help you. I suggest you backup all your files from your laptop just in case.

If it was purchased early March then dust probably isn't an issue. You said this has been happening "throughout the time in owning my notebook" so I will agree with strollin and say it might be a design flaw.

I found this link as well, but I'm not sure if it will apply to your Acer laptop specifically.

I'm not sure if you mentioned this already, but which Acer laptop model do you have exactly?
 
Cheers for the links, I'll go by opening up my notebook later on this week when I'm not needing to use it that much. I'm sure that I've been hearing the noise ever since I bought it. My main specifications are:

CPU: Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73GHz, 6MB L3 cache)
GFX: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (1GB GDDR3 RAM)
RAM: 4GB GDDR3
HDD: 640GB SATA II
 
Joel_Zimmerman said:
Cheers for the links, I'll go by opening up my notebook later on this week when I'm not needing to use it that much. I'm sure that I've been hearing the noise ever since I bought it. My main specifications are:

CPU: Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73GHz, 6MB L3 cache)
GFX: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (1GB GDDR3 RAM)
RAM: 4GB GDDR3
HDD: 640GB SATA II
Click to expand...

If you open up your notebook, I want to give you a tip: There are a lot of screws inside the laptop of varies sizes, I always write down on a sticky note how many screws I've taken out and from where I've taken them out - I also take pictures with my cell so I can refer to it when putting the laptop back together. I also have the laptop manual open on another PC beside me for reference. I know this may seem like a lot of work just to take the laptop apart but it makes putting it back together a lot easier and faster. If you're already comfortable with taking it apart then just ignore this.

Also, those specs are quite nice, but I wanted the laptop model. ie "Asus N61JQ-X1". This can usually be found on the bottom of the laptop on a sticker.
 
Oh yeah, sorry. Forgot to include that. It's an Acer 5942G. I've never taken a laptop apart, only desktop PCs when I customised them with different PSUs, GFX cards, MoBos etc. I have taken my Canon PowerShot G10 camera apart to rid the internals of dust. I drew a crude diagram of the camera and big circles where I took screws out of. And within these circles, the screws would be placed in them so I know where to put them back when it came to reassembling it. Could the same approach be applied to disassembling my notebook?

Thanks.
 
Sure, just as long as you remember where each screw is supposed to go, where each wire is supposed to go, each part, etc it doesn't matter how you do it. Remember to take the battery out first.

I found this thread, it seems similar to the problem you are having. So it might be you are unlucky and just happen to be sold a bad laptop. Are you out of warranty? If you aren't, then I suggest you get the laptop returned for a new one, or get a refund, before you do anything with the laptop because it's only been a month since you bought it.

Here is the service guide.
 
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