Ultrabooks are one of the laptops that should never give you the problems with heat because they are made to offer extreme portability and versatility no matter where you go.
However, with the higher specifications and a battle between laptop manufacturers to build the thinnest laptop on the market – there is a likely possibility to experience high temperatures on ultrabooks.
But how to lower the temperature for your ultrabook without even having to open it? It’s all about adjusting the software to work better with the hardware or you can also take advantage of the third-party accessories as well.
What Makes Your Ultrabooks so Hot?
If your ultrabook is so hot that you can’t use it in your lap and that you have problems taking it with you wherever you go – it’s most likely that your ultrabook is facing high temperatures during your use.
There are many reasons why this might occur, but keep on reading to find out the most common reasons and solutions to the issues listed below.
Hardware
If you ever had a look inside the computer – the first thing you would notice are big fans (usually two of them).
However, since laptops are way smaller, components had to be specifically designed to fit inside smaller and slimmer laptop bodies.
Therefore, the fans are also smaller with less opportunity to circulate the fresh air inside or suppress the hot air outside of the laptop.
Ultrabooks that don’t feature high-specification most likely won’t face temperature problems. However, the higher specifications are inside an ultra-thin ultrabook – the temperature will rise.
Chassis Structure
Not only high-demanding hardware can create a temperature problem inside a very compact ultrabook – but it’s the chassis structure itself.
Laptop manufacturers always worked hard to provide the next best laptop by reducing its weight or reducing its size. We all love the ultra-slim and lightweight laptops, right?
This didn’t leave a lot of choice for manufacturers when it came down to the hardware department. Ultra-slim and lightweight chassis structure can lead to heating issues down the road, even if the ultrabook specifications aren’t very demanding.
Dust and Thermal Paste
Most modern laptops don’t have a lot of ventilations, and the ones laptop features nowadays are hidden in plain sight.
However, the dust has been the number one enemy for laptops and its ventilators since they can easily block out the ventilation ways.
Thermal paste is a specific type of paste that helps withstand high temperatures within the most important components such as the processor. However, when temperatures rise so high – thermal paste can even melt under such circumstances which removes one of the most important protection types inside the laptop’s hardware.
Therefore, dusting off your laptop and replacing the thermal paste is often recommended.
Firmware
What is firmware?
Firmware is the permanent software that is programmed into read-only memory inside every laptop. Its main purpose is to help hardware & components work well together to provide efficiency through the software.
The firmware also has important temperature settings such as the highest temperature a laptop can reach before turning itself off for safety reasons.
TDP
TDP stands for a thermal design power and it is a measurement used to determine the maximum amount of heat generated by a computer, processor, and a chip.
This is a test every ultrabook gets done in the factory. TDP results of each ultrabook will vary – however, this will help manufacturers introduce effective cooling techniques to provide the best efficiency and lowest temperatures possible in working conditions.
Therefore, every ultrabook comes with a set TDP in the memory (BIOS), but it can be changed by the users.
How to Adjust TDP to Lower Your Ultrabook Temperature?
You can adjust TDP of your ultrabook to “slow down” your components such as the processor in order to lower the temperature produced by the same components.
In order to do this – you will have to do the following:
1. Find the Access to TDP
Almost every laptop will have different access to TDP. But also keep in mind that some laptops won’t have this option. We recommend checking software that came included with your laptop (software from the laptop’s manufacturer).
2. Inspect the Software
Some official software from the laptop’s manufacturer will give clear access to its users. If you are that lucky user – you might find a TDP setting by going for Power Options -> Thermal Framework -> Adjust TDP.
However, if you can’t find any TDP options inside the preinstalled software of your ultrabook – don’t get discouraged just yet!
3. Enter the BIOS
If you were unlucky enough to not have clear access to TDP settings – you will have to enter the laptop’s BIOS in order to try and find the TDP settings in the firmware.
Most laptops will have a different BIOS look & settings due to the manufacturer & its choice of a motherboard.
To enter your BIOS, at the booting process of your laptop, you should press either F12, F10, ir DEL to enter BIOS (it will depend on the laptop).
Once you get inside the BIOS, look for the temperature section inside. If you’re lucky enough, you will come across TDP and it will state the current power & temperature your laptop produces.
However, if you’re even luckier than that – your BIOS will have the option to enable you to edit the TDP and to lower the power numbers.
4. Adjusting TDP
If you found TDP settings inside the software or BIOS of your laptop and you can edit TDP – to lower the temperature of your ultrabook, you will have to lower the TDP limit number.
This will “slow down” the processor or graphics processor but will in return give you longer battery life, still produce a decent amount of power, and yet your temperature will be cooler due to fewer power requirements.
Conclusion
TDP settings should be your last resort to try and lower the temperature of your ultrabook. If you have tried everything else – we highly recommend lowering your TDP limit number.
However, if you don’t have this setting accessible through either software or BIOS – there may be third party software that could help you change this parameter, but we don’t encourage it unless you really know what you’re doing.
What do you think is the main reason for your ultrabook to be very hot during the use?
Feel free to leave a comment down below, ask questions, or even share your knowledge or feedback. We’d love to hear from you!