Okay. I have a 2011 Sony VAIO EB Series laptop (2.67 GHz dual-core Arrandale i5, 6 GB RAM, 500 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, ATI Radeon HD Mobility 5650 with 1 GB VRAM). Starting about two months ago, I realized that the computer was running hotter than it should be (around 50-55 degrees Celsius when surfing the Web). Nothing happened to cause this, no drops or anything. The fan is still working fine, and I haven't noticed any real performance problems other than two incidents where the computer overheated and shut off while I was playing games. I only noticed the problem because it was literally burning my leg. An external cooling fan drops the temperature by all of 3 degrees, so I think I can safely say it's ineffective.

My question is this. Should I start looking for a new computer? My current model is actually discontinued, and I don't feel like going through all the hassle of warranty procedures that may or may not fix anything. I'd really LIKE to keep this computer. Anybody have any guesses as to what's wrong with it or how it may be fixed? Thanks.

PS: It seems to run somewhat cooler under Linux Mint than it did under Windows 7. Not sure if that matters.

There's nothing wrong with those temperatures at all. As for Linux Mint, you probably have the CPU governor set to ondemand or powersave, which lowers the clockspeed therefore reducing power consumption, speed and heat while your processor doesn't have as much work to do

Laptops with dedicated graphics cards get hot, those temperatures sound normal. You'll have to make sure that the vents are getting air and are not restricted. You could also use the power saving features of Windows 7 to underclock the CPU when web surfing.

Oh, okay. (grabs my "I'm an Idiot" T-shirt) I suppose I should've thought of that...is there a specific temperature range where I should be getting worried? If it's constantly running at that range, that is.

If it's burning your leg, ignore it. My laptops burn my leg all the time. If it starts smoking though, then you have an issue.

Heh, yeah. Thankfully, it hasn't done that yet. Funny thing, though. Apparently it's been burning my leg since I got it, because I now have straight-up burn scars above my left knee. Ah, well. If it's okay, then there's nothing to worry about.

Yeah my macbook burns my leg all the time, it's pretty normal.

Scars??? What the heck! Don't put your laptop on your lap for prolonged periods if it's hot like mine. I only use my laptops for 30 minutes tops, cuz I don't want to burn myself. If it's that bad, maybe you should get a cooling fan deck, or some form of insulation (i.e. a towel) to keep it from burning you.

Anything over 70c you should worry. Most laptop fans don't kick in till about 50-60c so don't worry unless it goes higher or the fan runs at high speed all the time.