Ubuntu – Why does the laptop with AMD Radeon HD 76xx graphics get overheated when using Ubuntu

atidrivershp-pavilionoverheating

I bought a new laptop which came pre-installed with Windows 7. I love working on Ubuntu and hence installed 12.04 on my laptop. I can work on Windows for 6 hours at a stretch and feel the laptop being only slightly warm, but 15 minutes into running Ubuntu and my laptop is too hot.

The battery also drains out very quickly on Ubuntu. 1.5 hrs of backup on Ubuntu compared to 5-6 hrs on Windows.

I previously owned a Dell Inspiron N5010 and everything ran smoothly on that. No heating issues. It came with Intel i3 processor. So I'm wondering whether this problem has something to do with the processor? (AMD A8)

Specs:

  • HP Pavilion G6-2005AX Laptop (APU Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7 HB/ 1.5GB Graph)
  • 1 GB AMD Radeon HD 7670M Dedicated 512 MB AMD Radeon HD 7640G Graphics Integrated

I've already installed ATI proprietary drivers suggested by Ubuntu. But sensors temperature is 70 deg C.

Is there any fix for this problem?

Best Answer

OP reported in Revision 2 of the question that he managed to solve the problem:

Managed to fix the problem by installing AMD proprietary drivers downloaded from AMD website, after deactivating the driver suggested by Ubuntu!

Right now the sensors temperature is 47deg C! and battery backup of 4 hrs! HOORAY!

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