Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

any new updates or anything?

 

There's a new nVidia graphics driver, if that's the type of update you mean.

John

 

whats the max temperature i should be seeing with the nVidia graphics? i got mine up to 70*C, just wondering if that is normal.

 

70C from what program?
What is the power option of your laptop?
Did you just watch a video just before (it uses the GPU which is normal to heat up)?
Was your laptop idle or under load? The GPU, Motherboard Northbridge processor, and CPU all share the same heat sink. So if you play a Flash based video (like youtube), the CPU and northbridge is use, which will heat up your GPU.

Use a program like Everest form Lavalys, it shows you all the temps of every components (including RAM) (See on the program Computer>Sensor). Sadly the program is shareware so you have to pay. BUT, the unlimited day trial version should suffice you need. It does work under Win7 RC, if you wonder.

My laptop on battery, with Aero transparency turned on, idle.



The GPU max temp is 105C. After that, to prevent GPU damage (and eventually melting) the GPU will either crash the drivers (BSOD in XP, full recovery in Vista/Win7 but the application using the GPU will crash) to try and stop the application, OR if it can't crash the drivers, it will shutdown the GPU on you. So, you'll gets a fuzzy picture and and your system will stop working, until you restart the computer.

 

i use CPUID
docked and on high performance power plan
i got the 70C after playing FEAR for a bit

weird thing is that now i just looked back at the max GPU temp and it says 86C... dunno when that happened though...

As long as i'm within the safe zone i'm not worried though, i just didn't know what that zone was. thanks for your help.



and something OT:
Will i be able to get 5.1 surround out of the DisplayPort? (i have a DP to HDMI adapter)

 

You have a Quadro, it design to sustain heavy heat for a long time (one of many reasons why it's also more expensive than a Geforce).

I read that the laptop heats a lot when your dock it for some reason. Knowing the temps of other components will help determine where the heat comes from.
Of you are worry about the operation of the GPU. Simply, turn off the laptop for 15-20min until its cooled down. Plug-it via AC adapter (don't dock it), and boot to Windows. And check your temp... wait about 5-10min while doing nothing, and check again, your temps should be close or the same as mine.

And remember that you have a 3 year warranty with your laptop, so you can sleep

 

Ahh thats a good thought about the docking, i hadn't thought of that. although iv also heard you get better air circulation with it docked... so idk.

and i have 5 year warranty and completecare so i sleep very well lol

 

It never ceases to amaze me how powerful marketing can be .

Whether it is Quadro or GeForce, it is built on silicon, and the same integrated circuit reliability rules apply. You take two chips from the same generation (i.e. the same technology node, whether it is 65 nm or 45 nm), the chips will have similar reliability if the chip temperatures are the same. There is nothing that they can do to the Quadro chips that can make them withstand the same chip temperatures any longer. The same rules of physics apply.

105 degree C is a very high temperature for silicon chips to run at. The rule of thumb is that the failure rate doubles for every 10C degree rise in temperature.

Quadro's are more expensive because they are aimed at business applications, and perhaps of the lower volumes, they may have slightly higher software/firmware amortized development costs. It's pure and simple marketing.

 

The circuits can be made of better, or more likely more pure, material. I don't think components fail due to silicon damage, they fail due to connections/solder points melting and related circuitry damage.

 

100 C has always been the absolute safe zone for a gpu. 105 is probably a little high, but it should be able to sustain 100 for a long time with no issues. and chung, quality control on the fab means that they CAN withstand higher temperatures -- it isn't like the chip melts at 105... (not at all relevant, but id point out that it (the silicon wafer) doesnt melt until 1414 deg C )