High temps + throttling while playing Diablo III

Hello, I'm currently using a M14xR1 with i7 2630QM CPU, 6GB ram and 3GB GT 555M Nvidia GPU. This computer was purchased 14 months ago, May 2011. Ever since, I've been monitoring the Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter status to ensure they are clear and below 5% respectively. However, barely 20mins into Diablo III gameplay I've reached a max of 98 C CPU and 95 C GPU on the HWMonitor software, which was stunning! (as shown in the attachment) Also, while i'm typing here right now with just Google Chrome open, it's recording a temperature of 70 C. There was just once where diablo caused my comp to auto shutdown so far.

The gameplay in Diablo III will be smooth until the temperatures hit a high (around 97 C) which throttles till a unplayable state thereafter. I've tried meddling with almost all the settings in Diablo III, such as setting HardwareClass to '1' in D3prefs, unchecking hard disk indexing to C drive only (which reverts itself anyways, of no use), tuning the in game settings from highest to the lowest possible now. Also, I've tried a few driver versions (301.42 and 296.10) and settled on the 304.79 beta drivers. Furthermore, I've ensured that the PhysX and Program Setting option in Nvidia Control Panel chooses the GT 555M chip. Preferred mode: High performance. Vertical Sync: on. Anti-Aliasing: off. Additionally, I've tried the ePSA test (<Fn> + power up button), Dell PC Diagnostics, AlienAutopsy tests which all PASSED! Bought a 17" Coolermaster cooling pad as well. There could be more details that I've tried but that's all I can recall for now.

Edit: I've tried running League of Legends with the high performance GPU selected and couldn't sustain 60 fps. Is that the case for most R1 users as well? Or is my GPU facing a possibility of being spoilt?

Is there any suggestion as to what I could possibly do to salvage my situation? I've been in contact with a Dell representative so far and he/she had suggested updating my BIOS to the latest version, which i did. Other than that is it possible to send the notebook for a inspection be it clearing of dust accumulated inside or a fresh change of cooling paste? Warranty lasts till late 2014.

 

I would say you have significant dust build up in your fans that needs to get cleaned out. A repaste would also help with temps. Sounds like dust build-up for sure.

 

Yes, that is a problem that i'm worried about right now but I don't have the technical know-how nor do I want to do it personally (if i do chance upon a guide) to prevent the worse case scenario from happening, nulling the warranty. This applies to overclocking as well, it all comes down to the warranty. Hence, the big question that lingers in my mind right now is: Would dell provide such after-sales care for their customers? Also, with my CPU/GPU running at such high temperatures, wouldn't they be fried by now?

 

First off overclocking won't void your warranty unless your changing voltages and all that fun stuff(and if dell ever knows about it). As to CPU/GPU temps, for the CPU at least 100C isn't to to hot. The CPU is actually rated to 120C I believe. It just throttles at 100C to prevent other pieces of hardware such as the mobo from overheating. If you really don't wanna clean out your fans, I would just call dell and ask if they could send a tech out to take off the back cover and spray some compressed air into the heatsink and fan. That should drop temps a lot.

 

Thanks a lot, that's a huge relief! Is it the same case for the GPU too? 120 C threshold

Hmm, the dell rep i was in contact with gave a totally different tune He said as long something spoils due to overclocking it wouldn't be covered under warranty. He did guide me to the overclocking feature in the BIOS, although there isn't one in-built for R1 . As for the suggestion of calling up dell to send a tech over, it hasn't been quite optimistic lately. Been asked to troubleshoot quite a lot stuff...

Anyways, is compressed air readily available in the tech shops? If it's safe to use on a routine basis I wouldn't mind investing in one Edit: Oh my, missed out the point that you needed to take the back cover out, guess its not suitable for me then

 

yup compressed air should be available at radio shack, best buy, or a place like that. I'm not to sure though Since I always use an air compressor if you wanna clean out your fans I would advise taking the back cover off and blowing the air into the heatsink from the inside, that way you blow the dust out, not farther into your laptop. Hope this helps!!

PS: I don't think the 555m is rated to run at that hot temps for a very long time.

 

Your advice certainly did help! Though i'd first have to conquer my paranoia of taking off the cover before blowing some compressed air outwards

I certainly hope the GPU is still intact >.<...

 

Anytime dude!! And i'm sure once that dust is gone it will run as good as new.

 

im using a dust filter for my laptop which i have to clean every month or so without removing anything. There is no dust at all in my laptop cause of that. Temps are not higher too since its special material that let enough air thru. I suggest everyone also to use dust filters of any kind to prevent dust building up inside the fan cause even if you clean it sometime it will damage the fan at some point.

 

Hey there, that's a very good suggestion! How much does one cost on average (or the one you have atm)? Also, could you please go more in-depth about how it is placed? Across the keyboard? Beneath the fans where air gets sucked in?

I'd still need possible solutions for minimizing the temperature gains w/o seriously impeding game performance though. Cos i figured that the earliest response i could get from Dell would most likely be in another 36 or so hours when the technicians get back to work. Hence, if anyone has great tips to offer, thanks a million!

 

I didnt pay anything. Just go to your local tailor and ask for a piece of organza leftovers he doesnt need. Then cut it in the shape of the bottom fan and place it there with sellotape or something similar. Thats all. Just make sure its taut fixed and there is no gap between the sellotape and the case.

I also cut a bouncy ball into two halfs and put one in the middle right below the power cable insertion so the laptop is lifted by about 3 cm. This helps the fan to have more airflow and gives me -5 C of all cores. Laptop Coolers are not so effective its more the lifting effect that brings down the temps.

A repaste is also very helpful but you need to know what youre doing. I have repasted my R1 and R2 with Arctic Cooling MX-4 and the temps drop was significant.

However dont expect wonders. The R1 could still throttle since the thermal concept is crap for the overheating components. Even with all my efforts it throttles while playing for longer times since the core temps reach about 88 degrees. Before all my cooling features the temps were even up to 97 C.

This laptop is fail cause of the heat and throttling thats going on.

 

disabling turbo boost should help a bit too right?

 

Yes ofc it does. But thats only good for older games since the GPU is relatively weak and limiting the CPU causes new games to run even at lower performance. But WOW for example works great with disabled turbo... if anyone is still even playing this game.

If you are thinking about OCing the GPU and disabling the turbo boost - thats not working that good since OCing the GPU causes also higher temps for the CPU again (same heatsink ).

In the end doing this gives you a bit better (not significant) performance for some games at 2-3 C lower temps for maybe 5 fps gain.

 

I have the same issues running diablo on my m14x I haven't played the game in like 3 weeks because of that lag crap

 

What's your temps like?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 running Resurrection Remix

 

Mine temperature is not that high. Its usually around 78 but the lag is there no matter what graphics setting im running. Tried lowering everything but no fix

 

Thanks everyone for their very useful suggestions regarding computer care. Got into contact with Dell personnel and had my heatsink and fans replaced today. Temps running at a max of 70 C while playing D3, glad its solved. (Also, all the throttling issues that were triggered at ~97 C were gone!) Dell has really great efficiency

 

Hi
My suggestion would be first of all, to repaste. Second, the GPU temp should not go over 97C, even during game play, here's an article with general recommendations for overheating issues. Also, send us an e-mail to [email protected] with your service tag, phone number and best time to reach you, include a brief explanation of the issue (or the link to this thread) and mention my name to be able to assign the case to an agent and follow up.