[R3] Driver/Bios/vBios query.

Hi there folks,

I've had my R3 since Oct of 2011 and over the last wee while i've been experiencing issues with overheating in certain games.

I bought a cooling pad that seemed to mitgate the issue for a short while but now even with the pad the GPU is hitting the dreaded 78 degrees during play and plunging my framerates into single digit territory far too often for my liking.

I'm planning to do a repaste on the GPU to try and mitigate this, but I wanted to query if there is anything that can be done to help this from a software point of view.

My Bios/vBios has not been updated since I've had the machine (dxdiag says it on Insyde H2O version1.0 A08, vbios I dont know about will try to find out) and i've been updating my GPU drivers direct from nVidia (currently using the 313.96 beta notebook driver).

Is there any updates I should be using that might help with this issue (and offer general performance improvements on the machine)? And should I be using the nVidia site to update my drivers or just using the (frankly more than a little behind the times) driver updates from the Dell site?

I've searched through the FAQ's/forum posts and cant seem to find a consistent line on this (saw a post that talked about throttling on the 580m but was reticent to use it as it did not refer to my specific card), hence the post, full machine details below.

Alienware m17x r3
i7-2670Qm @ 2.2Ghz
4 GB 1333Mhz DDR3
320GB (7,200RPM) SATA Harddisk
GTX 560M (Plus the integrated Intel 3000)

 

Had a try at cleaning your vents? Probably the easier way to see if it will give you a instant result.

 

Yes the vents are clean and clear, i've not had the fan assembly itself out of the machine but I was going to be checking that when I repaste, this post was more from the software point of view.

Edit - Popped the bottom off and took the fans out to have a look, the fans themselves seem ok, but the fins under the heatsink were a bit clogged, I've cleared them out, perhaps that will help a bit.

 

Software wise not much since the temps are hitting the throttle limit, you can remove the throttle I think, but that kind of is like disabling a airbag/seatbelt whilst in the car, your safe until something bad happens. Repasting/cleaning will probably be the best solution at the moment. I'd always recommend being on the latest BIOS/vBIOS form dell and then use nvidias latest GPU drivers.

 

Never let the power of a good clean be underestimated.

After cleaning the dust out from the fins under the heatsinks the GPU temp has not gone above 63 degrees (down 12-15 degrees), even after hours of gaming.

Let this serve as a lesson to anybody having heat issues, get those fans out of the case and have a proper clean, becuase it makes a huge difference.

 

Pretty amazing, must have had a huge clog in there.

 

That's the funny thing, it really didn't seem like much, but I guess it was more than enough.