6990M Overheating?

While playing BF3 my gpu is getting temps as high as 103c. Is this normal or should I be really worried. I recently had my 6990m installed at compusa so they may have not used the best thermal grease or used proper thermal pads. I play bf3 a lot so I don't want to burn out my gpu. I have a m17xr3 i7 2920xm ES, 6990m, 8gb 1600mhz, 120gb x2 ocz vertex 3 ssd.

 

103℃ is way too hot! I'm surprised your system doesn't shutdown. They must have installed the heatsink wrong.
Repaste it yourself. Check out this video: Alienware M17X R3 Re-pasting Guide and 6970 re-pasting guide as well as the repasting guide in my sig.

 

So I just got my 6990M to work with the drivers and all but there is only one problem. I opened BF3 for like 3 minutes on high graphics settings and the temps on my 6990m jumped to high 80s(Celsius). And after like 5 minute of playing it got to 90. What can I do to lower the temps?

 

Are you running stock clock speeds on the video card? Try propping up the rear of the laptop for better air circulation. You can use a book or something simple like a couple of plastic soda pop bottle caps under the rear feet. I used to see similar temps with 6990M CrossFire and propping up the rear dropped the GPU temps a bunch. Hitting 80°C-85°C is not that big a deal, but 90°C+ is not good.

Question: Are you sure your GPU fan is coming on? You should be able to hear it very noticeably at those temps. If you're not hearing the GPU fan, you've got another issue that needs to be addressed.

 

That was while running a single card and on stock clock speeds. The average temps were 86-91.

 

That's too hot for average temps at stock clock speeds. I edited my post above, so have a re-look.

There's a chance you may have issues with the heat sink pads or paste not being properly applied. If this just started happening suddenly and things were fine before (like the GPU fan stopped working) it probably will be a waste of time to re-paste. What sort of ambient temps is the system working in?

 

I've been having alot of GPU-oriented problems lately. Should I just send the computer to dell so they fix it?

 

^^^Maybe. Or have them send a tech (or parts) to you. Can you elaborate on what the GPU-oriented problems are? More than overheating?

Forum members may have a solution to them. Depending on what is wrong, you may need hardware support.

How about the fan? Do you hear it howling at those temps?

Edit: I merged your thread with another one that was just posted yesterday. Seems both of you are having the same or similar issues with 6990M.

 

I'm having the same problem. I recently had my 6990m installed by compusa. I had the 6870m before and had no problems now my gpu is reaching 103 degrees celsius. I am using a cooling pad and the fans are working because I can hear it. This only happens when I play BF3 or other games like witcher 2.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/656976-ati-6990m-drivers-disappeared-2.html That's an example for one of the problems. One time my screen turned white for 2 hours and I couldn't do anything. The temps on the CPU are 75-82 on average and the GPU is 85 minimum, sometimes gets to 90. Should I be worried?
I forgot to mention I'm on 100% fan speed and it's on 90-91 right now.

 

If the fans are working and cranked to 100%, then it's time to look at re-pasting and confirming all of the thermal pads are placed where they belong. Be sure the fans and heat sink fins are free from dust and lint. The best and easiest solution would be to purchase a new heat sink from Alienware. Their heat sink assemblies come with factory thermal interface material and all the appropriate pads. They run about $25 before tax and shipping. They had a bad batch of heat sinks in the M17x R3, so it could be one or both if you have one from the defective lot. kvothes, if you're still under warranty, they will most likely cover this for you. (beto247, probably not so in your case since you did an aftermarket upgrade, but you can still buy a heat sink assembly. I would bet that CompUSA did not do something correctly.)

 

So will dell fix the heatsink problem thingy if I send the computer to them? I am still under warranty.

 

They should, yes. This is covered under warranty. Better yet, they will send someone to your home to install it or send you the part so you can do it yourself. Those would be better options than sending your system to the depot for repair. If you're in the US or Canada, simply call 1-800-ALIENWARE. (Don't call Dell Support except as a last resort. It will most often turn out poorly if you contact Dell Support for help with an Alienware.)

 

The problem is I live in Israel so they can't send a dude over here to fix it and I just got to go to the place where they fix these here, which is going to be hard to find since there is only one official reseller here.

 

Warranty varies wildly by country but it seems Israel gets on-site from Dell partners: Dell Services | Dell Israel

 

Thanks for the link, I will contact them just to confirm

 

Okay, this is getting bad, just staying in the Diablo 3 menu got me to 92 Degrees Celsius... I think the thermal compound got evaporated with all the heat... When I'm on chrome it stays on the high 50's which is nice, but I can't play any game like this. I already put the computer on 4 bottle caps so it's completely in the air...