Alienware M17x R1 Fan issue..

Hey, guys!

Yesterday I noticed a strange noise coming from my laptop; something like a low-tone rattling. I assumed it was fan related and I am correct - I checked with my HW Monitor and one of the graphics cards is twice as hot as the other (60-65C to only around 32C while playing a game).

I can feel air being pumped out from both the vents, but one is hotter and the other just pumps less air.. I'm a bit confused as to which fan is doing a bad job..
My question is how can I fix the problem? Is there any easy solution like - open up, tighten some screws or should I try and get a new fan?

Please help!

 

Because of the noise, there may be a chance that something is blocking your fan a bit. Open up your laptop and fully take apart your fans to dust them out. The fans are covered with metal covering, so it is very likely that something made it's way in there and is impacting the fan itself. After a full cleaning this should fix the problem.

 

Just to be sure - I have to open the laptop from above, yes? The video cards are under the keyboard and the fans are under them?
And I also encountered something strange - the big difference and noise comes along as I play Heroes 6, but as I play Diablo 3 both the graphics heat up to 65C and I can't catch the fans doing the strange noise..
Can it be from the game for some strange reason?

 

Taking apart the laptop is way too long to list the instructions here, but luckily there's a youtube vid for that :thumbsup:



The fans for the GPU are right under the cards, once you open it, it is only a matter of taking out the cards and you have full access to the fans. While you're at it, I would also clean out the cpu fan as well just for good measure, it is located under the motherboard I believe.

 

Have you cleaned inside it before?

 

Well, yes. But I have never cleaned the actual fan..
I've opened it on several occasions and cleaned the collected dust.