Looking for GPU temperature monitor and overheating advice

Hi everyone.

My m17x which is about 6 months old has recently started overheating badly, maximum fan speed even while watching a bit of video and during nearly all games. The back left side of the laptop where I presume the video card is actually burns my hand when I touch it when playing any 3D game for more than a few minutes.

The whole system shuts down occasionally when too hot, this has happened during Half Life 2 and Portal 2 and even 3D poker game PKR. Elevating the back seems to help slightly.

I opened it up for the first time yesterday and removed a 1mm layer of dust that was blocking the ventilator at the back/middle. The GPU is still getting very hot, I'm looking to see if this is normal so am trying to find a GPU temperature monitor and an understanding of what are normal/dangerous temperatures.

Also any other overheating tips would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Owly.

 

Try GPU-Z, it's like 1mb and you don't even have to install it.

I've been monitoring my GPU temps since I received my m17x 2 weeks ago, it hasn't gone above 60 celsius yet.

And I think you may need to consider replacing the cooling gel on the GPU core.

 

I use HWMonitor. Its free and works great from my experience.

 

60°C? Then you don't play games... and if you do -> check max reached temp, not current temp. Alone minimizing will drop the temp instantly. Or a lot has changed in the last 3 years...

Nvidia cards (at least used to) turn off at 115°C. Although it's not healthy for the longevity of your laptop, 100°C are within the range of "normal". My 7800m gtx ran 2 years on 105°C.

 

That GPU-Z programme is exactly what I was looking for - thanks so much!

 

For comparison here are my M17x r2 temps:

 

Maybe you should re-past the GPU?

 

I dont think the OP needs to repaste his gpu. Paste takes a long time to degrade (if it ever does). I think his vents are clogged with dust and needs cleaning with a can of compressed air or a vacuum cleaner.

personally I clean my vents with the vacuum cleaner. There is ofcourse a risk of static electricity, but I have not had any issues yet.

The back middle is the cpu vent. Did you clean the gpu vents aswell?

 

Have you seen SaosinEngaged's thread? They have 6970Ms in their R2 and their temps didnt even pass like 75 C.

 

6970M is a more cool running card than 5870M although it has higher TDP.

 

My 6970 max temp never pasts 75 with max settings after 1-2 hours im guessing thats a good temp? What's usually an ideal temp under max load for 6970?

 

I don't know about the 6970, but 75 under max load is pretty good.

Certainly not over heating.

 

I cleaned out the CPU vent but didn't feel comfortable unscrewing the whole system to get to the GPU vents. I'll give the vacuum idea a try.

The maximum heat today whilst on Portal 2 has been 90 degrees, which I presume is normal? It still seems very hot. It must have been the dust in the main vent tipping it over the shutdown threshold.

 

My R2 have always been hitting about 88c during maximum load (furmark). 90C is a rather ok temperature for a 5870m, but if it hit 95-100c its not normal.

Here is a link to an old thread about the same problem where the vacuum worked wonders at the end: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/578390-normal-peak-temps-when-gaming-4.html

 

I turned the 'refresh in the background' on on SPU-Z and checked the temperature maximum after I quit the game - 114 c which is what, 1 degree below shutdown? This was after I vacuumed the vents yesterday :/ it didn't seem to have any effect. The laptop wasn't elevated during the game. Seems ridiculous you have to elevate it at all though, it's supposed to be a gaming laptop.

 

Even with elevation it's running at 115 during Portal 2 now, no shutdown though.

 

It's still under warranty, should I get Dell to sort it out? How about a cooling tray or something like that? Any suitable ones for an m17x?

 

If it is under warranty, you should get Dell to fix this heat issue.

About the cooling tray, I dont think it will make a big difference. It will most certainly not reduce 115 degrees to a reasonable temperature.

 

Ok I'll let Dell know. It's pretty embarrassing when everyone else in the apartment is playing PKR on their $250 laptops no problem yet my laptop that costs ten times that much is whirring like a helicopter trying to deal with it :/

 

Just put it in power saving mode to keep the temps down temporary. If a 250$ laptop can play PKR, a M17x in "Battery Saving" mode will be able to handle it.

The vacuum should have been able to remove the dust. How many watts vacuum cleaner are you using?

 

1400, vacuuming with an inch diameter nozzle for about 2 minutes.

 

Still having the heat issues owly?

 

Yeah, this will be last gaming laptop that's for sure.

 

1400w should be enough. I think the problem is that too much dust has accumulated. If the vents are caked with dust, it probably needs to be cleaned out manually.

The vacuum has always worked for me, so I guess this is an extreme case.

 

Ouch, 122 degrees just now..

 

Hi. My M17x with two 4870m normally max's around 65-70 degrees. However just today the left 4870 hit 120 degrees and all I was doing was watching "How I met your mother" on VLC with a secondary monitor.

I freaked out (naturally) and turned off the laptop. I've restarted the computer and I'm watching the same thing. 60 degrees again lol. My question is WHY would it spike to 120 degrees once??? Almost double the normal max.

Also the GPU load is about 1% percent yet it stays at max core clock speed. CCC powerplay isn't doing a great job lol. Thanks for any ideas

Cheers guys/girls!

 

I run everything at 1900x1200 maybe if I dropped down a few resolutions this would fix it? Seems a shame but it's better than a burnt out card.

 

Lower load = lower temps.

If you drop your ress and have V-Sync on, you should be able to get off some heat.

You could also put the computer in stealth mode to reduce the heat further.

 

What's stealth mode and how do I activate it?

 

1: Open Command Center
2: Open Alien fusion
3: Click on powersaving mode

Stealth mode = powersaving mode. It will downclock everything.