M17x R3 6970m throttling :(

I recently started a thread about dota 2 having a huge fps drops on max settings.

After further testing , I think there is something wrong with my graphic card.


While going up
91 C ...

Click to enlarge

After throttle or whatever that is
notice 1.0 V instead of 1.1 V and 400 mhz instead of 680 , fps down to 10 - 20 fps

Click to enlarge

Using 12.2 WHQL (8.950.0.0) , unmodified M17x , never opened or OCed.

Any advice/help

 

Happened to me a few months ago,throttled to 400/900 after playing games for a while.I rang up Dell for a new card.Seems my card was defective.Also,your temps is really high even for 680/900 clock speeds.My current OC'ed to 800/1000 never exceeds 74 degrees using latest 12.3 drivers.Perhaps you can do a repaste & reinstallation of GPU drivers first & observe if condition improves?

 

Thanks for reply.

I'm still under warranty however I'm currently not in the US and there is no Alienware Store/Support just standard dell support here and I'm above the 6 month intl. warranty cover anyways.

I'll be leaving to the UK after my warranty ends but I'm thinking of transferring/extending for coverage in the UK. (I chatted with US and UK online sales and they said it is possible).

I'm not sure if they can just send me over the new card and I'm afraid to thermal paste it voiding my warranty. I been reading these forums and it seems the recommended is MX-4 and Fujipoly 1 mm pads. But if you say dell claimed it is a defective card and there is huge similarty between you and me, then no use in thermal paste/pads I guess??
So yea I'm in a mess...

Reinstalled Dell latest stock drivers for m17x 6970m after cleaning all ATI drivers using Driver Sweeper , same issue. What is GPU temperature 3? VGA memory?

This time it boiled @ 94 C ...no more stress testing .. scary stuff . I don't think it is a driver issue now. And Dell start up diagnostics says everything is good.




Also with 12.2 drivers ( still didn't test stock drivers for this)

it does weird clocking and higher temp when you AFK . I came back and saw this .. i thought it would be idling.

 

Well,Dell is the parent company of Alienware,& since you have spoken to the sales guys,should have no problem sending you a new card.
No worries about the repasting,your warranty won't be void.I have tried many different brands of thermal paste,so far I am very satisfied with MX-4,you can get very good temps just by repasting alone,thermal pads not that necessary.
Here's a very good link to guide you on repasting;
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/561599-m17x-r3-cpu-gpu-re-pasting-guide-w-pics.html
courtesy of DaneGRClose.
Have patience,bro.

Not really sure which component GPU temp 3 is measuring,but it sure is a scary figure,a bit too high for comfort.I got a feeling its really an issue with the card.Here's a simple pic of my benchmark & max temp OC'ed 800/1000;

 

Nothing wrong with your GPU, your thermal solution is broken or not working correctly.

Re-paste and re-pad, clean dust out of vents, or replace heatsink or both. Stock temps at stock clocks with a good paste and pad job should be no more than 69C at full load.

 

agreed, my temps never exceed 74 when running full speed (and overclocked 715/965)...so repasting/repadding should help.

 

repasting may sound not so important (well especially for a newbie like me) but after seeing the results, you can repaste anything to brand new especially with my oldie (hp 8510w) last week I repasted CPU&GPU, now it runs cooler than this beast

 

I opened it up after GeoCake post. I was embarrassed to post this ..slap me

now 10 to 15 degrees drop. Full load GPU 71 C. Might consider extending warranty and MX-4 nonetheless.

Thanks all for input , I freaked out a bit there.

 

wow dude, that is one dirty heatsink

 

holy dust batman! lol

If you're loading at 71c, you don't even need to repaste

 

lol! Awesome Glad you got it sorted out.