M17x cooling fan not activating at all

Hello;

First, I want to apologize for the brevity of this post. I am not at very knowledgeable at all about this type of trouble shooting. So my questions are of a very basic nature.

One of the fans for my M17x has not been activating at all for the past few weeks. If I play a graphics-intensive game for more than a few minutes, the computer overheats and shuts down. I have searched here for a solution, and I installed HWiNFO64 and manually setting the speeds on the fans. However, this had no effect. Can anyone look at this screenshot and tell me what I should try next? Once again, I apologize for not including more info, but I am pretty ignorant of this type of troubleshooting right now. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

 

Welcome to the forums newbie. First off, stop apologizing. Tech help is what we're here for. It's just like Mr Garrison said, "There are no stupid questions, only stupid people." And you haven't been here long enough to be considered anything but new (plus your question is not at all stupid)

Second, you should post your specs so we know what we're dealing with. But going off your screenshot, I know you have an m17x R2 with the A05 BIOS. So to get specific, do you have dual 5870ms, or just one? If you only have the one, then according to HWInfo, both the CPU and GPU fans are running. And it's not like the system only thinks they're running. The speed sensor on the fans won't send a speed signal back if the fans aren't spinning. If you have a crossfire setup. then the secondary GPU fan isn't even registering. But you will need to clarify if you only have one video card or two. Have you felt in the back of your laptop to see if there is any airflow? And if one fan isn't running, which one is it, right, left (if you have the dual GPU), or center?

 

radji;

Thank you for the warm welcome. I only have one 5870ms installed. Below is a screenshot from my device manager, I hope that that adequately answers your question regarding system specifications.

There has been one interesting development since I made my original post. I lifted up my laptop yesterday morning and accidentally set it down on an object on my desk. The object pressed in the metal screen covering my fan, and there was a grinding sound as the fan blades hit the metal screen. Bizarrely, I can now feel air flow from the area of the graphics card, and that area of the keyboard is noticeably cooler to the touch. I was able to play some Starcraft II last night for about twice as long as I normally can before the computer overheated and shut down. I have no idea why this would be. Any ideas? Thanks again for any advice or information.

 

Like I said, the fan was probably blowing, there just might have been an obstruction or something. Going over my notes I come to two possibilities. One was your fan was working but had something obstructing the airflow to the heatsink that was dislodged by that right jostling you gave it. Because you said there was a grinding noise when you set the notebook down on the object, that could only happen if the fan blades were turning. Second possibility, the sudden surge in airflow push some dust out that was built up in your heatsink. How long have you had your system and have you ever cleaned the heatsinks? Getting to the GPU heatsink is fairly simple. It is something you should consider doing.

 

radji;

I have had this system since May 2010 and no, I have never cleaned the heat sinks. However, I checked out a couple of how-to videos so I am going to try that now. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

De nada. Here is the youtube channel for Alienware. Alienware Services - YouTube. They have how to videos on disassembling their laptops. Just look up the one for the M17x R2. The only thing I strongly recommend it you get an anti-static bracelet. The internal PCBs in our systems are sensitive enough to ESD. And the GPUs are far more sensitive to the static charges than anything else. So go out and get an anti-static bracelet. They are fairly cheap. If you can get an anti-static mat for cheap, do so as well.

 

there ya go.. that's nearly 3 years of dust.. there must be like a cake of dust in there.. amazing what a can of air will do though!

welcome to NBR by the way!