M17x-R3 Failing...

Hello guys, I posted this over at the Dell Community Forum for Alienware owners and never received a reply so I'm hoping you could help me.

I'm back again.... Last year, I had issues with video card driver and BIOS when both the BIOS revision and BF3 were released.. After discussing with Chris M, we had scheduled for a hardware replacement for my GTX 460M, that didn't fix it. I was then advised to update my driver from various sources through the BETA driver released by Dell, the GTX 560M driver released by Dell, and the Verde R285 driver from NVIDIA. I found the Verde R285 to work the best for me and I had no problems with it after making that update. This was early November 2011. I had stopped playing BF3 in January because I was a graduating senior. During Spring break in late March, I decided to play again and noticed lag spikes in-game, during video streaming, and also problems with my laptop getting too hot where my video card is. I live in Maine so it was not because of the weather. I didn't have time to worry about it as I had to finish my school work to earn my degree. I decided to do a factory restore thinking it was a software problem but this not fix it. In fact, it sort of made the problem worse.

Any advice would be of great help. I've had this baby for just barely a year and I did not expect to experience any issues especially since my first Alienware (M17-R1) still runs like a beauty.

I am considering to ship my laptop off to get fixed and maybe get a hardware upgrade if possible but I don't really know. I'm fresh out of college and can't really spend a lot of money on anything especially since I am an international student and I need to pay for airfare to go home.

Again, any advice and help would be appreciated.

Oh I also forgot to mention that my system lags after restart. I have to shut down my computer and reboot it that way so I don't get the lag.

I was advised to open up my system since my warranty ended a few days ago and replace the thermal paste. But I would like to get more advice as to whether or not I should be dealing with this myself or if it's worth sending over to a Depot for diagnostics.

 

if you are out of warranty, i'd would deal with this myself first.

What are your CPU and GPU temps when your computer is underload? Download HWINFO64 and monitor both CPU and GPU temps.

For CPu, run prime95 8 threaded mixed test for 15 mins, look at HWINFO64 while this is going on and record your temps

For GPU, run Furmark for 4 mins. Look at your temps

Look at this first. If your temps are too high, you will suffer lag spikes. The nvidia cards all throttle at 78c which means performance drops off to nothing until temps come back to acceptable levels and then the cycle starts all over again.

When was the last time you cleaned out your vents? I assume that you've never repasted the CPU and GPU? Also, keep the back of your computer propped up. you can use a book or bottle caps etc. This will drop your temps 5-10c

 

Yeah, lag time issues can only be hardware, software, or temperature caused. Definitely do a repaste and clean the vents and heatsink fins. Make sure to use a good paste (do a forum search to find acceptable ones). One thing to check is if you need to update the VBIOS. You stated you updated the BIOS, so check the VBIOS as well. I remember there was an issue with the m17x R2's when they released an update to its BIOS and it caused issues with the AMD 5870m. In turn, AMD released a VBIOS update for the card. Search around and see if your GTX 460M needs a VBIOS update.

 

Hey guys thanks for your replies. I was told to use Arctic Silver and I shall do that and repaste the heat sinks. I have to buy it first though. Also, I opened it up today and cleaned a bit of the vents.

I've only recently monitored my temps and my CPU gets up to a deadly 85C and I think that's where almost all my problems are coming from...

I'm sorry for the confusion I meant the VBIOS. Dell released a VBIOS for the GTX 460M shortly before BF3 was released and that VBIOS update ALWAYS failed for me whenever I tried to install it. I think I will try to do that again.

This is what I plan to do in the exact same order and please tell me what you think

1 - Clean and repaste the heatsinks and vents
2 - Factory restore using Alien Respawn
3 - Update the VBIOS
4 - See what happens

 

Looks good to me!

 

Same here. Find out why the VBIOS aren't taking. There's always an answer.

 

I did raise that concern to an on-site tech that came here. We thought it was the physical GPU that wasn't taking the VBIOS so we replaced it. As you can expect it didn't do anything so I never really got that part answered. I wasn't the only one who had the issue but we really ended up just ignoring that VBIOS update.

I'll do this as soon as I manage to get my hands on the thermal compound. I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks for your help!

 

You shouldn't ignore the VBIOS updates. There are several reasons why it may not take: download was corrupted; disc the update was burned to was corrupted (my VBIOS had to be burned to CD and then ran from boot); if it is a Windows Installer it may need Administrator privileges and is not getting them; it may not be the right VBIOS update for your GPU; the list goes on and on...

I'd download the VBIOS again and try running it and see if it says "successful", but it the GPU doesn't take the update, or if its unsuccessful, it should give some explanation as to why.

 

I downloaded and burned it twice. Both discs would not run. They are in .iso so I burned it on Roxio booted on the VBIOS and the error would appear at the end and it's so fast I can't really catch what it says.

 

the v-bios as Far as I understand it for the 460m didn't change much of anything. When I had my 460m installed the v-bios installed fine, but there wasn't much of a change or anything. If it doesn't install I personally don't think its a big deal, but thats just me.

 

Give a look in this thread, it may have your answer: M17xR3 - VBIOS UPDATED (10/12) - nVidia GeForce 460M/580M/560M (see post#1)

 

You should be able to pick up the thermal compound from Radio Shack if you are in the US. They carry arctic silver

 

^ I shall look into it thanks!

I had already ordered the thermal compound online as it was also cheaper. I also live in a part of the US where stores are miles away... thank you though

 

bump for an update:

Hey guys, I just got the arctic silver in the mail and I want to work on the 17x-r3 as soon as possible...

I've seen following videos

Alienware M17X R3 Re-pasting Guide and 6970 re-pasting guide - Newegg Promo Code - YouTube
Alienware M17x R3 R4 complete teardown / how to take apart / disassemble - Hidevolution.com - YouTube

and I have a few questions.

First off, do I need to replace the thermal pads? I don't have those in hand and if I do need to replace them what would you suggest I would use?

Second, how much thermal paste do I put in?

I will re-paste on the GPU and the CPU.

 

Rayvier, you can just re-use the stock pads. I have many times.

You can look at my CPU and 7970 guide for pics as to how much paste to apply

have fun with it

 

I would recommend replacing the thermal pads. I got 0.5mm fujisoft pads for the GPU heatsink. They've been working out pretty good. I had to get 1.5mm pads for the voltage control chips on the CPU heatsink. The 1.0mm's just wouldn't close the gap.

As far as amount and application of thermal paste, everyone has their own technique & preference. I dab a grain of rice size on each corner of one side, then I use a clean straight razor blade to smooth it across the surface, applying very slight pressure so the paste works its way into the small surface imperfections of the die..but not enough pressure to where the blade edge scrapes the die. Of course, you can do it whichever way you feel comfortable with.