M17xR4 bad vent design?

i ran furmark about a week ago and reported to the forum that the temp shoots up to 90 Celsius and stays there.

One forum member suggested I lift up the rear of the laptop by an inch or so to give it a more room for air circulation. I finally did that today. (been too busy playing games )

the temp dropped by 10 degrees merely by lifting it up an inch!

shouldn't this be considered a design flaw, especially since the fix is so darn simple?

I'm gonna get me a pair of rubber feet to raise up the laptop a little bit but it's maddening to think that i just dropped $2.8k for this fancy laptop and have to spend another five bucks or so for cheap-looking rubber feet...

 

try reapplying thermal paste

 

Furmark pushes the GPU beyond its limit and is way more graphically demanding than any game will ever be. 3DMark is a better choice.

 

i'm not too thrilled about having to do it on the brand-new laptop, a very pricy one at that...

yes. i agree. but what about the fact that the mere act of lifting up the laptop drops the temp dramatically?

 

Whilst i agree its a simple solution. the machine has to retain some form of portability. So this "issue is kind of inevitable really" (if you want to maintain this sleek style) Two thick feet perm attatched to the bottom is kind of crap. I mean, ive never had issues playing demanding games when not on a laptop cooler or not having the back raised, but i do it most times because i like to have the laptop as cool as possible. Highest temp i have had when playing on a flat surface is probably 72c.

Maybe if they added a simple twist and lock Alienware foot clip in the box as a free extra?

 

Nah, I don't blame you. I would not recommend disturbing the factory thermals unless there is a definite problem with it not being done right. I am still running the factory paste/pads and there are zero issues with thermals after more than 6 months of heavy benching and overclocking the GPUs.

I think Joe hit the nail on the head. All laptops run cooler when elevated to improve airflow, otherwise there would be no market for cooler, special laptop "feet" etc., etc. It's not a design flaw as much as it is design inherent to being a laptop. Some people would throw a fit if Alienware put extra tall feet on the base. I know I would. It would be an impediment to portability, and propping up the rear is so easy to do. Just grab a couple of rubber bushings or use a couple of plastic bottle caps under the rear feet. It's dirt cheap and effective. This works fantastic for me.

 

Hey, at least your machine doesn't shut off from overheating after an hour and a half.

 

Well, that's correct. Thankfully, I don't have that issue. That's because it's not overclocked beyond its operational capacity and it is not malfunctioning in some other manner. If that's the case, raising the rear of the laptop, or using a cooler, is going to be an exercise in futility. The underlying problem would need to be corrected. It's either too aggressively overclocked, needs to be re-pasted or has a heat sink that is in need of replacement.

I'm sad to hear that you are experiencing that problem. The last time my laptop shut down during normal use it needed the dust and lint cleaned out of the fans and heat sinks. That was a simple enough fix, but it was not related to a bad design. I would suspect someone with your knowledge has already clean out the dust bunnies, but in case not, (or for the benefit of readers that have not thought of that,) this would be the first thing to try... very quick and no cost involved with using a compressed air duster or vacuum cleaner.

 

Mine too!!!

 

I use a laptop cooler with holes in it. This allows it to lie flat AND get proper ventilation.

And I actually disagree pretty strongly that this is a design flaw. It's a fact of the situation with these machines. Put that much hardware into a small space, you need to give it some breathing room.

 

But a couple of fold-out legs like I have seen on other laptops would be good.

It should run fine on a flat surface OR tell people that you have to elevate it when gaming - not find out when a problem (which seems to happen a LOT!) happens...