Old dog needs some help. (M17X R2 Overheating I think?)

Hey guys and gals. Looking for a bit of advice on my current predicament. I have a M17x R2 with the 2x Radeon 5870s in crossfire. About a year and a half ago I stopped using this laptop because the computer would induce what I could best assume is thermal throttling after playing just about any video game for about 15-20 minutes. I have a desktop I do most of my gaming on now, however I really miss being able to take my laptop out on business trips and such. I would really like to get this thing running properly again. The reason I'm putting this on here is because I feel there are a lot of modders with my particular device on this forum who have gone through this process before and can offer me some good information.

Questions:

• What steps should I be taking to try and get this thing functioning the way it should be?

• Because all initial signs point to thermal throttling, I need to look into potentially replacing fans, thermal paste and tape. What are the best recommended replacement products for this task, and best places to purchase? Primarily fans as they don't seem to be easy to find.

• Since I'll be taking things apart I'm thinking I should also be looking into upgrading the video cards while I'm at it. Maybe inject some more life into it, and keep up with newer games. If so what it considered the most stable bang for buck card upgrade available for this chassis? As well what are the recommended trustworthy places to purchase such a card as those seem difficult to find as well.

I appreciate any insight you folks can give me on my situation. If you need any relevant data just let me know what you require and I will get it to you. Thanks!

 

Idle by Palabrewtis posted Jul 9, 2015 at 3:44 PM

Thermal Throttling by Palabrewtis posted Jul 9, 2015 at 3:44 PM

Final by Palabrewtis posted Jul 9, 2015 at 3:44 PM

So this is a snapshot of what it's like from Idle to reaching unplayable states of what I think is thermal throttling. Just so you guys know I'm not crazy. Well I am crazy, just not about this. ^_^

 

Unholy hell. How is your graphics card even alive??? definitely requires a repaste. I don't know if the M17x R2 has a ePSA/diagnostic section that tests system components, but you will need it to check your fans to see if they are spinning at the proper speeds.

 

Those temps are very high.
You'll need to remove battery take two long screws off, remove carefully alien head strip then remove keyboard and then access the gpu.
Once there clean dust repaste with icd7 and carefully place everything back together.
I recommend 7970m cards.
Good luck.

 

oh my god!
your graphics cards are getting cooked!
i am surprised you did not get crashes or shut downs

i would suggest to stop immediately and open your laptop for some cleaning and maybe a repaste

 

This is actually reinstalled system. I have no monitoring programs other than the GPU-Z I installed for purposes of this. I honestly can't figure out how to get any monitor type program to tell me whether or not the fans are running at appropriate speeds. To be honest, I know "some" fans are running pretty hard when I am in a game cause it sounds like a bloody aircraft taking off. ^_^ I feel like they probably should all get replaced though. Are there any reputable places to get replacement fans from?

If these two cards are still fully functional would a single 7970 still outperform them? Or would I need to get 2 and do lots of modding to my PSU and such? ^_^ Is E-bay just about the only place to find these things?

 

Your fans aren't spinning .

 

Yes and yes.

 

Just a little update, I did a re-paste and replaced the GPU fans on the laptop, and it seems to have brought down temps quite a bit. Games no longer throttle due to thermal pressure and the highest temps have been between 72-74 under full load for some time. Was quite a challenge for the first time, but I feel comfortable with the inside of this bad boy now. I took your suggestion as well TR2N and purchased a 7970, and 920XM. I'm excited to give it all a go again when they arrive.

 

Wow, impressive! My R2's 4870x2s would typically go up to 90°C before I blew them out. If you are still going the AMD route, it might be a good investment to buy a laptop cooler. Got a Havit one [ http://www.amazon.com/HAVIT®HV-F2062-Cooling-Adjustable-Notebook-Computer/dp/B00WS32MQ2/ ], but haven't had time to give it an honest test since I've been trying to figure out why the 860m upgrade I was trying failed. In all honesty, AMD or NVIDIA aside, a cooling pad is just a good investment in general, along with some high quality thermal paste.

 

After this I actually ended up installing a 7970. In the process of diagnosing heat issues with that I ended up doing the retention mod, and no joke putting 2 binder clips under the laptop. My card runs about 29-35 idle and never really gets hotter than 65-70 after a few hours of playing games setting fan @3750rpm. I haven't done any real over clocking yet, but that will come at some point.

Thanks for the pad suggestion though! I've actually considered getting one for couching and such. But for the moment on a flat surface 2x $0.25 binder clips put enough of a gap under the back of the laptop to allow great air circulation.

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