Should I contact tech support?

I have an M17x-R2, with the 2 5870's in Crossfire. The temps of the cards have been getting WAY too hot, and it's starting to scare me a little. After playing Metro 2033 for all of 15 min the temp of my main card is literally 120 deg. C. There is also a very considerable amount of lag at the higher temps also.

Should I contact support to get the cards replaced?

Btw, idle seems semi-normal at around 55-65 C, and while playing games it is on a flat, hard surface.

 

that is way to high, they can handle till 100 degrees and slightly over if they have to, but it's already on the high side. 120 is definately an indication somethin gis wrong with the cooling.

 

What you should do before calling support is check:

Are the intakes on the bottom of system dusty? If you see a layer of dust, wipe it off.

What about the exhausts at the back of the laptop? Dusty? Look clogged? Take a can of compressed air and give them a good blast.

Is this temp consistent from the time you received/unboxed your system? if so, consider the placement of the laptop. Is there anything obstructing or limiting free airflow on the sides and rear of the system? Have to ask as we have seen people post pictures of their system inside of a desk cubby with very little room for free airflow. This can impact your thermals. try propping the back of the laptop up - a couple of CD jewel cases or a CD holder should be enough.

See if any of the above help. If thermals are the same after firing off the compressed air blast and making sure you are not blocking the intakes/exhausts, then its time to call support.

Also note, thermals can vary from driver to driver. If you have recently noticed a jump in temp after updating to another display driver, try going back to the previous and see if that helps.

 

If you do use a can of air, make sure you use something to stop the fans from moving. Shooting air can damage the fans if they are allowed to spin.

 

Most of the time the laptop is on an array of 3 120mm fans from a laptop cooler with the laptop's backplate taken off, so it's getting the best air flow possible. With all fans at 100% the temps still get to around 108 C. I have also noticed some extra noise coming from the gpus' fans (rattling) so I'm going to call tomorrow.

 

I would do a repaste, but since you're likely still under warranty, do not touch it and let them figure it out