alienware automatically shuts down

alienware m17xr4
nvidia 2gb 675m
intel core i7-3740QM @2.7GHz
windows 7 home premium


i was playing battlefield 3 when the screen froze and the laptop shut down automatically. this happened 20 min into the game. just to be sure i tried playing again and the same thing happened again. i suspect my laptop is overheating.
i have the latest bios.please help.

 

Hi, Install hwmonitor 64 and check the temps...if it's overheating try to clean the fans and repast cpu and gpu

 

+1 on the over heating.. time to repaste

 

what is the safe temperature range?how can i repaste?is it safe to do it myself?

 

Look up youtube. Its easy to do but if u have warranty have Dell send a technician to do it but give them your own thermal paste. I would suggest arctic cooling mx-4.

 

Hi, you want to be sure it is a simple overheat before doing anything. Usually a gradual overheat will cause the machine to slow down considerably before that happens.

On the 675m the card goes into max throttle (75mhz) at 78C. You might have another 580m/675m (same card) bad card. I had one that would do the same as yours at 72c every time. As soon as a game warmed it up to that temp - bang, complete shutdown . It has proved to be an unreliable card - I've seen many fail in different ways and have had three myself!

It could also be a CPU overheat so you need to check before ripping it apart. If you still have warranty then Dell will need to get involved and you don't need to get into repasting, otherwise there are (as said) a lot of teardown videos available.

I'd start with getting the temps first. I use msiafterburner ( Videocards - Overclocking & Tweaking) as it has an on screen display while gaming (when you set it up in the options) and you can decide what stats are displayed. Great for seeing exactly what is going on during gaming .

For the CPU you will need HWInfo and it logs temps so you look at it after the problem occurs. It can be hooked into the OSD of afterburner but probably too much work when all you want to know is the temps.

Once you have the GPU temp go for a simply clean out, it gets clogged up quite quickly. You simply need to remove the lower cover and each fan (3 screws) to see where all the dust accumulates. You will need a can of compressed air to blow it out without having to remove the whole assembly though. Anyway, getting a little ahead here so find out those temps rather then just trying things and hoping .

Good luck.

 

i havent cleaned it yet...but now when i play i see max gpu temp 97 and cpu 104 ...no shut down but fps drops under 10(on watch dogs and BF3) .is this happening due to high temps? will cleaning or repasting solve the problem?

 

105 degrees is the max temp of the cpu and 100 for gpu so when it reaches, AND IT WILL, it will shut down. So clean it, repaste it and you are ok.

 

Yeah they are way too hot. Could be as simple as clogged fins. Just lift out the fans and you will see the dust bunnies

 

yup the fans were clogged...cleaned them..now the temps are cpu max 79 gpu max 88......i was playing watch dogs on high ..there was a bit of lag. Is it supposed to lag on high for nvidia 675m? i was getting an average fps of 18

 

Probably GPU temps are too high.. You need to repaste it.. Also watchdogs is a very intensive game and your 675M is not cut out for it.. You might want to look into upgrading to the new Maxwell cards when they're released or a 780/880M now..

 

Sounds good on the CPU, now for the GPU.

To disgnose IF you have a problem, and unfortunately I got WD after the 680m upgrade so I can't say for sure the FPS but that sounds OK for that GPU. You should find a single setting that can give you much better, start with AA settings , but you want to see exactly what is happening when you game.

Use msiafterburner and set up the clock, voltage, fps, temp to show in the OSD. Then game.

Stock clock will be 620mhz with a voltage of 0.97v (IIRC). If it throttles then the first one will be something like 415mhz and a game just drags badly. The voltage will also drop in an attempt to recover from whatever is triggering it. If the temp is in the mid to high 70's c then it is probably heat and a repaste is next. It can also happen in some games when nothing is wrong though. There is a fix for this. You get a vbios with matched P0 and P1 clocks. When the throttle cuts in it has no effect .

I had a lot of this happen with early drivers but the last 675m I used I just left it at stock since I never saw the throttle .

Anyhoo, let us know what temps and clocks you see on the GPU...

Edit: Reread!! missed the GPU temp, yeah time to open it up!

 

any suggestions for a good thermal paste?
also i dont game that much now ..so i want to know the current value of my laptop. Is it worth selling it?

 

The best thermal paste is Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra however I wouldn't suggest you use it unless you are an expert... I would suggest something like Arctic Cooling MX-4 or ICD 7....