Diagnosing Alienware/Clevo M7700 D9T Laptop

Computer is an Alienware M7700 which reported by PO started to slow down and eventually freeze when he was using it. PC came with an Intel P4 3.0 GHz cpu and Quadro FX 2500 GPU. It has already been stripped down cleaned out and re-assembled. I just swapped out the CPU to the P4 670 3.8GHz model. Came with supposedly Alienware Windows 7 32-bit. Anyway using multiple diagnostic programs like AIDA64 I am getting null for temp readings. So I am thinking the temperature sensor is no good for the CPU.

My question now is how is the CPU temp detected? Is their a sensor that is removable or is it internal to the motherboard?

 

I used a program called HWinfo32 as recommended by another gent and it reports TM1 in green and TM2 in red. So far all programs such as AIDA64, etc have reported the CPU temp as null or -0 or n/a. Someone correct me if I am wrong because I am assuming here. That potentially a CPU temp sensor is malfunctioning which is causing the computer to maybe "throttle" (i dont really know what that means). Under hard tasks or heavy load i.e. stress test with AIDA64 it will freeze up for extended periods and then come back or take long enough for it to get shut down manually.

Now assuming I am correct and that the HWinfo32 is correct in that it has two methods of monitoring the CPU temps. I am assuming that system works by comparing both temps and when one fails it shuts the whole system down. My question is how can I find out how it records CPU temps. There is a connector coming off of the heatsink. I can only image that is a temp sensor but where is the other one?

 

If someone asked you to fix their computer and the first thing you did was upgrade the CPU I would swap in the original CPU first and then after resolving the issue try the new one again.

It's like buying an old sports car. The first thing people want to do is modify it for power but first you need to get the vehicle up to date on all maintenance. After its performing at 100% then throw in more power.

As for the temps, with the old CPU in did you see temperature? It could be the motherboard is not completely compatible with the new CPU so it cannot determine the temperature. Just because a CPU physically fits does not mean it is fully compatible. I use HWMonitor for temps, also give that a try.

Also this computer came with XP not Windows 7 as it came out in 2005 . Vista drivers may have been available after but not right away. If Windows 7 is on this laptop I would ask who installed it (hopefully not the same guy asking you to fix it) and if it has ever run correctly.

Use the windows events/logs to your advantage. Ask for dates & times the computer has crashed and peruse the logs for anything weird. Ask what programs they were using. A lot of times people will say their computer is slow and when you prod them you can narrow it down to something very specific like "well, it's only slow when using flash in AOL mail on Firefox".

Also do a full diagnostics. Most HD manufacturers offer an iso with testing software for free from their site. Test memory with memtest86+.

Let us know how it goes.