M17x: No GPU cooling when second display is attached

Hello folks,

I just hooked up a DVI display that has the same resolution as the laptop display. There's no DVI port on the laptop, so I'm using an HDMI to DVI adapter, which is working fine.

Here's the problem, though. My left (primary) GPU fan is blasting at 100% clock speed and heating up to 52/53C soon as I plug in the second display. In fact I can just boot the computer up, log on, and let the computer sit there--and if the second display is attached my primary GPU maxes out and stays maxed out with no reprieve. I'm afraid I'm going to burn the bugger out just by having a second display attached.

I'm running Vista64, but I've ordered the Windows 7 upgrade. Will these kinds of problems go away once I've upgraded to Windows 7? My experience with this computer has been remarkably lousy thus far. I've either got a lemon or this is a very poorly designed system.

 

Add to this that my system slows to a crawl while I have the external monitor attached. I mean, slows to an absolute c....r......a........w...............l. I waited 5 minutes for this page to update after posting, and tried loading other pages in the background with no luck. Soon as I unplugged the monitor, everything shot up to normal speed and my internet connection was back. AND my GPU cooled off instantly and went back to normal.

What about the VGA port? Should I expect all this nonsense if I return the HDMI to DVI adapter and get a VGA to DVI adapter instead?

 

VGA->DVI might not even work on the machine or it will most likely be the same result. The VGA port is analog, and the DVi is digital. So the gfx card would end up giving out the same signal as before.

Did you try to install a different version of the display driver? Also, post your configuration ^^

 

What config information do you need? I've got two GTX280s, 4GB ram, a 500mb drives, and this thing runs like molasses.

Earlier I flashed the BIOS with the latest A3 version, then I installed the latest 195.62 drivers (was always forced to use the Dell drivers before). For the first time ever the 195 drivers didn't blow my primary GPU to full power and keep it there. The A3 BIOS and the 195 drivers seem to be a good match.

However, my video (web content--hulu) is choppier than crap. Like, three frames a second, or less, maybe one frame per second. I've never seen it that bad. I tried watching hulu content on this external vid and there's not one single skip--it's flawless. Except for the fact that doing so completely disables my WiFi card. COMPLETELY disables it!

Why did Dell send me this piece of junk when they replaced the last piece of junk I bought on warranty? What good are these warranties if all Dell is going to do is send me one piece of junk after another for the entire life of the warranty?

 

Here's an interesting thing. I've never seen this "View HDCP Status" task in the NVIDIA control panel before attempting to use this external monitor. I've attached it.

Does this mean the native display is not HDCP capable? Because I've never seen this tab before, and the only display shown is the external one. Soon as I unplug it this "task" disappears from the NVIDIA control panel.

I just spent a couple of weeks at my employer's house. His wife has a Dell Inspiron 17, and I could watch hulu and other videos on that thing in high res without a single lost frame. Beautiful. She also has this little Toshiba Netbook for when she travels. Same thing, high quality video content streamed without a single lost frame.

Meanwhile I've got this large expensive piece of junk that is somehow worth 5x both of her machines put together that takes 5 minutes to boot and gives me one or two frames per second.

I'm officially going mad now.

 

alot of the nvidia mobile drivers do not work well with an external display. I use a dell wfp2407 with a dvi to display port adapter. The only drivers that seem to work well are the dell drivers on their site or the laptop video2go 186.82 drivers. 186.82 drivers seem to work the best for me I use dual displays most of the time and I am usually happy with the performance of the cards.

 

VGA -> DVI works on the M17x, but is slightly more blurry than DVI-D or HDMI and I believe it lags a little, but I don't remember exactly.

 

I'm afraid the issue is not limited to Nvidia or HDMI, I'm having the same problem with both ATI GPUs (4870) whenever the second monitor is attached. At random times both cards would hit 60c+ and make the fans sweat.
What's worse, I'm afraid the issue is not gone after you disconnect the second display and will randomly reappear. I'm thinking of re-flashing the BIOS...

 

Hi maxwell,

I'd like to try these video2go drivers. Where might I find them?

 

I found the video2go site. Why 186.82? This is a very old "release". Have you tried any of the more recent versions?

 

Re-flashed the BIOS and the problem is gone, but I'm reluctant to connect the external display as it will return.

 

Hi Aikimox,

I'm wondering if you reflashed with the old A2 BIOS or the new A3 BIOS. I found the A3 BIOS to be very compatible with the latest NVIDIA (195.62) drivers. When I used the 195.62 drivers before the A3 BIOS was released, my GPU fans would be maxed out 24/7. But now they behave completely normal--except for this matter with the external display, and except for the fact that I can't stream web-based video content without skipping and jumping all over the place. But these problems also existed in the 186 drivers.

The A3 BIOS is downloadable from Dell's support site--marked "urgent".

 

My external display supports VGA directly, so I'm going to grab a VGA cable from the store today and try this out. Maybe by not providing an external option for HD video, the system will behave more sensibly.

It used to be that if you bought a high end system, you got high end performance and a computer that could be used for gaming and productivity. This is not the case any longer. The cheap and mid-range laptops seem to have all the power and stability now--and they're even good for gaming. Anything else is just blowing money on a brand name.