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    M9700 Heating Problem i think?

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by pipan, Apr 13, 2009.

  1. pipan

    pipan Newbie

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    Hi Guys,

    I have a problem which i really hope someone can help me out with, currently i'm running on an old alienware m9700 alienware laptop and recently it has started developing a problem where the fps in World of Warcraft would be running at 30-40 fps then suddenly drop down to just 5-10 for a couple of seconds, then it would speed up again to it's regular 30-40fps,
    Then sure enough 1min later it would repeate the drop in frame rate.

    Now at the same time the frame rate drops the fan speed i can hear slows down a little (every time), then it will speed up again when the normal frame rate is resumed.

    To look more into this i downloaded a program called SpeedFan and monitored the temps while i played WoW in windowed mode. Sure enough each time the frame rate drops the temperature of the CPU drops down from 85degrees to 75 degrees, then when it rises back to 85 degrees the frame rate increases.

    Now i'm no wizz on notebooks but to me this seems like it maybe the processor getting too hot? and maybe the notebook thinks it's running too hot so it slows the processor down for a few seconds to lower the temperature? Resulting in my drop in frame rate?

    If this is so, any idea's what i need to do to correct this? it didn't used to be like this, i have tried lifting the laptop up on bottlecaps to increase air vent but stil dosent stop it going to 85degrees.
    Any help is much appreciated, should my notebook be going to 85degrees? if not then any ideas what i can do? if it should any idea's whats wrong with it?

    P.S. I've taken a screenshot of the temps below, you can see the red line is the CPU temp and at each of the two spikes that is where the frame rate drops
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 6, 2015
    pipan, Apr 13, 2009
    #1
  2. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    The_Moo™, Apr 13, 2009
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  3. Alienware-Armando

    Alienware-Armando Company Representative

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    Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your system. Please let us know what temps hwmonitor reads. Make sure to clean the vents to help air flow, it could also mean the cpu and gpu may need thermal paste. Feel free to send me a PM.

    Thank you.
     
    Alienware-Armando, Apr 14, 2009
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  4. pipan

    pipan Newbie

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    Thanks for the replies,

    I used hwmonitor and i've included some screenshots below of what i got before the drop in framerate, and during the drop. (dont think hwmonitor seems to have a graph log)
    Are these temps it shows within optimal working spec's btw?
    As you can see each time the frame rate falls into its 5-10 fps i hear the fanspeed slow down and CPU temps drop to 74degrees.

    Below hwmonitor i show speedfans graph, clearly showing the spikes where i encounter the frame rate drops. As i said it's almost like the CPU is going into some safety mode to drop the temps when it hits around 86degrees.

    I've used an can of compressed air in the vents but hasnt changed anything.

    It should be noted that when i firstly turn the laptop on and go into wow it has no problem in any intense scenes, its only when it has been running for say 10-15mins the cpu temps get high and it does this frame rate drop.

    Any help with what i can do is appreciated? If i do need thermal past then it looks like the CPU is the target? any reference guides on how i can apply it on an alienware m9700? and also where one might purcahse some?
    as i've never done it before.

    Thanks,

    Before the drop in framerate:
    [​IMG]

    During the drop in framerate:
    [​IMG]
     
    pipan, Apr 15, 2009
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  5. pipan

    pipan Newbie

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    Actually to be more accurate, it looks like each time the ACPI THRM temperature on hdmonitor hit's 89 Degree's C it then does a drop down to 79 Degrees C resulting in the FPS drop.
    After that it slowly makes it's way up to 89 again and repeats the pattern.

    Also i've just noticed each time the temp drops an error is reported in windows event viewer with the following description "The Acpi 2.0 _PCT object returned an invalid value of 7" with the source being AmdK8.

    I know this might be a stupid question but the ACPI temperature hdmonitor shows is related to the CPU isn't it?
     
    pipan, Apr 15, 2009
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  6. pipan

    pipan Newbie

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    For an update and to let others (who may have had similar problems) know how i got on, the problem was that the paste on the heatsink needed replacing.

    After purchasing some AS5 together with some removal liquid i coated the top of the core and the underneath of the heatsink with the AS5 applied and it's fixed it now.

    Normal temps are around 50 - 60 degrees and while gaming max temps have gotten to just 70 degree's. No more periodic lags are occuring with these lower temperatures so all's fixed, thanks for all the help :)
     
    pipan, May 4, 2009
    #6