This is absurd... (M17x)

So I just bought one a few days ago. I tried overclocking my T9600 but realized it was futile. My temps are atrocious. I don't know what's going on but even stock I have around ~60°C in idle and whenever I fire a demanding application or game my temperatures of both cores are between 70°C and 99°C... I cannot even run OCCT STOCK! It says temperature too high after 1 minute of the idle test.

This doesn't make any sense to me...

 

Yes, it's idling too hot. My X9100 at 3.33Ghz is overvolted and idles at 30C.

Does the fan kick in high speed? If yes, I would say to investigate the thermal compound Alienware put on the CPU. I don't know how to get in there, I have an M17. If the fan is working, I'm banking on bad thermal compound. Get back to us when you know more. Good luck.

 

Yeah the fan kicks in high speed all the time. I saw a thread on here I think it was by The_Moo who explained how to get in there and change the thermal compound. I'm curious to know if a lot of other users have the same problem with their M17x... I haven't seen any people complain about it yet. I'd rather have to avoid opening it because it seems rather complicated and I'm no expert.

 

I'm sure there's a detailed tutorial somewhere. If you decide to do it, make sure to go get some thermal paste, rubbing alcohol, and Qtips beforehand. You can go through that debacle with Alienware and send your machine back. OR you can take a look at it yourself and be up and running before lunch. It's your call, of course, but it's not a big deal getting in there. You'll learn a lot in the process.

 

I'm no expert either, but I've been inside a few laptops and it is an excellent learning experience. You gain confidence by getting in there and fixing the problems yourself. A few big things to remember should you decide to take this on:

1 - Make sure you've grounded yourself so that you don't accidentally turn static electricity into dynamic electricity. This time of year is especially bad if you live somewhere where the heat is turned on a lot.

2 - Have a nice, big flat surface on which to work, where you can spread out and lay out everything. It also helps to have a computer tool kit to handle various screw types/sizes, etc. These are inexpensive and readily available.

3 - Take your time and don't force anything. Delicate ribbon cables are one of your biggest "tripwires".

4 - Keep track of all of your components and the order in which you take them out. Putting things back in reverse order can get a little tricky, especially the first time you try this.

5 - Start small and do more as you gain confidence. Don't go after the big stuff right away. Gain confidence by going into the machine just a little bit (RAM replacement, Hard drives, etc.), then close it back up. When you can do that stuff in your sleep, then take the next step and go deeper.

6 - If you get to a point where you feel completely uncomfortable, then by all means stop. Don't get so far out of your comfort zone that you'll panic, especially given how much these computers cost.

7 - If you have an older laptop, maybe try that as a guinea pig. The procedure won't be anywhere near the same, but practicing on it will raise your "laptop IQ".

8 - Watch some of the video tutorials more than once. Moo has done some very nice ones. It's like virtual surgery, and it's free!

I'm sure there are some tips that I've missed that other forum users can add.

 

It's not right.

You need to call or look yourself in there.

 

you should call and have them fix it because if you try to reapply the thermal paste and brake something you going to be on serious problems

 

Just be careful. You aren't going to torque the heat sink screws like they're cylinder head studs. It's only a thermal paste job.

 

they may have forgot to pull off the plastic from the thermal tape. not the first time ive seen that from alienware and dell

 

Yes, there have been several reported cases of this. That's why I suggest you have a look before you go to blows with Dell. Could literally be a 30 minute fix.

 

well lemme ask you a question - do you reapply thermal paste? my qx9300 at stock speed now at 40C at start and on daily use (movie, web, music) around 57. but i must to say - in our country winter now thats why room ambient temp is some hot maybe. oh, forgot to say - mcp temp is about 78-80 (lol). at start it about 60C
so is it ok or smth wrong with cooling? i've bought ocz freeze compound and now decide apply it or not. especially dunno how to cool down mcp temps.. i've already asked about it in other thread but it seems nobody havent this problem..

 

Everybody's idle and load temperatures will be different. Laptop coolers, ambient room temperatures, they all play into it. OCZ Freeze is supposed to be some of the best stuff there is. If the thermal paste job was done properly, you will be fine. My house is always cold, and I have a custom laptop cooler. So if you're in a hot room with no cooler, yeah, your temps will be higher. If you run a game and your load temperatures skyrocket into the 90s or 100s C, there's a problem. And make sure to clean your heat sinks and fans regularly. If done right, a thermal paste job never needs to be redone.

 

@TurbodTalon
thanks for ur reply. load temps are fine so i guess its all about ambient. now i think i must to apply ocz..

 

You're welcome. Just remember that unless the current thermal paste job is bad, you're only going to run a few degrees cooler at best. Don't expect a miracle.

 

This would be my guess. No reason it should idle that high. Check this, replace the compound and your set.

 

ya i agree with witcher4360.... ya u make a call and fix it....

__________________
Compound Interest Formula

 

hey folks...

I decided to get some confidence and get in there myself... I am going on a trip soon and don't have the time to deal with dell for what was most likely a bad thermal paste job... so I got there and this is what I found...

http://i49.tinypic.com/16jnij7.jpg


Believe it or not... no thermal paste whatsoever except on that bottom corner. Extremely disappointed with Dell. Not entirely sure what to do here. Should I go buy isopyril rubbing alcohol? Do I even need it considering how little there is? I could just apply some new thermal paste... pretty sure I have some very old Arctic Silver 5 here somewhere.

 

looks like some one swapped over the heatsink and forgot to put paste on it


just whipe it off good and then re apply and your golden

 

Thanks mate... your video was very helpful.

Should I just wipe it off with water and some cloth?

What's the preferred way of putting the new thermal paste? A small drop and using a plastic bag or what?

 

small drop in the center and the paste will smoosh out when you tighten it down


Does the part that was on the 9400m still have a big pad-ish thing on it ?

 

Water??????????????

 

i just whipe mine off with a damp cloth then a dry one

works fine for me, i know its not the correct way but its all good when your CPU doesn't go over 60c @ 3.4 ghz under full load

 

Yeah there's a big black slimey thing on it. When I touch it it's a bit humid.

There's virtually no paste left, so I wouldn't think water would be really that bad if it's well dried after?

 

can you post a picture of your whole heatsink >?

Damp cloth won't hurt it, i did it to mine and it runs perfectly cool

 

I can't post a whole picture of it. I've just reapplied paste and I secured in the screws, and I wanted to see if the thermal paste had well applied so I tried to unscrew them but one of the screw won't move. It's like it's spinning on itself yet it is attached to the motherboard?! The spring must have messed up. I can only hope that I've put enough paste for it to cover the chip... I can't make sure.

 

you only needed enough to cover the small little die in the middle

 

Well, I'm back online. Reassembling was a piece of cake to my surprise.

I'm running OCCT right now. It used to crash instantly but now I am 5 minutes in and my temperatures are below 60°C on both cores. Idle was 38-40°C when I started the computer, so we can say it's a success. Not sure if I could've done better with the paste but there's no way I can change it now.. the heatsink is stuck in there so I'm fairly happy I at least got that.

 

did you overclock ?

what are the temps on the 9400m


congratz btw

 

I was going to mess with the overclock when I realized that my keyboard had no LED lights on... so I went back and tried to connect the LED connector further. I decided to let the laptop power on and be extra careful so that I could see when it's lighting up and secure it. I saw it light up a couple of times but only very briefly and when I was pushing extremely hard. I tried to secure it when it was lightning up but ended up failing both times. Then I messed up with it for another 10 minutes or so and it never light back on. I decided to give up my LED keyboard... it seems the little circuits on the cable were somehow damaged... very fragile thing.

Going to try to overclock now.

 

Don't use water. You need to use acetone/alcohol 92%. Take a moment and google "remove thermal compound". Please do NOT use water. Too late I guess... if it works for you without any damage then great.

 

CPU temps are fine now, 3.0Ghz is rock stable with below 70°C @ OCCT for 15 mins.

@ Moo: The temperature of the 9400 is pretty bad. Around 70°C right now on my desktop.

 

I also strongly recommend using isopropyl alcohol (90%+), water will NOT get all the grease/contaminants off and will not leave a clean surface.

Use alcohol in conjunction with a paper towel or (better) a microfiber cloth.

 

the alcohol is good and works better but in this case its fine the difference would be 3-4 c maybe.....

I figured the temps would be warm its why i asked. Sounds like your pad is bad... you could use paste but i recommend a Pad for your Chipset

 

well the temps of the 9400m are now around 60-65 but i really don't care much about it because i'll never use it for gaming and those temps are fine for desktop use

 

yea those are ok temps and about normal

 

Void, you might want to take a look at this thread... youll see several posts of typical MCP79/9400M G idle temps. if 60-65c is your idle, then its a bit warm - especially after applying new thermal compound.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=432142

Also, here is a recent thermal paste/compound discussion:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=440331

As long as you are satisfied with it though.... then you are good to go.

Enjoy the system

 

It's warm because he reused the pad

 

Yeah my 9400m temps aren't too great and the MCP is around 70°F in idle too... hopefully that doesn't cause too much problems because I _cannot_ take the heatsink off anymore. It's simply impossible. I cannot redo a thermal paste job, and didn't think of putting any paste on the 9400 as I was not going in there initially for that reason.


I'd redo it in a heart beat if I could find a way to unscrew the messed up spring screw.

 

Oh yeah another thing... Did I void my warranty by getting in there myself?

If so, could I still send the laptop back to dell so that they fix my keyboard leds? It's really a shame that they don't work anymore. I didn't expect the little circuits on the cable to be so fragile... there's nothing I could've done better about it though.

 

You can send it back ... Just don't say anything u did if they were already broke then sure ... If you did it then...