This is ridiculous...My M15x is overheating.

This is so annoying my 8800M GT card is at 55C-57C Degrees and im not even playing any video games, why is it so hot? Its not like its even hot in my room... When I first got the laptop it stayed on 48C when I wasnt playing games... Now when I play videogames it gets as hot as 99 Degrees... Is it a hardware problem? Are you guys experiencing the same temperatures when idle?

 

What BIOS version are you using?

 

Im using the X32 Bios, because I heard it was the best choice out now.

 

Have you cleaned it out for dust and debris using a canister of compressed air and a vacuum cleaner?

 

I have not done that, but I doubt it will really help more then 1 or 2 degrees...

 

Well the x36 bios was a fix for heat issues and cleaning it can make a 5-9 c diff if it's pretty dirty

 

Does anyone know if a steady temp of 88C is ok to play with for an hour or two?

 

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but isnt below sixty perfectly fine for idle? I know my system idle's from 65-70... What would you want the temp to be?

57 doesn't really seem all that high... What are other owners getting for temps?

Edit: Not the same system so take it for what its worth, but my M1730 gets anywhere from 80-85 when stressed during heavy gaming. If I use a notebook cooler, it stays a lot cooler. Maybe yours would benefit from one? Or even just lifting the back up to let air underneath the notebook?

 

That's fine. If it gets over 90*C consistently, you might want to look into a cooling pad, but under 90*C, don't worry about it.

Raising the back of your notebook up while playing games should drop the temperatures by a few degrees, if not more. You might try that.

Your idle temperatures are fine as noted.

 

OK Does it matter which notebook cooler I get for the M15x?

Whats the top rated one that cools it the most?

 

I use the Belkin cooler for my m15x shake. It gives a pretty good height boost for the laptop, on the cheap side as well.

But also do try and clean out the vents of your m15x

 

Zalman NC2000 or NZXT Cryo LX. the Zalman does an admirable job at cooling everything but the GPU... can't say anything bout the NZXT.

 

I can't believe there are still issues with the m15x. You'd think Alienware might have worked out the kinks by now. Glad I chose the Macbook Pro over the m15x last year

 

I had a problem with my card not "clocking down" to 2D mode. Get ATITools and see what Mhz your card is in while idle.

My GPU.. (8700M GT)

GPU Temp Idle 47
GPU Temp Max 78

GPU Mhz Idle 170/340/100
GPU Mhz Max 725/1500/1000

 

I noticed 92 deggres and everything is ok,normal sometimes I had 70C

 

U might really want to clean the wents, after half year of use i used to get to 107 degrees while playing games, 60 idle. Cleaned my wents and I get about 80 while playing now, 40-50 idle. And I couldn't see any dust before I opened it for cleaning, but when I opened I saw a huge layer of dust.

 

Forget about a cooler until you've cleaned the vents, if you take the fans out you'll probably find that the mesh over the ducting to the CPU and GPU are blocked by a layer of dust.

 

whats a "canister of compressed air?"

 

See the cooling guide - it shows you how to use canned/compressed air.

 

let me ask you this which nobody would imagine.. do you have win7 & command center both running?

 

whats win7 and how do I check?

I moved my laptop to a better area in my room and im hitting 89-90 tops, I guess the surface it was sitting on made it hotter, anyways I got the notebook cooler on the way so I should be good

 

CLEAN YOUR VENTS!! lol....it helps more then 1-2 degrees, more like 5-7 here, i usually do it every 2 months or so and it makes a big difference...i can really see temps go up and then a i know its time for cleaning day again And indeed...don't think you can see if there's dust from the outside, once you take it apart you'll see there's a whole carpet of dust on the inside of the vent itself, especially after half a year...

 

Oooppsss.....! What is Win7? That is the biggest shocker for me. lolz
Windows 7 I meant the latest from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx