The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    m9750 turns off randomly in the middle of gaming ---- HELP PLEASE!

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by Gershalom, Oct 10, 2008.

  1. Gershalom

    Gershalom Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi everyone,

    I've had my Alienware m9750 for over a year now.

    Specs Are:

    Windows XP pro, SP 2
    T6700 @2.33 GHz
    2 GB ram
    7950 GTX go... 2x in SLi.
    200 gb HDD

    Initially I had it setup with the default AW drivers that did not allow xp to pick up the SLi settings properly. As their beta drivers came out after months of talks, I upgraded to them. Now, im running the 174.74 modded drivers from laptopvideo2go.com.

    I followed all the steps from a thread on this forum to properly install and use the modded drivers. They installed fine, and there is definitely a marked performance increase. However, the entire PC randomly turns off when in the middle of gaming, only when the setting in the nVidia control panel are in some sort of SLi configuration ( force split frame, or alternate frame 1 & 2 redering). If i set it to Single GPU or nVidia recommended, the PC runs fine.

    I have read up in places that it could be a cooling issue with the CPU when it runs over 100 c.


    Any suggestions on how to fix this issue?

    thanks,
    Gershalom
     
  2. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    158
    Messages:
    1,004
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Could be one of your graphics cards is crapping out under load. Check the temps of the cards with rivatuner
     
  3. Gershalom

    Gershalom Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    you think one card going out kills the whole system?

    Gershalom
     
  4. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    158
    Messages:
    1,004
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    66
    It's certainly possible, if it suddenly stopped rendering then it may well cause the system to shut off to protect itself.
     
  5. Stone825

    Stone825 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    404
    Messages:
    2,439
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Wait if your CPU is hitting 100C then something is wrong. In addition if ANY part of the system gets too hot it will shut down immediately. I would suggest calling AW and ask for Arctic Silver 5 for your CPU, GPU, and Northbridge because that will help reduce temperatures if you paste it correctly.
     
  6. dwend

    dwend Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    84
    Messages:
    313
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    He didn't say it was running 100C, he read somewhere it is bad if it reaches that.
    It might not be getting enough power for it to run the 2 GPU's might want to check the PSU.
     
  7. Gershalom

    Gershalom Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    ok so i got speedfan to check my running temps of both the gfx card and cpu.

    the idling temp is in the high 80s celsius. im thinking waay too high???

    i upped my cpu usage to 100% to just check and the temp hit like 97c without even using intensive 3D apps. whats going on? im going to air out my fan vents tonight.

    any other suggestions?
     
  8. Stone825

    Stone825 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    404
    Messages:
    2,439
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Holy **** those temps are super high. Try to clean out your air vents. However, if that doesn't work I would definitely recommend thermal paste like AS5 because it could be that there isn't enough contact there.
     
  9. Gershalom

    Gershalom Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    btw stone,

    has aw been good about getting your stuff done?
     
  10. Ferrari

    Ferrari Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    342
    Messages:
    336
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    31
    my alienware kept shutting off in the middle of gaming and getting the BSOD, then i took off my service cover and found that my vents and cooling fan was caked in dust. Cleaned it out and solved my problem. so check you vents.

    response to second post) Yes imo youre graphics can kill the whole system because mine severly artifacts and causes ctd,bsod, lockups you name it and everytime i have to hard boot my computer.
     
  11. Gershalom

    Gershalom Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    thanks bro. im getting some AS5 in case i need to reapply the stuff.

    opening the cover tomorrow, hope that its only the dust!
     
  12. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    15,707
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    456
    please visit the NBR Cooling Central to find out how to properly take care of your notebook ... and how to prevent overheating... which seems to be your issue if you never clean out your vents and fans regularly.