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    Dell SXPS 16 heat problem

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by f0cu5, Mar 9, 2011.

  1. f0cu5

    f0cu5 Notebook Geek

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    So, after watching videos on youtube for about 30 mins, my laptop temp. goes all the way up to 70-75 degrees and the fan noise is really loud.
    I don't remember temps going up this high before.

    Have you guys experienced the same thing?

    And if I try and unscrew the heat sink and clean it up (since I haven't done it in about a year, although I regularly clean the fan), will that make any significant diff. to the temperature?

    Otherwise, should I call Dell about this?

    Any ways to fix this are greatly appreciated.

    BTW, here are my specs:
    OS: Ubuntu 10.10
    720QM ATI 5730 w/ 9-cell
    No thermal paste(kinda scared to apply it) but dust filters removed.

    Thanks for the help!
     
    f0cu5, Mar 9, 2011
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  2. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    What is your ambient room temperature? Depending on that, 70C may not be terrible. What is it under full load gaming? You should clean out the laptop. If it doesn't shutdown or do anything funky, I wouldn't RMA it to Dell.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Mar 9, 2011
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  3. RacingGun

    RacingGun Notebook Consultant

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    Wait... no thermal paste?!?!?!?!?!?!

    Sorry for all of the exclamation marks and question marks, but just to be sure, are you saying that you have removed the heatsink, cleaned off the thermal paste that was there, then just replaced the heatsink without reapplying some form of thermal interface material? Heat transfer between two rigid flat surfaces is actually rather terrible without an interface material to fill in the microscopic gaps. If this is the case, then I definitely recommend getting some kind of thermal paste ASAP and applying that. Even a ty job of that will be better than nothing.
     
    RacingGun, Mar 9, 2011
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  4. f0cu5

    f0cu5 Notebook Geek

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    No, I haven't cleaned taken out the heat sink yet, but I am just wondering whether cleaning the heat sink would fix the problem or not.

    Also, just to clarify, I have never applied the thermal paste.
     
    f0cu5, Mar 9, 2011
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  5. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    Try blasting your fans with compressed air that may help a tad.

    Do you have any warranty on your lappy?
     
    Cin', Mar 10, 2011
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  6. f0cu5

    f0cu5 Notebook Geek

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    Yes, I do have warranty
     
    f0cu5, Mar 10, 2011
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  7. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    Well if all your fix approaches don't work, you do have that. :)
    Do you have Complete Care w/Onsite by chance?
     
    Cin', Mar 10, 2011
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  8. f0cu5

    f0cu5 Notebook Geek

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    Yes, I do have Complete care. However, I don't think I'll need to use it.
    I tried blasting the vent with compressed air and it made a hell of a difference.... Now when watching 1080p videos on youtube, the temperature idles around 60 degrees. I am still planning to open up the laptop in the weekend and clean it thoroughly though..
    Thanks for the help!
     
    f0cu5, Mar 10, 2011
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  9. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    Well good to hear. If your laptop is powered on for long periods of time, I would recommend every 2-4 weeks you just open it up (very easy on Studios) and just blow out the fan, heatsinks and heatfins. Make sure you hold down the fan stationary as letting it spin free will ruin the bearings and can fry your motherboard.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Mar 10, 2011
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  10. RacingGun

    RacingGun Notebook Consultant

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    Hahaha, good good. I was kind of freaking out for a second there thinking there was no paste between the CPU and the heatsink :)

    I have found that blasting out the fan and the dust filter makes a huge difference in temperatures.
     
    RacingGun, Mar 10, 2011
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  11. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    Very glad that blasting the vent out helped a bit. I thought it might! ;) :cool: Cleaning it more this weekend will also be helpful! :)
     
    Cin', Mar 11, 2011
    #11