Horrible M1330 experience

Hello people,

To date, I have had X4 Motherboard replacements, X2 Screen replacements and X2 batteries, and I'm fed up with Dell. My computer is running all latest drivers and software etc, but is running really hot. The palmrest gets really hot, even if the CPU is idle. I have to retract my hand from the computer base after a few seconds because it is so **** warm. I'm not sure what is causing the heat - it was never this warm before the latest motherboard replacement, which was due to a fried GPU.

Is it really worth getting a new motherboard and going through all that hassle, if it will just happen again? My graphics in Flight Simulator and all games have become terrible (i mean, terrible) - with few other processes running, since I bought it a year ago. This is a concern that I can no longer play games on this Nvidia Chip.

Do you guys think I am right in thinking that my GPU is just messed up and chucking out crazy amounts of heat? (It is 65 degrees celcius idle)

Shonak

EDIT: Do you think that I can salvage some compensation out of Dell for all my problems? I even had to spend £120 on extra warranty because I have had so many problems!

 

i think there is some issue with the usage pattern of your system. are you using the system on bed or couch or soft cloth topped table, if so the cloth must be blocking your vents and should cause temperatures to increase. use the taskmanager to see if there is excess CPU utilisation when system is idle.

have your heatsink been replaced or checked with. sometimes this would be a trouble with the heatsink (i had my motherboard replced last week for a overcooked GPU and specially asked dell guys to supply a replacement heatsink which they did).

use a monitoring toll like HWmonitor and monitor the temoeratures continuously for various levels of system use.

 

Hey,

No, I pretty much use the system on a table, with the 9 Cell battery for extra ventilation. You know, I think you might be right with the heatsink issue. Do you think that the heat is causing my games (and to an extent, my system overall), to run slowly?

As I type this, PC Wizard is telling me that CPU is at 15% use and the core temperatures are about 68 degrees, while my GPU is at 75 - and i only have a few items open.

 

when there is excess heat u can sense it when u play games. at first they run smoothly and then they start to stagger as the heat increases. you can fell this very much. it wont be like conventional graphics stuck.

i think this might be a trouble with the heatsink itself as 15% CPU utilisation alone cannot cause 68 deg Celcius heat (i hope u didnt mention in farenheit either)

 

Yes. frame rate starts of fine, then gets really bad beyond playable. This has been happening for a while.

Oh, and it is celcius alright. I have no idea what is going on.

 

Honestly it sounds like they didn't apply thermal paste good or if the Heatsink is not set in properly

 

Your cpu is very busy while you doing nothing. Have you tried cleaning out the dell's sh*teware? Also disable indexing and few services. Take note of what is using your CPU and start from there. There are couple of vista tweaks and sh*teware removal guides in this forum with very good advice.

Also you GPU is high on temps while doing nothing. Possibly will die again. I had my mobo replace over GPU. After replacement I used an aluminium piece from an old lattitude laptop (couldn't find a copper ). My idle temps are between 46-50C on normal use. I am not sure how good is Hwmonitor though. Different tools reports different temps. I have XP, Vista and Win2008 on the same laptop with Vista being coolest. You may also consider modding but this will void your waranty. I did it cause I be happy if it lasts another year.After that I will replace this one.

 

in my inspiron 1420 i found a copper pipe like thing running from the CPU to the heatsink outlet. is this some kind of liquid cooling system ???. i asked this beacuse my heatsink had to be replaced because it cooked the entire gpu. i was wondering whether the previous heatsink had some leak and the coolant vaporised away . am i wrong in my assumption ??

 

Thank you for your replies.

Question: How hot does your M1330 get on the latest BIOS? Is it really warm - warmer than previous versions? I thought the latest BIOS made the fans kick in more - In my case, the fans are always loud, but the system is still really warm!

 

Is the fan kicking out appreciable amount of air. is the air really hot or is it colder for a system that hot ??.

 

Latest Bios is version 12 . It will start your fan when your temps threshold reached. I think all Dell did was to reduce the threshold to start the fan earlier. However in your case your temps are always high causing the fan to stay on. Possibly your heatsinky blue thing is damaged (they might have used the same one while replacing).
Also recently I tried updating one of the latest drivers from Nvidia (179 I think, not dell official) which caused my fan to stay on all the time even on low temps. Rolled back to the old drivers. No peoblems since.

May be worth getting checked again with Dell before GPU goes again. Tell them your temps and get the heatsinks and fan checked or replaced.

 

I am doing no graphical intensive work, for the past 2 hours, and the GPU temp is 81 degrees celcius and fans have been 100% since 20:00 GMT!

The fans are making a lot of noise but there isnt much warm air output at the back. Its like it is making noise and not expelling the air. The intake fan at the bottom is cool but not doing a great deal either.

 

I had the very same problem and gradually the heatsink cooked the GPU. i highly recommend changing the heatsink. ensure proper contact between GPU and heatsink the next time

 

Thank you, Kuncheesh.

Could this be the reason for terrible system performance, and, equally as importantly for me, my gaming problems?

 

it would be the reason for terrible performance if the performance degrades with time. however this maynot be the reason for a sudden decrease in performance. u should understand that performance depends on a multitude of stuff.

i need u to check one more stuff. when u are on cold start (booting when laptop is cool). monitor the temperature just after the system bootup (especially the GPU temp). let us know of any anomalies (i had my temp shoot up from 30 to 72 deg in 40 sec during startup when i had this problem )

 

Ok, thanks.

When i boot up, the temperature just rockets straight up to the 60s. 70s and 80s. I dont know what is causing it - the vents are usually clear all the time, and I have even stopped using my 6 cell, and instead my 9 cell to improve circulation. God knows what my state would be in if i used the 6 cell right now.

 

There is definitely somethign wrong with the heatsink.
Open the base ( 4 screws on the panel with the COA ) and remove the heatsink.
Clean all the surfaces properly and apply thermal paste on the cpu core.
Also, check whether the fan cable is ok, the vents are not blocked and the fan is spinning.

 

Thanks akg, but I'm not sure if I am brave enough to open my laptop up like that and stick it back together again, and anyway, I wouldnt know where to start with the thermal paste. Surely if it was that warm inside, all the fans would be on? Maybe one of my internal fans are broken, because I certainly dont hear all of the fans functioning. Or perhaps there is dust or something obstructing air flow inside, but whatever it is, I am scalding myself just typing here.

 

pm me for my gtalk id. I will open up my lappy for you and send you the pics.

 

i think ur laptop is in the verge of failure. you should seriously consider changing the heatsink (experience is the best teacher)

 

Ok, I am going to ring Dell to see what can be done.

akg, thanks for the offer, but I just dont venture into laptops - desktops, yes, but these things are completely different.

 

i didnt want you to change the heatsink yourself. by experiennce is the best teacher i meant my case that i have experienced similar surge in temperature and i can predict that your machine may fail again. it had nothing to do with you taking a screw driver

 

I have a similar issue. Called dell, and they are sending someone to replace the heatsink day after tomorrow. If the new heatsink doesn't fix the problem, request a new motherboard + videocard. That's my plan at least.

 

Yeah, lol, sory kuncheesh i misread your message. You are right, i reckon, the heatsink is dying.

Do you reckon that i can get a processer replacement as well, for the heatsink may be causing permenant overheating problems with my CPU?

 

No problems

 

i dont think heatsink can cause permanent overheating issues with the processor. beacsue the processor will shut down when the threshhold temperature is exceeded. however in most cases its the GPU that cause problems. i dont think that nvidia has introduced an NMI (non maskable interrupt) like that in their GPU s yet. and as you can see the GPU chucks out more heat than the CPU. so theres no need to replce the CPU. Still if u are little bit paranoid you may be able to coax the dell guys into it. tell them all lies that your system is showing reduced performance and u suspect processor damage and stuff like that. The dell guys wont ask too many questions if u r somewhat technical in speech (fabricate and quote some benchmark scores ). they will send you the replacement processor. however it ultimately depends on the length of your tongue

 

I rung them up. I was on the phone for 2 hours at an expense of about £6 phone bill.

I spoke in a very technical tone. I ended up getting a full system check-up, the guy said he is sending new heatsink components and yet another motherboard. He will make sure that all the vents are clear etc. I also, after bargaining for about half an hour, managed to get a Senheiser £50 worth premium set of earphones as compensation for my horrific dealings with dell, which, as of today, got a whole lot worse.

I was transferred about 15 times between customer service and technical support, spending about half an hour of time on that. I was literally screaming at each agent/ receptionist to not put that **** hold music and transfer me, but, alas, they continued to do so. I could feel my blood pressure rising, i was infuriated.

Anyway, a system sort out next Wednesday. I did have a go at pushing for a CPU, but no, it didnt meet his 'criterea' for a legitamate shipment. He was already moaning that his boss will rip his head off for shipping so much!

Thanks guys,

Shonak

 

he he congrats dude on a new motherboard. as i said earlier there is no point in getting a new processor. however you should make sure that the service guy ensures the following

1.) the heatsink provided has thermal composite on all major contact points.

2.) in between the gpu and the heatsink there is a small copper foil. (i donno if it is present in every model, however mine had one and the tech guy told me its standard) this doesnt come on your new heatsink. so what he has to do is that he should rip it off the old GPU and paste it on new gpu. however the guy may not put additional artic silver compound and may try to paste it with the old AS5 on its back (this happened to me and i had to force him to put new AS5). make sure that he takes this copper foil, scratches off the old AS5 and put new AS5.

3.) monitor system temperatures with some utility such as everest or hwinfo32 or hwmonitor continuously for atleast one week. i recommend HWmonitor as its free and shows current and peak temperature. put it in background and do multitude of tasks and monitor temperatures. do a preliminary analysis just after the installation of heatsink (i recommend playing an HD movie). do some rendering if u wanna take ur processor to the absolute max

 

That's strange. I read through this thread because I have the same symptoms on my computer.
1. I couldn't even play Counter Strike Source with everything on the very lowest setting otherwise my frame rate would drop to literally less than 5 fps.
2. My laptop got so hot I couldnt touch it, despite using a 9 cell battery which elevates it higher.

I rang up Dell directly to the XPS laptop toll free number, and spent about 3 or 4 minutes explaining the above.

The Dell rep organised me a new series motherboard, new heatsink and of course, new thermal paste to be applied.

Duration of call less than 10 minutes. Tech is coming in 2 days.

I'm not sure why you had such a hard time, but this is the second time Dell has had to service my laptop and both times has been a simple and orderly procedure. I have a premium warranty for my laptop, Im not sure whether or not this has anything to do with it. Also, I bought it under Small Business.

 

Most of the hard time was getting the compensation. Yes, the replacement took less than 5 minutes.