M1330 performance issues

to set the stage i've just had my XPS M1330 mainboard replaced by dell (for the second time) due to GPU failure. before the replacement I was receiving all the typical M1330 GPU failure symptoms including garbled images and vertical lines. However leading up to the failure i was also getting wonky performance during games and some video that began within the same time frame. What would occur can only be described as gradual slow downs; I would fire up a game and frame rates would be at their normal levels but would slow over time to a crawl, eventually to the point in which the game would be achieving less than one frame per second.

I thought that this was simply a part of the GPU failure.

Get this though, even AFTER the mainboard replacement the problem still persists (althought the artifacting has disappeared).

So even after BIOS updates, windows updates, driver updates, a windows reinstall and a mainboard exchange the problem still persists and i'm at my wits end as to figuring out what the cause of the slow frame rates are. any suggestions? here is a temperature chart via speedfan for about 15 minutes of gaming. Perhaps the temperatures are part of the issue? should i call dell and have them take the laptop back? any help is welcome.

 

The temperature IS the issue.
100 C is simply WAY too hot for any PC component. Read about the copper mod via the links in my sig, it's considered the most viable solution to the problem.

 

thanks Hep!, you turned out to be 100% exactly right. i removed the bottom cover of my laptop to improve airflow and also plopped the system on top of my notebook cooler and the problem immediately disappeared.

woo, i was always looking for an excuse to do the copper mod! now it looks like i have too!

 

Is it safe to remove the bottom cover? I've been thinking to do that, but I'm afraid there might be serious repercussions.

Like dust going in or something like that.

 

yeah you where lucky you didnt melt the fans there dear boy

 

as far as i can tell there are no real dangers of running the system without the bottom cover on. it seems to be exactly the same as running a desktop tower with the side panel unattached. just make sure you don't get any obstructive objects in the fan blades and what not and you'll be fine.

now i have to make the decision as whether to call dell and tell them my system is overheating or to do the copper mod myself. ohhh dear.

 

When I had my M1330 I was this close to making a custom bottom panel out of a sheet of aluminum, which would push directly against the heatpipe and function as a heatsink. I ended up selling my M1330 though, so I didn't have to deal with the faulty GPU garbage.

That said, for some laptops removing panels will improve cooling, some it will hinder cooling, some it will do nothing. Keep that in mind before haphazardly changing things. The only real risk posed on the M1330 by removing the cover is that the board, and more importantly, the memory is easily contacted. This makes running the laptop on anywhere but a hard surface a much larger risk.

 

Alright, I just removed the cover and played some games on full load, and its around 5C off my usual max temps for GPU!

Its too much trouble to remove and fix the cover back on everytime I have to bring the 1330 out, so I'd rather leave the cover on though.

 

yes that's probably the case for most users. in my instance though it has been enough to prevent gpu throttling and my notebook finally works properly! instead of doing the copper mod i decided to take advantage of what is just about my last month of warranty and simply send it in for repair. i'll report back my temp results after repair.

 

alright so i've got my laptop back from dell. you could totally guess what happened next. i fired up half life 2 while using GPU Z to keep track of temperatures and GPU clock speeds and the system STILL throttles. i spent 3 hours on tech support today to try and get a replacement or repair and so it looks like i'm going to have to go without a laptop for another week. what a nightmare. sheesh.

 

na, my GPU reaches 104 (while playing GTA IV, only 95 when doing HL2/CSS on high).... since august last year, nothing seems wrong yet (well, idle GPU temps is now 10 degrees lower than when i received.... no artifacts/hinting-problems as of yet)

 

does yours throttle at 104C? that seems to be the throttling temp for me.

 

104C is not a safe temperature for anything inside your computer.
If you're not throttling down, you're damaging the GPU even more.
If you're convinced that you won't have problems because you've yet to see them, you're going to be in a world of hurt.

 

the only soultion is keep frying ur mobo every 3 months until dell runs out of money to support xps units.

 

alright i've cancelled my next depot repair with dell and have decided to tough it out by myself. you guys have convinced me so i really don't think another round of thermal pads is gonna cut it. i won't be able to get my hands on the copper and such since i'm away from home for school for the next 3 weeks but when i get back i'll be performing the copper mod and reporting results.

on the bright side of this whole fiasco since i just got my computer back from repair they gave me a new mainboard and HSF so a huge part of my system is fresh. in particular this should mean that my gpu is free from any long term 100C+ thermal stress. with the copper mod and A15 BIOS i figure this new gpu should last a while. till then i just won't be firing up any games and will be running in power saver mode.

interestlingly, before my last repair i had the beefy A02 revision HSF. After repair they gave me the dinky A01 revision. hmph.

 

technically the rated max temp for CPU/GPU is in the 120-140s....

its been doing well so far for 8 months... i have 4 years of warranty, if i have any problem, it'll be a simple call to dell and mobo switch (probably 2-3 days downtime, i think i can survive that)...

 

as an aside to all this i really must say that i am not impressed with dell's technical support. even when i had my call escalated to one of their so called experts it was clear that even me and my tech friends were more knowledgeable back when we were 16 year olds.

 

just to give you guys an update. it'll still be another week or so before i'll be able to get my hands on copper for the m1330 copper mod. however in the meantime my system has had some interesting developments. when i originally got my laptop back from dell the GPU still throttled during gameplay from temperature. it seems however that the thermal pad in the m1330 HSF must have some sort of break in period because my temperatures under load after a week of use have dropped by about 10C. the gpu still runs hot in the 90C range but it's now cool enough to prevent throttling. just thought i'd share with you this interesting tidbit.

 

Wow! 90C for a 8400m gs. Try not to fry your mobo once again.

 

yeah for sure. still very hot but much better than 100C+ from before. it's now running cool enough that the chip can run at its full clock speed.

 

@smelly cat do you know the revision build of your new mobo?
Thanks

 

mobo revision A04
heatsink revision A01

 

OK thanks bro nothing new there I see by Dell
Maybe just the video chip

 

Is it possible to get a refund for a faulty product??? I have only used the laptop for just over a year now and will have to get the mobo replaced too. This is outragous!!! What happens if let's say in a year or two, the graphic card smokes up again....then I would have to bear the costs of replacement. Shame on Dell and especially shame on nVidia. This is the last time I bought from them! Isn't there a lawsuit going on???

 

indeed the GPU issues inside the m1330 are the fault of both Dell as well as Nvidia. Nvidia designed a chip that wasn't quite able to stand up to its rated thermal and MTBF specs while dell designed an insufficient cooling solution that ran the chip constantly within 5C of its thermal throttling point. combined these make up for a failure rate of about 100% of at least one major incident within the average consumers usage of the product (even if you define average as a relativley meager 2 or 3 years).

if dell says you need to get your mobo replaced they will do exactly that: replace your mobo; not give you a refund unfortunately.