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    Time to send my M1530 back?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Stooj, Jan 15, 2009.

  1. Stooj

    Stooj Notebook Deity

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    I've been reading about heat issues with the M1530s and it has only just occurred to me that my own seems to heat up quite a bit.

    Recently I've noticed in more intense games the FPS will drop significantly (from say 80FPS down to 20-25FPS) for a few seconds, then it'll shoot back up to normal for a few minutes. I imagine this is the GPU hitting it's temp threshold, lowering it's clock, then going back to flat out.

    I used CPUID (Hardware Monitor) to get temps and used ORTHOS to stress the CPU as well as a couple of rounds of COD:WAW and COD4 to get the GPU stressed. I'm running XTreme G Mobile 177.92 drivers btw. I've tried several other 170 series drivers, a couple of beta 180 series drivers as well as the stock ones offered by Dell and there's no change at all.

    Max CPU: 98 Degrees
    Max GPU: 91 Degrees

    Compared to most things I'm seeing....my laptop seems to be cookin! :eek:
    I could almost boil water with my CPU....
    Mind you, it's quite hot in Australia at the moment buti t's on my desk and the vents are as clear as the can be (got the 9-cell battery so it sits up a bit).

    I'm handy with electronics (I like to think I'm quite experienced :p) and have no problem with pulling my laptop apart, but is it worth it? Or should I just send it back to Dell for them to fix? It's bearable, but I'm annoyed that I'm not getting what I payed for...

    Here's the rest of the important laptop specs:
    Core2 Duo T770 @ 2.4GHz
    4GB DDR2
    GeForce 8600M GT 256MB GDDR3 (From GPU-Z, reads 512MB in everything else except the BIOS :confused: )
    Samsung 320GB HDD
    Windows XP SP3 32bit
    1440x900 LG Panel
    9-Cell Battery
    Bought in Feb 2008
    Here's my warranty situation if it helps (Name|Start Date|End Date|Days Left):
    COMPLETECOVER COVERAGE PROGRAMME|2/14/2008|2/14/2010|395
    NBD (Next Business Day on-site)|2/14/2008|2/14/2009|30
    NBD (Next Business Day on-site)|2/14/2009|2/14/2010|365
    PCSWS2|2/14/2008|2/14/2009|30
    POW (Parts only Warranty)|2/14/2008|2/14/2009|30
    POW (Parts only Warranty)|2/14/2009|2/14/2010|365
    XPS 24x7 Phone Technical Support|2/14/2008|2/14/2010|395
     
    Stooj, Jan 15, 2009
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    90+ on the CPU is cooking alright... I can't imagine what you've got on the GPU XD. If you've had the laptop for a while, try dusting out the vents. It's quite possible that you've got a lot of dust holed up in there, especially if you have the fan running often. Failing that you might want to look into replacing the CPU or GPU thermal paste.
     
    Commander Wolf, Jan 15, 2009
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  3. Stooj

    Stooj Notebook Deity

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    Looks like I might have to give Dell a call, the vents seem pretty clean to me.
     
    Stooj, Jan 15, 2009
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