XPS 15 (L502x) Heat/Fan Issues

I just came from the Studio XPS 1645, which had its own slew of problems (overheating, throttling, etc.), and so Dell decided to replace it. Now with my XPS 15 L502x, I'm encountering similar issues. My Nvidia 525m GPU is, normally, relatively cool. For example, right now it's at 55 C, and it often cools down even more when nothings running (I have a game running now), and the integrated card is turned on. However, as soon as I start any game or graphically-intensive program, the temp jumps up to around 90 C and keeps climbing, often reaching 100. As it climbs higher, the game performance drops dramatically (e.g. from 31 FPS down to 14 FPS)

Now, I'm in a relatively cool room (around 72 F), and I'm not overclocking anything. I've been experiencing the fan stutter on/off issue, but only when running intensive games with the Nvidia card on, and it almost seems that the cyclic fan setting is the default for maximum fan speed. I've tried to control it through Speedfan (which I eventually uninstalled because it seemed to make the issue more frequent), but whenever I check the "Enable Dell Support" option, close the program, and re-open it, it is suddenly un-ticked. I've tried restarting several times to no effect.

Now, I don't know whether it's just the games I run (currently The Witcher 2 and GTA EFLC), that my temperature gauge is simply wrong, that I need to apply thermal paste or something, that my computer's simply defective, or that Dell can't seem to make a computer without heat issues (SXPS 1640 and 1645, than L502x, which dell has successively replaced for me for this problem -- the L502x I have currently is new, not a refurb).

utmmyak

 

I have upgraded to the latest version of the Nvidia Drivers (I've tried the stable ones, as well as the Beta) and the A05 BIOS.

 

I had fan cycling issues when running background monitoring programs. Try checking on background processes in Task Manager. Turn off the right one and it should stop.

 

I've tried looking around my computer for any extra fan/gpu monitoring programs, and I've found none. The problem never appears for me unless if the fan is increased to what seems to be its maximum setting. However, I kinda doubt that it is solely a fan issue, as the computer really shouldn't be reaching 100 C unless it's covered in blankets or something. I actually just had it shut down on me when it reached 104 C or something.

 

Sorry I didn't read your first post clearly enough. This definitely sounds like a poor paste job done at the factory. If you have the tech skills, use the Service Manual and repaste the GPU and CPU with a higher quality paste. I'm using MX-4 in my machines. I've gamed for hours on my machine and never exceeded 65C on the 540M.

 

Thanks. I have a tech coming to upgrade the processor next week, so I'll ask him to be sure to re-apply thermal paste.

 

Make sure he uses a proper amount of paste. Tech's often seem to get the idea that you can never have too much so they just pretend they're icing a cake.

 

Yeah. I will be watching him very closely. I was wondering, could I possibly just have a bad card? Or, could it have something to do with the CPU heating up and the GPU temperature changing likewise? Dell's upgrading my 2630QM to a 2820QM, so that may fix it as well.

 

If u recent get the dell, u have to download the latest drivers of nvida? or them comes already? thanks

 

More likely than not its probably just a bad paste job. When I repasted my 525m, the original stuff had air holes all over it. Moreover it didn't even cover the whole chip! After repasting temps went down and I managed to OC to 780/1000 with max 83 degrees Celsius.

Again, don't sweat it. Just make sure the tech doesn't slob the paste all over the GPU
If temps don't go down even with that, though, you may want to consider a replacement/refund.

 

2 questions to anyone who cares to answer.

1. Would not upgrading from a 2630 to a 2820 only make for MORE heat generated by the CPU?

2. How much on average does a 'proper paste job' lower the temerature pf a CPU? Of a GPU? I sure thought I read that it was only a couple of degrees for each.

 

@canofspam4000: It's good your xps 15? it runs heavy games? thanks.

 

I've tested with Furmark and the max I got with the overclock was about 83-85 degrees. I've been running Dragon Age: Origins and Mafia II, and their temps are also in the high 70s/low 80s. A bit high, but after all I am overclocking.

As for performance, I'm capable of running both games at high settings. If you want numbers, I've done a 3DMark11 benchmark with the 780/1000 oveclock - you can see the results here.

 

I feel much better now. Thanks.

@canofspam: I certainly hope that upgrading my processor won't exacerbate anything, and there are a bunch of people with the 2820QMs who have very cool-running machines.

 

Try this OP:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/590543-xps-l502x-turbo-boost-2-0-a.html

 

@Alvord12: Yeah, I tried setting max processor state to 99%, and all that seemed to do was cool off the processor a little, and sacrifice a little performance. I also tried using ThrottleStop (as suggested in the thread) to turn off Turbo Boost, but that seemed to limit FPS even more. Nothing really happened to the GPU temperatures, they still reached above 100 C.

I suppose that if the tech reapplying paste doesn't help anything, then I'll try doing it myself. If that doesn't work, I'll probably complain to Dell and ask for a replacement Motherboard, GPU and system if it comes to that.

Again, thanks everyone for your help. Somehow I sort-of entirely forgot about reapplying thermal paste.

 

Try GPU undervolting?

 

This forum its been so helpful to me, I'm learning A LOT about pc/notebook and stuff... I'm newbie (yea yea I know that u realized before) but, how work the quad cores procesor? I mean, I heard that are 4 core but u can get 8 (virtually).. the point is that how can I get the "8"cores? the procesor get them when its need it or I've to activate them? ty so much again!

 

@ZACK02: Newer processors from Intel (from the Core i-series) incorporate Hyperthreading, which means that each core operates with two threads. In practice, this simply means that each core is divided into two, so, unless if you disabled hyper-threading, and you have a quad-core processor, you should already have 8 threads working. These are sometimes called virtual cores, and they are only of benefit for highly multi-threaded applications and games.

For example, if you go into your task manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC), and go to your performance tab, you should see 8 boxes (assuming you have a quad-core CPU) under "CPU Usage History" if your processor is properly Hyperthreaded. This shows each thread of the processor (virtual or otherwise).

 

TY utmmyak! Actually, I have a HP since 2007 (Dual-core processor), I'm lookin for a new laptop (m11x or XPS 15)... I ask it because m11x doesnt have quad-core porcessor, and I'm looking for the best computer for me (between XPS 15 and m11x), it wil be to the university and gaming... so the quad core will be an awesome 'pro' of XPS 15.. ty again bro!!

 

not sure its even possible on Dell's bios, but say you had a game that used two cores max, is there any performance gain from disabling hyperthreading? Will the second thread always default to the other core before it hyperthreads?

 

@kizh: I believe that Turbo Boost puts every core, and thread, in an ultra-low power state when it's not being used, allowing the threads which are being used to have more power (because of less heat generated by the dormant cores). A game optimized for two threads, would, from what I understand, get the full power of each core, and then some. Intel's technology appears to be smart enough to adapt to those conditions, but before Turbo Boost that was a real problem for power-consumption as well as performance (though HyperThreading was only re-introduced when Turbo Boost 1.0 came out).

Yeah, I think Dell removed the disable HyperThreading option from the BIOS a long time ago. I remember having it on a Pentium 4 though.

 

good news, and sounds plausible, thanks utmmyak

 

Hi all,

I`m thinking of buying an i5 l502x, but I`m a little concerned about the fan noise. I won`t be doing a lot of hardcore gaming, just occasionally NFS or something like that... Main use would be just surfing, typing, watching videos, music playback, photo editing...
I`ve read a lot about the heat/noise issues, but most of the complaints are when gaming.
-How about the fan when just doing light tasks? I could read in most of the expert reviews about idle noise levels btw. 31-35 dB. Is that loud?
-Can I work with it in a library, for example?
-What if watching Youtube HD videos? Does the fan rev up because of heavy flash contents or playing back music or avi files in WMP?
-Could someone write about the fan speeds/levels and temperatures?
I really like if the notebook is quiet. I had an old crappy dualcore Asus, which was extremely noisy. Now I`m hesitating btw. Dell XPS 15 or Samsung RF511.
Any advice appreciated... thx.

 

I have an i3-2310m. At light load the fans are generally running at a audible low hiss, but it is not too bad. I watched several 1080p youtube vids, but do not recall having the fans going noisy.

However, when under heavy load, the fan runs with a quite unpleasant buzzing noise.