XPS M1330 normal and max temps? (CPU / GPU)

I've been fighting this M1330 for a while, and had the motherboard replaced once already to "fix" the GPU issue.

But I'm still worried about temps. Sitting flat on a coffee table (not blocking the vents or anything) and playing Fear 2 demo the laptop just shut down (presumably due to high temperatures) after only 5-10 minutes.

I used HWMonitor to check my temps and it reported a max of:
94C and 98C (core 0 and 1) for CPU, and 96C for GPU.

This is AFTER doing the copper mod and using artic silver 5 (and it has settled in for more than a month now). And yes it is making good contact.

Maybe its just me but these seem very high. Just surfing the net and idling the CPU is at 50C and the GPU at 67C. Again, these seem high.

Is it just me? I think I should be able to play a video game without the laptop shutting down. Could it be something with the heatsink? (Yes its plugged in and the fan is working, although it doesn't kick into high very often). Would dell fix this? (My warranty is expiring soon).

I have a T8300 and I believe I'm running BIOS A012.

Please help. Thanks!

 

short answer: too high...

 

Thanks, I thought so.

any suggestions to help? I just cleaned out the heatsink/fan/vent with air, there was some dust in there but not a ton.

Re-testing with Orthos now, but CPU is still getting up to about 88-90C.

 

Are you sure when you put in your bit of copper that you peeled off the plastic form both sides of it? I know this is a really dumb question, but I ask because I didn't realise and installed my copper mod with plastic there! Once I realised a few hours later (temps were bad!) and redid the copper mod, things were a lot better.

Is your fan working OK? It doesn't sound sick or anything? The temps you posted, for both the CPU and GPU are very high, so you need to try and find what's causing it.

If I run a Orthos test, small FFT's and nothing else, I can get my CPU temp up to about 90-92. This is quite normal, what you'll notice is if you then also run a graphics test/demo at the same time, the CPU will downclock a little. Thus keeping the CPU temps actually cooler when you're running both a GPU and CPU test.

If I was you I'd open it back up, double check everything and prehaps even redo the copper mod. Check how well your Artic Silver spread itself out last time, check for any problems with the install and redo it. Also check when your fan is spinning up nice and high and you can feel a good airflow from the back of the laptop when it is. If you're having problems with the fan not getting up to high speed, does using i8kgui help at all?

Good luck!

 

Yes I'm sure about the copper.

Yes the fan does work and is expelling air, although it doesn't seem to kick into high until either the gpu or cpu hits about 80C, then stays on until it comes back down to about 65C.

I did remove the heatsink assembly again last night and everything had good contact and the AS5 spread evenly. I did blow some dust out of the fan.

I am also running RMClock now to try to undervolt, and it has seemed to help, but I don't think I should have to do this to keep temps low.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

I would upgrade to A15 BIOS.

 

60 for CPU when surfing net ??? there must be something wrong.

 

I think I said 50C for the CPU while surfing, but it just still seems pretty high.

I want it fixed but I really don't know what else could be the cause.