XPS M1530 Temperature Comparison Survey

So, is speedstep always enabled? Why would dell let your computer only run at half speed?!!!

 

here we go, only just decided to go back on my pc now. so i disabled Speedstep and it works well thanks for the suggestion, it means i'll be able to run my PC for normal browsing etc minus games even when the fan isn't working. anyways here are my current idle temps

- CPU Min/Max Idle : 49ºC/65ºC
- GPU Min/Max Idle : 58ºC/69ºC
- HDD Min/Max Idle : 29ºC/39ºC

 

It is far too high even for low speed. Get that thing repaired. Speedstep is the intel setting for power optimization. With it disabled, your cpu will run at it's minimum rated speed, and never higher.

 

Speedstep is a needed setting for intel mobile chips. Had it on my Pentium M as well.

 

yeah i realised, i have to wait until Monday for the dell technician to come here though, as they obviously don't come out on weekends.

 

1. TEMPERATURES
- CPU Min/Max Idle – 34/50
- GPU Min/Max Idle – 60/69
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 39

- CPU Min/Max Load - 75
- GPU Min/Max Load - 88
- HDD Min/Max Load - 40
I did the tests again after overclocking to a stable 575/1150/843 in rivatuner. Geforce 8600GT
- CPU Min/Max Load - 76
- GPU Min/Max Load - 90
- HDD Min/Max Load – 41

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - 176.44

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T7800 2.6GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 5600RPM
- GPU Clock - Stock
- CPU Undervolt 13X @ 1.175v
- 9v or 6v battery - 6v

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - No
- Thermal Paste – AS5
- Airflow and Surface - On a book
- Ambient Room Temperature – 25C

 

1. TEMPERATURES

- CPU Min/Max Idle - 43/58
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 56/66
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 40
- ACPI Min/Max Idle -45/58


- CPU Min/Max Load - 66/69
- GPU Min/Max Load - 70/72
- HDD Min/Max Load - 41
- ACPI Min/Max Load- 63/75

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista- High Performance
- Bios Revision A12
- nVidia driver 176.44

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T9500 2.6GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 7200.3 RPM
- Battery - 9v

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - No
- Thermal Paste - from friend
- Heatsink with metal alloy surfaces
- Surface - wood desk
- Ambient Room Temperature - 22



and after 8 minutes and 39 seconds :

 

woooooo yay at all the surveys

 

Alright, so final update as the (same) technician came just then today.

First of all he re-plugged in the fingerprint reader as he didn't do it properly last time, which was the "sensor" problem as in my last update. He then replaced the heatsink/fan. While doing this, he removed the previous heat pad, and placed a new one on . So now i'm going to purchase some Arctic Silver 5 to apply on it (is this one ok?: http://www.mwave.com.au/newAU/mwaveAU/productdetail.asp?CartID=mAU@8QZVK79N7BKI6FWWGLUERDT6O6E9MBQFNQOV8INOUC7STG&sku=18080020). After he screwed everything back in, we started it up, and got a blue screen after the bios, so we did a reboot and everything was back to normal. Currently my temps are as such:

- CPU Min/Max Idle - 52/58
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 60/63
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 36/41

I am yet to do a Load test, which i will do shortly. Next i'm going to Undervolt, then when the paste (if someone confirms that the link is ok) arrives, obviously apply that, and then my temperature woes should be over .

 

That's the stuff you want; you won't need 12g of it for your system but its a nice thing to have spare

 

sweet thanks i'll buy it now

also heres my load tests, which i only now just did

CPU - 70/75
GPU - 70/75
HDD - 30/32
ACPI - 63/84

i had to include ACPI, because i can't remember if its normal for it to be 84?

 

any more surveys people?

bump.?

 

system is new less then two weeks old have done clean reinstall of vista 64

Temps no unervolting

CPU Min – 36/36
GPU Min - 55
HDD Min - 38

CPU max – 63/63
GPU max - 66
HDD max - 38

temps undervolted from 1.135 to 0.9875

CPU max – 53/54
GPU max - 64
HDD max - 38

SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - 7.15.11.7928
- battery - 9v

 

Had my M1530 a few weeks too, so heres some of my temps!

1. TEMPERATURES STOCK
- CPU1 Min/Max Idle - 38/44
- CPU2 Min/Max Idle - 30/40
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 55/58
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 31/32
- APCI Min/Max Idle - 42/50

- CPU Min/Max Load - 53/60
- GPU Min/Max Load - 64/69
- HDD Min/Max Load - 32/33
- APCI Min/Max Load - 60/70

Undervolted to 1.0500v

- CPU Min/Max Load - 48/56
- GPU Min/Max Load - 63/66
- HDD Min/Max Load - 31/32
- APCI Min/Max Load - 57/65

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Windows 7 - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - 179.28

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T8300 2.4GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 7200RPM
- GPU Clock - Stock
- 9v or 6v battery - 9v

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - No
- Thermal Paste - Stock
- Airflow and Surface - On Desk (raised with Batt)
- Ambient Room Temperature - approx 17c

 

Ok, looks like I really need to get Dell to come replace my motherboard. I've started running into downclocking problems while running CS:S at stock clocks, as it is overheating. Looks like my temps run into the mid 90's C while playing that game, and even a big underclock with Rivatuner hardly drops that at all, I've cleaned my vents and I have it on a notebook cooler but nothing seems to cool this thing down. Amazing to see that some people have max load temperatures of around 70 C on their machines, does a tech installing a new mobo/gpu in my computer pose any risk to my data/OS/physical unit, or is it a case of turning it on and having everything work as it is now?

 

There is no risk to your data at all, you will just need to flash your bios

 

bump. Any more temps out there for all you M1530 owners?

 

Hmmm, my cpu is frying

Load temps: ( stock frequencies on all hardware! )

ACPI: 92C
CPU: 90C
GPU: 87C
HDD: 45C

Software:
- vista 64x home premium ( high performance setting)
- BIOS A09
- nvidia driver 185.20

system info:
- core2duo T9500 2.6 GHz
- HDD 7200RPM
- GPU clock: stock
- 9 cell battery

Physical adjustments:
- cooler? : no
- thermal paste: AS5 on GPU, stock on CPU
- Aiflow and surface: wooden table
- ambient room temp: 20C

... ran both stress tests for 30 minutes, i have alreday gotten my mobo replaced twice, this is the third one... and they decided to change my heatsink next week, WHEN WILL THIS END???

 

Oh dell are absolute jerks. You seem like such a tight whenever you ring up, but they shouldn't be stressing the temps like that!

 

Here are mine temperatures of XPS after 8:19 min.:

All on stock, High performance power plan, AS5 on CPU and GPU, 9 cell battery, T8300 UV to 0.9625 on max multiplier (not IDA), room temp~ 20-22C, no cooling pads, on wooden surface:


Do you think they are fine??

 

I also want ask you if I need to do a copper mod and is it worth?

 

Those cpu temps are a little high, but considering you ran orthos for 8 hours -those temps are more than acceptable.

"copper mod" - When you applied AS5, was there a thermal pad on your gpu?
With 1330's there is a blue pad on the 8400m thats a couple of mm thick which is why a copper sheet is applied, but there isn't one on the 1530 as a thermal pad wouldn't be capable of cooling the 8600m.

If you are talking about the pad over the northbridge, well yes you could apply a copper mod, but honestly its not really worth it. The northbridge is sufficiently cooled and in comparison to the heat put-out of the 8600 and the t8300, its negligible.

 

thanks a lot! There wasn't thermal blue pad on my GPU- only on the northbridge.

 

Here are the temperatures for my M1530 which is just over a year old.

1. TEMPERATURES
- CPU Min/Max Idle - 45/48
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 59/60
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 42/42

- CPU Min/Max Load - 79/98
- GPU Min/Max Load - 80/96
- HDD Min/Max Load - 41/42

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - 176.44

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T7250 2.0GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 5400RPM
- GPU Clock - Stock
- CPU Clock - Stock
- 9v or 6v battery - 6v

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - No
- Thermal Paste - No, thermal pads
- Airflow and Surface - On a desk, raised at back using a book
- Ambient Room Temperature - 19C

I've been having some trouble with system shutdowns while gaming, so I decided to see if it was a temperature problem. As you can see, the temperatures are higher than recommended.

I used the SpeedFan logging facility to record my cpu and gpu temps while I was playing Dawn of War 2. The gpu reached 108C before my laptop shut off.

I plan to contact Dell Support, should I ask for them to replace anything particular or just tell them about the overheating? Would it be worth buying some AS5 and asking the technician to apply it?

I'm uncomfortable with doing this myself as I do not wish to void my warranty. My next step is undervolting the cpu, although I can't see that helping the gpu temperature.

Thank you.

 

Firstly I'd check for dust in the fan grill, clearing it can easily drop temps by over 10/15 degrees.

With temps like that I'd give Dell a ring soonish as its obviously overheating.
Cpu temps that high are indicative of a problem you should get sorted before your any more damage occurs.

 

I've cleaned the fan and undervolted to 1.075V. These results are a bit more promising.

- CPU Min/Max Load - 72/86
- GPU Min/Max Load - 79/88
- HDD Min/Max Load - 41/41

I can't clean the fan grill until I get ahold of some compressed air, until then I'll just be avoiding gaming!

Thanks for your help, I'll give Dell a call too.

 

Wow, you system definitely gets hot.

 

The Dell engineer replaced my motherboard and heatsink. I can now feel more air flowing from the rear vent, the new motherboard is refurbished.

Conditions are the same as in my first test except the room is slightly warmer.

I have repeated the longer 8 minute test using the latest mobile card driver from nvidia as well as the dell approved version.

Tests using nvidia driver version 176.44

Stock Test

- CPU Min/Max Idle - 38/48
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 52/59
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 40/40

- CPU Min/Max Load 3 mins - 63/71
- GPU Min/Max Load 3 mins - 68/75
- HDD Min/Max Load 3 mins - 40/41

- CPU Min/Max Load 8 mins - 68/74
- GPU Min/Max Load 8 mins - 72/77
- HDD Min/Max Load 8 mins - 42/42

Undervolted to 1.075V

- CPU Min/Max Load 8 mins - 65/70
- GPU Min/Max Load 8 mins - 72/76
- HDD Min/Max Load 8 mins - 43/43

Tests using nvidia driver version 185.85

Undervolted to 1.075V

- CPU Min/Max Load 8 mins - 65/70
- GPU Min/Max Load 8 mins - 71/75
- HDD Min/Max Load 8 mins - 43/44

As you can see, the max temp of the CPU has dropped by 27C and the GPU 19C with the new motherboard and heatsink.

Undervolting the CPU dropped it's max temp by a further 3C. The new nvidia driver reduced the temperature by 1C which is negligible.

I have ordered a Akasa Libra cooler to help out with cooling. Once it has arrived and I've tested it I'll post a review.

Thanks for your help!

 

My temps have gone to this with the test...

- CPU Min/Max Load 5 mins - 65/87
- GPU Min/Max Load 5 mins - 71/87
- HDD Min/Max Load 5 mins - 40/40

Dell has gotten to the point of telling me to get a cooler. But I prop my laptop up on a stack of coins for each of its rubber feet so it has AMPLE airflow.

Does anyone have any suggestion on what i should do? Should i just wait it out until something breaks completely so they dont think im trying to scam them? I have gone through this SO MANY FREAKING TIMES. I just want to throw the thing out (except i wont cos i spent my money on it)

 

Is your laptop still under warranty? If so you could tell them that the laptop is overheating and shutting down, because it could easily be, then they have a definite problem that they have to fix. You'll likely get the motherboard and/or heatsink replaced.

If you want to try to fix it yourself, have you tried cleaning your laptop's fan vents? If they aren't clear then your laptop will heat up regardless of the air flow under it. To get to the heatsink/fan use the Dell service manual.

To clean the vents I suggest removing the thermal-cooling assembly and using compressed air to blow out dust from both sides of the grill. You can also remove any dust from the fan with the compressed air, holding it still with something so it doesn't rotate.

If that doesn't fix the problem it could be the thermal pads used to attach the cpu and gpu to the heatsink. They can be replaced with superior thermal paste as shown in this tutorial. If you manage to get an engineer to come and fix it then they'll likely do this anyway.

However if you're under warranty, getting them to replace something is the best option.

 

Agreed, tell them it's shutting down whilst using intensive applications.
With cpu temps that high, something needs to be done.

 

Just a quick question as I don't want to create a new thread for that: Is your M1530 also quite hot below the touchpad (or below the audio jacks)? I think it's the hottest spot and I wonder why because, as far as I know, the CPU and GPU are somewhere else...

 

Looking at the KB the HDD is on the left of the touchpad. It tends to heat up that area.

 

Man...my temps are high compared to most here. After some semi-intensive gaming (WoW) my GPU usually gets into the high 80's/low 90's. I've used compressed air several times, but I don't have a small screwdriver to get a closer look.

I think the thing that concerns me more is that my temps are still in the high 60s when I'm just browsing the internet. My fan pretty much runs non-stop...

 

They shouldn't really be idling that hot. During normal use my fan rarely comes on.

You might want to invest in that small screwdriver you mentioned!

 

Dell are coming to replace my motherboard tommorow. At present, I have Firefox, Outlook, a few Word documents and Trillian running and my temps are:

Core 0: 52
Core 1: 53
GPU: 62
HD0: 43
Temp1: 66

Under full load, my CPU hits 90 and my GPU goes well over 85 and clocks down. Bloody ridiculous. My fan runs constantly. Not happy with this at all. If this doesn't get fixed by the motherboard change, I'm asking for a full refund.

 

I know that, but mine heats up right in the middle. The touchpad isn't hot but the area below it (or more like below the jacks) is. What's there? Is it normal?

 

Mine gets hot there too, all that's below the the touchpad is the area for communication cards, which don't get hot even if you do have them.

I think it's just where the heat from the HDD ends up. Even if it's not directly underneath. It's nothing to worry about.

 

Well, I am worried because it's not the best spot to be that hot, I don't want my laptop to fry my genitalia

I opened that small cover over the communication cards and I can see that the WIFI card is in the slot which is closest to the HDD (see photo). Are all those slots the same? If yes then I'll probably move it to the one on the left. Anyway, I'll be calling Dell tomorrow regarding the grainy LG screen (oh yeah) so I'll mention this too. BTW those three cables shouldn't be connected?

I think I'll open the cover once again just after shutting the laptop down to see if the WIFI card is very hot.

 

I'm pretty sure that the ports are different, hence why they are labelled.

You should check to see if it gets hot in there, and mentioning it won't cause any harm.

If you want to try moving/removing it there's a section in the service manual.

 

OK, so I checked it yesterday and I know that the WIFI card is very hot. I don't know if it's hot because it heats up itself or the hard drive blows with hot air on it.

I called Dell today and told them about it, but I felt kind of restrained and didn't tell him that I had removed the cover because I don't know if it voids the warranty. The guy told me that it's impossible that it's WIFI because it doesn't get that hot and told me to do some diagnostics with one of the Dell CDs which happened to be a simple and very short fan test. Obviously the fan works fine... He'll be calling me tomorrow to tell me the part number of the screen he'll be ordering for me and to ask what was the result of the fan test. Should I tell him that I removed the cover following the instructions in the docs and that the WIFI card is very hot?

If there's a risk of voiding the warranty then I won't tell anything now as I'll be probably extending the warranty so if the WIFI burns itself, they'll have to replace it...

 

I'm not sure as to whether it will void your warranty or not, the terms and conditions for the limited warranty are here

All I can pick out is -

This limited hardware warranty does not cover:
.... Problems that result from:
Servicing not authorized by Dell

I think you're ok as long as you don't damage anything, or it looks like you've damaged anything. The last technician I had visit said that he thought Dell usually ask you to take a look inside yourself, I said they hadn't and he seemed surprised.

 

1. TEMPERATURES
- CPU Min/Max Idle - 44/54
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 57/63
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 36

i dident really do the short test as orthos was not responding so i waited and when it eventally stabilised and i checked the temps 4 mins had passed.

- CPU Min/Max Load Longer Test- 64/77
- GPU Min/Max Load Longer Test- 71/74
- HDD Min/Max Load Longer Test- 36

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - 179.28

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T5800 2.00GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 5400RPM
- GPU Clock - Stock
- CPU Voltage stock @1.3v
- 9v or 6v battery - 6v

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - No
- Thermal Paste - Stock
- Airflow and Surface - On a desk
- Ambient Room Temperature - ~21C


about 5 month old m1530.
One thing that bothers me is the high temp of the GPU when idle but that seems to be the same for everyone.

 

Dell replaced my motherboard today. New temps are:

Idle:

CPU: 45 - 50*C
GPU: 55-60*C
HDD: 35 - 40

Load:

CPU: 75 - 80
GPU: 73-78
HDD: 40ish.

Specs in sig. No notebook cooler. On my flat wooden desk. Currently have my 6 cell battery installed.

Pretty good methinks.

 

Hi,

Just thought I would post my results here to see how they compare to other users as recently I have noticed some very high temperatures on my M1530.

Last weekend after many hours of gaming (6+ hours) I noticed that my CPU hit the low 90s and my GPU hit the high 90s. I cleaned out the fan with some compressed air and now things seem a bit better, but I still don't know wether I should call Dell and get them to replace the board.

I've had my M1530 for just over 13 months and I use it primarily for gaming, probably on average over the past year of 3 hours a day including 6+ hours sessions at weekends.

Any advice?

Thanks, and now onto the results!

1. TEMPERATURES
- CPU Min/Max Idle - 39/60
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 56/68
- HDD Min/Max Idle - 36/37

- CPU Min/Max Load - 68/75
- GPU Min/Max Load - 73/78
- HDD Min/Max Load - 38/38

- CPU Min/Max Load Longer Test - 69/79
- GPU Min/Max Load Longer Test - 74/83
- HDD Min/Max Load Longer Test - 39/43 (I had just been copying 30GB+ that ended about 15 minutes earlier, but the temps never seemed to drop after that for HDD)

Real use test (Fallout 3 for 2 hours from idle)
- CPU Min/Max - 42/79
- GPU Min/Max - 59/83
- HDD Min/Max - 41/44

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - I can't remember, but they are NVidias own for laptops.

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T7800 2.5GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 5600RPM
- GPU Clock - Stock
- CPU Voltage - Stock
- 9v or 6v battery - 9v

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - No
- Thermal Paste - Stock
- Airflow and Surface - On a thick plastic tray on my knee
- Ambient Room Temperature - 20C

 

My temps went up to 95 CPU then it shut down. This was when I was watching TV using my parent's Avermedia TV card, which they purchased from dell (with an Inspiron 1520) on my M1530 (using the extra large PCI express slot, for the form fitting card). Dell won't see it as a problem that I was using a card that was supplied with another laptop? I mean the card gets warm, but sure as hell shouldn't make the laptop go to 95 when I wasn't even doing anything graphically intensive (CPU is the only thing truly throttled watching HDTV yeah?) Cheers!

 

1. TEMPERATURES
- CPU Min/Max Idle - 39/51
- GPU Min/Max Idle - 52/60

- CPU Min/Max Load - 78/85
- GPU Min/Max Load - 87/91

2. SOFTWARE
- Power Setting in Vista Ultimate - High Performance
- Bios Revision - A12
- Video Driver Version - 7.15.11.7644

3. SYSTEM INFORMATION
- CPU Model and Speed - T7700 2.4GHz
- Hard Drive Speed - 5400RPM
- GPU Clock - Stock
- CPU - stock
- 9v or 6v battery - 9

4. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
- Notebook Cooler - no
- Thermal Paste - Yes - Antec Formula 5 (dropped temps 10C for GPU and 8C for CPU, yes the GPU used to hit 100-101C).
- Airflow and Surface - On Desk elevated at rear by Battery
- Ambient Room Temperature - 19C

Also just to let everyone know I clean the dust out of my computer once every 2 months or so, taking off the back covers and blowing out with compressed CO2.