XPS m1710 temperature thread

Can owners of the XPS m1710 please download this handy utility:

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

and post your min/max and current temps of both the CPU and GPU over a long period (say 2 hours) with no gaming?
It is a standalone program and does not need to be installed.

The goal of this thread is to try to get an understading of what is normal cooling behavior for this model laptop as I cant seem to get a solid answer anywhere on the Internet. As a result there is a lot of confusion regarding possible faults and whether or not to take action. Personally...I had an overheating problem during gaming due to dust buildup. Cleaning it out has cured the high ingame temps but my idle temps are all over the shop, and the fans are very inconsistant when they kick in. One minute I can watch the laptop build up to 70C on the GPU until the fans finally kick in to bring it down, next thing it decides to cool it when it reaches 55C...this is all at idle or just light web surfing etc. Pretty absurd if you ask me.

So...If you have the time please also post your OS and video driver version, how long you have had the laptop and if you have taken it apart to clean the fans/heat fins and also the type of GPU in your 1710.
Also...make sure you only use the BIOS to handle fan control (ie no ik8fangui as this is not stock cooling and will affect the result).
There is so much conflicting advice as to what is normal temp with this model.

After 2 hours at idle here are my results:
Temps
CPU 0
Min: 42
Max: 61
Current: 43
CPU 1
Min: 42
Max: 57
Current: 43
GPU 7950 Go GTX 512mb
Min: 47 C
Max: 70 C
Current: 48 C

Operating System
Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Video Driver Version
167.45 from laptopvideo2go

Have had the laptop for 8 months and have cleaned the cooling system within the last 72 hours.

Thanks for any input if the thread gets anywhere hopefully it can help out a few people not just me.

 

After 2 hours on idle and lite use
core 0= current 51 min 49 max 62
core 1= current 51 min 51 max 63
gpu == current 55 min 54 max 67

driver 174.31
11 months old
never opened just vacuumed

 

Here's my info...(although during the two hours, I was not monitoring fan operation)...

CPU 0
Min: 32 C
Max: 49 C
Current: 46 C

CPU 1
Min: 35 C
Max: 51 C
Current: 48 C

GPU
Min: 58 C
Max: 80 C
Current: 70 C

Operating System
Windows XP Service Pack 2

Video Driver Version
174.31 from Dell (03/31/08)

I've had the laptop for 2 months...but purchased it used. Originally purchased 9 months ago. I opened it just prior to letting it idle...there was some light dust on the top of the fan, but nothing real nasty.

Ambient temperature has a lot to do with how effective the fans are in cooling the laptop, but ambient temperature is not an input into the fan control algorithm.

It would be interesting to find out what Dell uses for the fan control algorithm because I agree with you...I've been poking around with I8kfangui and just watching the temps and fans...it's very hit and miss...

Heat pipes go from the right-side GPU to both left and right fan assemblies...I would suspect that the right side fan has a more pronounced effect on GPU cooling...it looks like the CPU shares the left heat pipe with the GPU, and therefore the CPU is primarily cooled by the left fan...but due to a heat pipe coming from the GPU near the CPU and then to the left side fan assembly, GPU temps will tend to heat up the CPU...so a right side fan problem will cause everything to go up as the left side is forced to pull more heat from the left side heat pipe...

My right side fan appears 'weak' compared to the left side fan...I don't know how accurate the fan rpm sensors are...but my right side fan is being reported approx. 25% slower than the left side fan...and there is a difference in air flow between the left and right rear vents when both fans are running at slow or fast speed...but that may be by design since the right side fan really only deals with GPU heat and not CPU heat...

But back to the algorithm...I watched my GPU temp go up to near 80 C (my GPU is running hotter than Gregau's) and the fans never kicked on using Dell fan control...GPU temp just stabilized around 80 C...you can hear the fans kick on when I begin gaming but I've never monitored temps before during gaming...80 C without the fans even trying bothers me a bit (from the fan algorithm standpoint and from the nVidia GPU standpoint...80 C to surf the internet at 1920x1200??? Wow!!! nVidia should be able to produce an enthusiast card that can surf the net without being able to boil water and Dell should be able to take nVidia's hot potato and get a better cooling system on it at near idle use for the premium price tag they put on the XPS)...and my GPU never gets down to 55 C or 48 C so I can't see if going past 55 C would trigger the fans...I can get down to 52 C using I8kfangui and forcing both fans into high speed...

I don't know what are nVidia's and Intel's max design temps, but I've never had a problem with my machine...not a single temperature shutdown...performance is about where I would expect it to be...I'm a little slower than the 2.33 GHz 7950 GTX benchmarks posted on the net, but not so much slower that I'm concerned...

The fan/temp issue is more of a longevity concern than a performance concern...it would be helpful if Dell told us how their algorithm worked...

 

If you used i8kfangui for temperatures, did you check it against other temperature monitoring software to calibrate the temperature?

 

Yep...i8kfangui reports the GPU 8C/15F lower than other monitoring programs...

 

I spent a little time at work watching the m1710 idle...

I still don't know whether the CPU or GPU temps turn on/off the fans, but this was the behavior I observed...

At approx. 122 F (CPU) and 176 F (GPU), both fans kick on at slow speed...temperature rapidly drops...in about 30 seconds, CPU drops from 122 F to 104 F and the GPU drops from 176 F to 158 F...

At this point, the right side fan turns off...over the next 4-5 minutes, the left side fan continues to run in slow speed...the GPU moves between 158-161 F while the CPU drops from 104 F to 95 F...when the CPU reaches 95 F, the left side fan turns off...

Both CPU and GPU temps begin to rise back to approx. 120 F and 175 F respectively over 6-7 minutes and the cycle repeats...

I would guess that the left fan cycles on CPU temp...slow speed when CPU temp > 120 F, and then shuts off when CPU drops below 95-100 F...

I'm not sure about the right side fan...may be cycling on CPU and/or GPU temp...

Anyways, it's definitely not random...very repeatable...

 

Here's a picture of the inside of an M1710 from a review at PC perspective.
You can see that the GPU has heat pipes leading to fans on both the left and right side fans, while the heat pipe for the CPU only leads to the left side. This arrangement probably has some effect on the way they've set the fans to turn on.

 

any of you guys use nhc to control fan speeds (ie have them on full all the time?)

my idle temps (just using nhc so +7 deg c i guess)

cpu 34 c
hdd 38 c

gpu 66 deg c
using rivatuner

but on load

hdd and cpu can get up to 60 deg celsius

gpu gets real high up to 86 ish deg celsius

 

my temps are always at idle

54c to 58c cpu
54c to 58c gpu

 

Heya all,

I've had trouble with over heating a couple of times so and spotted this post when I was searching online for help so my results are below. I've disabled the ik8fangui, I also have an antec notebook cooler 200 which I got to try and solve the problem so I've run the test twice (2 hours for each test) once with out the cooler, once with the cooler. I've also taken both fans out and cleaned out all the dust in and around them literally just a couple of days ago.

Without cooling pad

CPU 0
Min: 33 C
Max: 61 C
Current: 36 C

CPU 1
Min: 35 C
Max: 63 C
Current: 38 C

GPU
Min: 61 C
Max: 80 C
Current: 69 C

Operating System
Windows XP Service Pack 2

With cooling pad

CPU 0
Min: 35 C
Max: 55 C
Current: 36 C

CPU 1
Min: 38 C
Max: 57 C
Current: 38 C

GPU
Min: 67 C
Max: 80 C
Current: 73 C

Operating System
Windows XP Service Pack 2


Not sure what driver version I'm running off the top of my head but thought that the fan speeds I've got might be usefully to anyone trying to trouble shoot problems with their XPS M1710

Fan Speeds RPM

First Fan (Left CPU)
High (RPM to nearest 100): 4000
Slow (RPM to nearest 100): 2400

Second Fan (Right GPU)
High (RPM to nearest 100): 3700
Slow (RPM to nearest 100): 2700

As you can see the Antec cooler gave mixed results as the min temp was higher but the max was lower (for the CPU at any rate) however in more "real life" tests that I did when I got it playing Command and Conquer 3 and watching some bluerays it definitly does make a differance. With C&C 3 with out the cooler it will cut out due to over heating and with bluerays it gets jerky part way through the movie, with the cooler bluerays work fine and the same level/sides/map etc on C&C 3 can be played no problems.

As for fan speeds you can see the right fan over the GPU runs slower than the left CPU fan when in high mode... to be honest I was exspecting to see about 25% of the speed in the right fan that I get in the left based on how slow it feels like it's going and the fact that it's the right side of my laptop that gets very very hot! but there you have it.

 

My biggest issue with the M1710: My old XPS notebook allowed me to unscrew a few screws and pull the fans out of the bottom of the system. Very quick, simple and safe. I'd pull them about once a month, get the dust out, clean them, and it made a big difference in the operating temperatures.

On my 1710, to simply get to the fans to clean out any dust that may be accumulated that a simple air-blow in the vents will not clean out, I have to removed the hinge of the LCD (and it always bends and one day it is going to break), remove the LCD connectors and remove the LCD, remove about a gazillion additional screws, remove the top of the notebook, then disconnect and remove the keyboard. Just to take a couple of minutes to thoroughly check and clean the fans. Then the time to reassmble the computer.

I get a big drop in temps when I do this, so I need to do it often, but it is as if Dell did not want you to be able to clean the fans (whereas on the older XPS the recognized the need and made it very simple to do.)

 

Used M1710 since January 2008 , T7200 , 7900GS driver Dell, Xp sp2 3 gb ram and no problem with overheating .
2 hours of surfing net :
core1 - 50-60
core2 - 50-60
GPU - max 65 usually 58/60
Powermizer on
For about 8 months I've used I8xxx but following to the advice from this forum I've uninstalled it .