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    Dell XPS M170 (6800 Ultra) Crashing

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by martynh, Mar 16, 2006.

  1. martynh

    martynh Notebook Enthusiast

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    My laptop has started crashing regularly - especially (but not exclusively) when I'm playing Counter Strike Source. I'm using Windows XP MCE, it generally does a straight reboot or sometimes I'll get a freeze with looping sound. My first thought was drivers so I updated everything with the drivers off the Dell website but I crashed 3 times last night in an hour of CS. Anyone had similar problems? I installed MCE myself so I imagine Dell support will want me to put XP home back on before they'll look at it...

    thanks

    Martyn
     
    martynh, Mar 16, 2006
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  2. USAFdude02

    USAFdude02 NBR Reviewer & Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Is the video card overheating? That could cause a reboot. You might also want make sure you have the latest drivers for all of your stuff. I had to look elsewhere for some of my drivers after reformatting because Dell's were giving me problems.
     
    USAFdude02, Mar 16, 2006
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  3. martynh

    martynh Notebook Enthusiast

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    thanks for the suggestion I'll try source some video drivers from elsewhere, I just assumed Dell's own would be "safest" :confused: .

    Do you know of any utilities I can use to monitor the video card temperature?
     
    martynh, Mar 16, 2006
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  4. USAFdude02

    USAFdude02 NBR Reviewer & Deity NBR Reviewer

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    I think notebook hardware control will do it. Just google it and download. :)
     
    USAFdude02, Mar 16, 2006
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  5. Gshocker

    Gshocker Notebook Guru

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    I would certainly look at the heat issue. I am running the drivers off the Dell site and even though they are not the latest ones out there they seem stable. Are you having problems in any other games?
     
    Gshocker, Mar 16, 2006
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  6. ccbr01

    ccbr01 Matlab powerhouse! NBR Reviewer

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    Download i9kfangui and control your fan speed. And if it is overheating, blow out the vents with compressed air.
     
    ccbr01, Mar 16, 2006
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  7. martynh

    martynh Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for all the responses. I downloaded the "Tweaks R Us XTreme-G" drivers to see if they would help but no luck there. I also downloaded notebook hardware control, when I'm playing CS:S my CPU temp seems to rise to about 58 degrees c and my hdd about 48 - unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a sensor on the video card. Have not yet tried i9kfangui but it's frigging freezing here at the moment so I think if I need to increase the fan to control temperature now what's it going to be like in summer? Unfortunately I think it's time to refresh the default XP home install and call Dell :(

    Martyn
     
    martynh, Mar 20, 2006
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