Inspiron 1720 GPU temperature?

Hi all

Hope someone can help. I have never thought I will be OCing my laptop, but such day has come...

So, I have installed latest desktop WHQ drivers, RivaTuner and OCed my 8600gt, and it worked fine under stress (read - playing intensive 3d games), BUT, I am not sure about the GPU temp.

Basically GPU temp was hovering between 68C and 72C. As I thought anything close to 70 is unacceptable, I set it back to default clock but the temperatures remained the same (and I was gaming for like 5 hours or so w/o trouble).

As I never monitored the temperature before, I am not sure what is acceptable for this card? Can I run it safely around 70-72C?

Also, if anyone knows (I know it's a case-by case basis), what are numbers to try to aim for clock-wise - I have seen some people running 600/1200 etc.

So, any advice on clocking 1720's 8600gt is welcome!

Thanks in advance
Seljos

 

Running in the 70s especially for an 8600M GT is glorious. There's nothing wrong with it. I have mined OC'ed to insane speeds + BIOS flashed and ran well under 65*C maxed + ICD7. (see sig for specs)

Unsafe GPU temps are in the range of the mid 80s and above. The 1720 is capable of handling it well enough, so no worries about it. There are MANY notebooks' GPUs running over 85-90*C and that's just gaming for only 10 mins. 5 hours under 70*C or exact is amazing.

2 things that you may want to improve temperature is to clean your fans and heatinks regulary every 3 months or so. Dust accumulation is a culprit for temperature rise. And also if possible gain access to your GPU and apply thermal paste instead of Dell's default one; which I can tell you by my experience, the paste they apply and use is horrible + terrible.

An orthodox third way is to use I8kfan and force fan speeds to run at 100% maxed even while idling or gaming. But generally only for (older) systems with very severe cooling problems. Expect system noise and battery drain. Use AC.

Good temperatures. Don't let it stop you from OCing it.

 

Yeah, those are fine temperatures. My 1520 with 8600M GT has been running at least that hot for almost three years, with it currently running right in that range (amazing what cleaning the vents does for temperatures). In addition to SomeFormOFhuman's suggestions, you could try undervolting your CPU to lower the temperatures. It won't affect the GPU directly, but the lower temperatures throughout the chassis may well take off a couple degrees.

It won't hurt to be aware that the entire GeForce 8 series is more susceptible to heat fluctuations than your standard GPU, and thus it is good to be aware of proper cooling practices. This doesn't mean your GPU will fail, but it does mean that statistically, a GeForce 8 is much more likely to fail than your standard GeForce 6, ATI 1xxx, ATI 2xxx, etc. Google "nvidia bumpgate" without quotes and you'll find information on it.

I have not flashed the VBIOS or reapplied GPU paste, and have ran my GPU without ill effect as high as 600/400. I do not do that regularly, due to the aforementioned reason and the fact that I can't tell much of a difference in practice. Memory overclocking (the 400 part) may yield a more noticeable difference. I don't memory overclock (in general) because when I do, it takes a minute for my desktop to reset after playing a game. The highest I have ever memory OC'ed was 440 MHz - which on the CUDA application I was running, provided very good return on frequency increase.

SomeFormOFhuman, I notice you got your X9000 up to 3.6 GHz in the 1720. Did this require a custom BIOS? I didn't reckon CPU overclocking, even an Extreme, would be feasible in the Inspiron 1x20 series. If it is, I want to get an X9000 . Also curious why you stopped at 3.6 GHz, rather than 4 GHz as on the XPS. Better cooling on the XPS?

 

Use Unclewebb's ThrottleStop and you will have the ability to overclock as high as 4.0Ghz on the X9000. The cooling is excellent in the 1720. 3.6GHz landed me at 70*C.

I'm not worried about my 8600M GPU issues as it runs very cool, and not under Dell's list of affected notebooks; thus no warranty extension. It's 2.7 years running at overclocked speeds and gaming everyday under 65*C and it shows no sign of failure. I'm betting againts myself that this thing refuses to fail - yet I'm waiting for it to die.

 

SomeFormOfHuman, How did you flash the vbios? I tried and failed. Don't have my 1720 with me anymore, took it home and gave it to my brother when i went on leave, thought he's not allowed to sell it. I'm too attached eventually I may do a x9000 upgrade lol