How do I know if it's overheating?

I'm a little worried that my laptop is overheating. I have an inspiron 1520, with 8600m GT. I installed 174.31 drivers recently, and my GPU is getting HIGH temperatures, I can feel it. According to Rivatuner, I'm getting 65c. Can my GPU overheat/fry from that temperature?

I used to have 169.04 which gave me great performance and 55-60c (a rough estimate, I can't remember) temperatures.

Is the GPU located right next to the vents? Top left. of the laptop?

 

your temp is fine.

GPU danger temp is 90+ C degrees. Threshold temp is 100+ C degrees.

What is the temp during in-game?
... which is what to look for since your 60-ish C degrees is probably idle temps.

 

You know your GPU is overheating when your games start glitching and sometimes crash.

 

Above 90 is hot.

 

My idle is 50c usually. and in game, it's sometimes up to 70c. Good, I guess it isn't that dangerous. Thanks for the info!

 

well, my teams usually runs in the 98C range, seriously cooking a egg on the palm rest. and its doing that even playing undemanding games like wow

 

If you are overheating... usually any temp over 90C degrees is bad.

when was the last time that you cleaned out the fans and vents thoroughly...?

if never, then thats why.

1) remove battery
2) remove/unscrew the panels on the bottom of the notebook to get to fans and vents
3) use flashlight to look through vents for the dust (if you cant see the light on the other end, then the vents are clogged up)
4) go outside, get some compressed air (cans or compressor @ 50 PSI) and give the vents a good airing out all directions ( concentrating on the vents)
.... you might want to brace the fan blade(s) when airing it out (with a toothpick or paperclip to prevent it from spinning out too much)
.... or use short bursts (1-2 secs) of air instead of bracing the fans.
5) go get some Q-tips and swab the fan blades and the area around it
6) then go do a second airing with compressed air (all directions again focusing on the fans and vents) to push out the dust that was dislodged from the Q-tips

7*) Now go use the flashlight again and look through the vents (shine the flashlight from the fan, you look through the other end) for anymore dust clogs.

8) Then start up the notebook... and let the fans cycle up (use the Fan Toggle at max speed if your system has it) to push out any other dust that might have been stuck.

If all goes well you should be able to close up the notebook and...

you're done.

*repeat this step until its cleaned out.

Thats pretty much it.

Just make sure to do this every two-three months... it should take about 15-20min per cleaning if you want to be thorough.

________________________

Gaming notebooks are a new thing, you must realize that you have to take some extra care of them over typical use notebooks:

1) Battery: to maintain the longevity of any rechargeable battery
- you must NEVER overcharge it [especially for long durations of time] by keeping it plugged into AC
- when it reaches 100% you should unplug it and let it discharge to 5-15%, then plug it back to power
- OR you can just charge it to 50%+ and remove the battery and store in cool place.. not the fridge [remember to use it occasionally 3-4 time a year to charge and discharge it].

2.) Heat: to prevent a healthy notebook from overheating
- ALWAYS use the notebook on a clean, hard & flat surface
- RECOMMENDED to be used on a notebook cooler... namely the Zalman ZM-NC1000 or ZM-NC2000
- check your fans underneath occasionally (at least once a month or two) for any dust clogs [clean them out with Q-tips and air cans/compressors]
- ALWAYS monitor the temps (CPU, GPU, HDD, etc..) to watch for fluctuations, which would indicate overheating by dust usually
(for Clevo notebooks) use the Fan Toggle to switch all fans to Max Speed when gaming and such.

By doing these simple things, your entire system will easily last for more than 3 years.

 

Note, your temperature reading isn't jiving with what you said.

The 15" vostros/inpirons we have do have some "always warm spots" but they don't generally "feel hot" until much higher than 65C on the GPU.

I suggest you run Rivatuner or another GPU temp monitor while you play some games and record the MAX temperature. I am pretty sure you are getting above 65C if you game. (75-80C more than likely even if your vents are dust-free)

Gophn gave some great advice when it comes to blowing out the vents and the dells do seem to collect dust quite well...

 

70C is fine... nothing to worry about. If your crazy about your temps just Undervolt with Flipfires guide, buy a laptop cooler.


If u do those youll notice about 10C decrease from CPU temperatures, and 5C+ cooler from GPU temps


They work! im a satisfied user/customer