Overheating 9650m

First things first. I own an Alienware M15x Gen 1 which came with an 8800m gtx. The 8800 died and after baking it 3 or 4 times it died for good. Alienware didnt have any replacement parts and 9800s on Ebay were a bit out of my price range.

...So I bought a 9650m.

The thermal bracket was designed for an 8800 and didn't fit.

...Little time in the shop and it fits fine

Got it all situated and ready to go except only one problem. I boot up and after about 2 minutes on the desktop the card hits 110ºC and the computer shuts off.

Any ideas on why the card runs so hot under very little load? I figured the 9650 would run significantly cooler than the 8800.

 

I hope you realize the 9650m is significantly weaker gpu in contrast to your ex 8800m GTX.

Anyway ... there are several possibilities as to why your gpu is overheating.
It's possible the thermal bracket is putting things out of whack for the gpu which is being supplied with much more than what it needs.

Also, the shop you took the laptop in may have removed the thermal pads or the heatsink is not pressing properly to the gpu.
Have you opened the laptop to check if the gpu has any thermal greace on it and if the shop hadn't bricked anything crucial that is part of the cooling system?

 

Is the heatsink and/or thermal pad sitting on top of the GPU core properly, making contact? And do you have your thermal paste applied properly?

At this point, I suspect there is something wrong with the way the heatsink has been seated. Another thing you could try is to clean out your fan, if you haven't already, but I don't think it will help much at this point.

EDIT: Looks like I was beaten by a ninja.

 

Yes I am aware the 9650 is significantly less powerful... it was just a last effort to somewhat fix my very expensive netbook

The heat sink is definitely making contact with the GPU and was seated with Artic Silver. Fans are all dust free and clean. However I can't imagine the 9650 generating that much heat even WITHOUT a heatsink. At least not that quickly under little to no load? Is it possible that since the m15x is designed for an MXM type IV card and Ive installed an MXM type II that he voltages are out of whack and it is being supplied with far too much power?

 

Do you have the latest BIOS version?

 

Im running on X36 which was designed to reduce overheating in the 8800m.

As far as I know the only bios alienware has released are X32 (stock) X34 and X36.

I am fairly certain X36 is the newest.

So while I believe it to be the newest (it may not be), new doesn't mean much when Alienware is concerned. They hadn't released a driver update for 8800m in over 2 years.

Edit: The X36 is the latest bios version. Unfortunately the bios has no option for clocking the gpu.

 

----------eep double post XD

 

It sounds possible, but I would at least think that the card would either short circuit, explode, die, or artifact at insane levels if it had the wrong voltage. It may be possible though.

Unfortunately, the only thing I can think of that would cause something like this is because of a heatsink or fan problem, whether it not be seated properly, or it isn't working properly.