Overheating GPU???? X205 Sli3

Was playing Trackmania Nations last night...which always pushes my laptop to really high temps, and it just SHUT DOWN instantly to black. I removed the battery, disconnected the power, an let it sit a few minutes. It restarted fine, and has been working fine since.

I'm running XP and 169.09 drivers, but have done NO overclocking of anything. I see around 85deg C GPU temps at idle, and it hits 105deg C running the game. That seems high, but laptop GPU's are always hotter than desktop.

Any ideas if this is reasonable??? None of the other games (Bioshock, Portal, even limit Crysis) caused the machine to actually shut down.

Thanks!

 

Yes, your system is overheating and automatically shuts down as a precaution. 105C is quite high and should be a concern. How long have you had your x205? It might be a good time to clean the fan and grills in your laptop. You can also try downclocking your GPU to see if that solves the problem. Buying a cooling pad is another option.

 

I would contact toshiba and see what they have to say.
Cleaning the vents will probably help also.

 

The system wont shut down when your GPU temps get high, it will shut down when your CPU temps reach a certain threshhold. You should be looking at your CPU temps not GPU. Maybe since they're on the same heatsink your cpu is also getting hot.

 

had the computer since September, and it's always been hot, but never to the point of shutting down. Now it's just done it again.

I ran the game with Speedfan running, and the GPU gets right up to 104C, and the CPU's go up to 84C. It didn't fail while I was monitoring it, so I don't know at what point it crashes.

Anyway, my vents are clean (done regularly), and other than running XP, the chips are all running at stock speeds.

Since my CPU HOT temps are about the same as my GPU Idle temps, do you still think the CPU is causing the failure???? I know how to slow down the GPU's, but I don't know how to underclock the cpu's.

Any advice appreciated, but a Gaming PC that can't play games is pretty useless. btw, it's nice an cool in my kitchen, and the computer is sitting on clean, cool granite.

 

I put a little fan behind my laptop, and that knocks a good bit of temperature doewn (91gpu, 60 cpu), but that isn't very practical.

 

even lowering the GPU speeds to the minimum (using Nvidias control panel), I still see 85deg GPU temps, and 55C CPU temps at IDLE.

This never bothered me until it actually started shutting down. Do all Sli3's run this hot?? I'm thinking of selling it and getting a fast desktop and a portable laptop. I love the machine, but it doesn't travel well, and I have room for a desktop now that I've moved.

 

Now I don't have the SLI3, but I gotta say the case its built in (same as mine) is amazing at removing heat.

I'd be more than willing to bet you have lost/locked up a fan somewhere inside and that is why you get overheated.

 

both visible fans (from the bottom) are working, but they don't seem to vary in speed. The Nvidia control panel doesn't give me the option of changing speeds. I wonder if there is an issue with the XP drivers not being properly set to control the fans on my dual 8600 setup??????

Anybody else?? I'm thinking of restoring VISTA just to see if the temps are similar, or going to an older video driver that "officially" supports the dual video cards.

 

installed old 165.01 drivers, and the GPU temps are about 10deg cooler, however, they still get up to around 95 while playing the game. The fans don't seem to be any more aggressive, I think these drivers just push the cards less.

 

Friend, Those idle temps are WAY to high ... I live in Venezuela, a South American Country with average ambient temps of 27+ °C... And my idle temps are 63 GPU 1 and 66 GPU 2... Reaching 88 with overclock while playing Crysis...

It might be a problem with the fans... My advice, call Toshiba as soon as possible...

 

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
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)
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.

 

this computer has always run this hot at idle, at least since I've been running XP (7 months now). I just cleaned the fans, it is sitting in a cool room on cool marble.
I'll clean them again just for safety. Again, everything looks clean, fans are turning, but they don't turn very fast. That's why I was concerned it might be a driver issue, not spooling the fans properly in XP

 

Well, i think something might be wrong with the cooling system then... Those idle temps are just TOO high... Unless you live in a place with 35+ degrees, it's just too high... Really, call Toshiba...

 

Ok, my bad. I routinely clean the vents with a hand vac, but I tried using our central vac system on them. BIG improvement.....down 20deg from where I was, both CPU and GPU.

I'm not comfortable tearing the case apart, but I'll get a can of compressed air and blast everything out even better tomorrow.

btw, the fans still don't seem to move very much air, but if it's working better, who cares. I don't see how Toshiba expects the average person to not fry their computer, as I know I clean my systems better than most......

 

One last post, and THANK YOU.

I fired up the air compressor nozzle this morning, locked down the fans, and am AMAZED at how much crap came out of my fans/heatsinks.

Anyway, my machine now runs (loaded) over 30deg C COOLER than it did before, both CPU & GPU.

Now that I know the GPU can handle 100C (actually SAW 105 before it crashed), I guess I should start overclocking!

Thanks Again!

 

wow, nice improvement.

just watch those temps, when it hits 90C+ .... then you should probably do a thorough cleaning again.

 

That is all very excellent advice, but here's my problem (highlighted from you post, in bold): How? I have removed all the screws from the back - battery included - and nothing; it just won't come off as you imply. Perhaps I'm missing something?

Not only that, but apparently, my second fan--one on the right side of the laptop's underside--seems to have a black covering under the grill, what is that for? I thought the duct is supposed to be open, otherwise the purpose of a vent is moot. It looks like some kind of factory flaw or something because it just doesn't make any sense. Do you feel that I should contact Toshiba about this, because I still have my warranty.

Thanks again.

 

Ya my SLi4 had the black cover blocking the CPU vent, I guess to have the CPU fan remove air from the system itself. I didn't really like it so I took the laptop apart and removed it.

-J.B.

 

I took that panel off throught the small cover using tweezers and patience. By using a utility knive through the vent hole, and tweezers through the cover, I was able to pull it out in small pieces without doing any harm.

Anyway, the cover didn't seem to make any changes in cooling....

 

Thanks for the info, dudes.

Unfortunately, I can't quite understand the problem with my system. First off, my idle heat readings were not nearly as high as yours, Y2khardtop. However, my computer screen would keep going blank as soon as the tempratures hit the 80+ mark. Yes, I did overclock, but there hasn't been a single report of people having this kind of trouble with reasonable overclocks on the x205-SLi. I mean, just ten-minutes of constant play at games like Jericho, and the screen goes blank--backlight still on--and the computer seizes to respond to any commands forcing me to shutdown.

I felt that your topic echoed my problems to a certain degree, so I apologise for hijacking the thread. Anyway, I've already created a thread about this, so everyone/anyone is welcome to comment on either front.

Cheers.

 

is that (80+) your cpu or gpu??? That is about the temp my cpu hit when it started crashing. I only had mine crash twice....I didn't let the temps get high once I realized I had a problem.

anyway, the thorough cleaning took care of my problems

I guess I would reset the clock speeds, clean well, and then monitor temps and see what happens.