Alienware M14x Issues

[NebulousThinker]

From answers.yahoo.com because I'm lazy


Alienware m14x (owned for about 3 months)
GeForce 555m card 1.5GB (or 3.0 GB I don't recall which one)
RAM - 6GB
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM CPU @ 2.00 GHz
BIOS A05

I called Tech Support (they're not very supportive at all) recently to see if my computer was acting like a twit and I don't really believe in anything they said (maybe I should).
Core #0 - Core #3 (4 cores) heat to around 90 degrees Celcius while gaming (sometimes reaching 98) and I'm playing Killing Floor which is from 2009 and doesn't seem like it demands too much. The GPU temperature is around 70 C while gaming and I feel that it doesn't do a great job because it slows down sometimes in game. TS told me these temperatures are fine for a gaming laptop and I should only worry if it gets over 100C...I'm worried already and I feel like gaming performance should be higher. FRAPS doesn't like to work well with gaming either because there is stuttering and it lags sometimes and I don't really know what to do! I've cleaned the fan a little and didn't find that much dust, reinstalled it a few times way before I called TS.

Someone please tell me where (or what I need to do) to get some help so I can figure out the issue with the computer. I payed around $1500 for this thing and I don't feel like it's delivering the goods. Maybe it's me not understanding the way gaming computers work since this is my first gaming computer.

 

[zi0n.]

It's a "gaming laptop" it will obviously get hot. I suggest you to get an aftermarket laptop cooler for whenever you play. FRAPS can lag for many reasons, in this case I would guess HD since it's probably slow.

 

[NebulousThinker]

It's a "gaming laptop" it will obviously get hot.

From your perspective and many others, yes its obvious, but this is my first gaming laptop and I didn't know it would reach these temperatures so its not completely obvious.

If it is indeed the HD what should I do? Or what is wrong with it?

 

[zi0n.]

Probably nothing wrong with it, I don't know which one you have so I was just assuming. You could try other type of recording software such as Xfire that records but in a lower quality and usually lags less than FRAPS.

 

[D.SKiLL]

I have quite a bit of experience will the Dell Alienwares. Likely you need to re-paste the Cpu & Gpu with something better than the stock thermal grease. that should be your starting point. the stock thermal compound is ridiculously useless. I have owned every version of alienware since the days of the Clevo brick ( M7700), and since Dell took over the little things like this are always overlooked. It would be pointless to invoke your warranty at this point as they would just use the stock grease again.

MX4 seems to be the best i have seen but even AS5 is a HUGE upgrade over the stock. so start from there and see where your temps go.

 

[NebulousThinker]

Probably nothing wrong with it.

After playing a campaign of the first Left 4 Dead I checked my temperature max and all the cores were in the upper 90 (nothing below 96). I may not be educated enough on gaming computers, but that's an issue in my eyes. The game even recieved some lag it didn't normally receive when I bought this machine.
*Note that the game didn't have maxed out settings either.

I have quite a bit of experience will the Dell Alienwares. Likely you need to re-paste the Cpu & Gpu with something better than the stock thermal grease. that should be your starting point.

MX4 seems to be the best i have seen but even AS5 is a HUGE upgrade over the stock. so start from there and see where your temps go.

Thanks for the advice :thumbsup:. If I get a job I'll consider that. One question though; Would the overall performance boost because of adding the thermal paste properly or would it just keep it cool ?

 

[D.SKiLL]

After playing a campaign of the first Left 4 Dead I checked my temperature max and all the cores were in the upper 90 (nothing below 96). I may not be educated enough on gaming computers, but that's an issue in my eyes. The game even recieved some lag it didn't normally receive when I bought this machine.
*Note that the game didn't have maxed out settings either.



Thanks for the advice :thumbsup:. If I get a job I'll consider that. One question though; Would the overall performance boost because of adding the thermal paste properly or would it just keep it cool ?

it will keep it cool, but its entirely possible that low performance could be caused by parts overheating,although the temps you have stated are not altogether abnormal for these machines.

another piece of advice would be to re-install windows from scratch, not using the AW discs, i generally do a system rebuild the day i get the machines, usually the Dell image is poorly constructed. am OEM install with an easily downloadable version of your OS then installing the drivers in the correct order( yes it matters). doing that will elimate the OS as the cause and you will be using updated drivers ( in some cases) instead of the pre loaded drivers.
chances are that you will see marked improvement after doing that in all areas of use.

 

[Puppies04]

90-98 degrees does seem rather hot even for a "gaming" laptop, but without knowing the ambient temps/how much airflow you have around the machine I can't really comment either way.

My xps 17 has a 740QM in it and i haven't seen the temps go above 80-85 degrees even during heavy gaming/torture tests with the ambient temps being around 23 degrees but I would think that a 17" chassis would have better airflow than a 14" alienware so maybe it is down to that.

 

[paul878]

When was the last time you dust out the cooling system of this laptop?
And I don't mean with those can compress air!

 

[Puppies04]

When was the last time you dust out the cooling system of this laptop?
And I don't mean with those can compress air!

That isn't always as easy as it sounds, I have just stripped a HP DV6 down which took me an hour to get to the fan/heatpipe assembly. Going to take me about 2 hours to stick it all back together as it was litterally the last piece of the entire laptop i could get at. The only reason i did this was because it was shutting itself down due to overheating on a constant basis. Most people aren't going to go through all that hassle and risk bricking their laptop in the process.

 

[paul878]

Use a compressor to blow it out.
If you don't know what you are doing, take it to someone who does.

There are lot of hidden screw and latches holding a laptop together.
It usually take me less than 30min to replace a laptop motherboard.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

According to intel the max operating temp is 100C so you have a bit of wiggle room before it gets too hot and causes damage, depending on how technically inclined you are I would suggest reseating the heatsink, reapplying thermal compound and making sure the fan is running optimally and give it a good cleaning.

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

90c is hot. that's the temp i would expect for a gpu and not a cpu!

as advised above, check the thermal paste and clean out the dust.

The other thing to look at is where are you playing the laptop? are the intakes for the cpu's being blocked?

another thing to look at would be a laptop cooler.

 

[NebulousThinker]

The other thing to look at is where are you playing the laptop? are the intakes for the cpu's being blocked?

It has a lot of room around it and I sometimes elevated it with a wooden shelf that raises it about half an inch from its normal surface.

When was the last time you dust out the cooling system of this laptop?

I don't have the equipment or the money, but I tried cleaning the fan with q tips and check for dust (not a lot of dust).

According to intel the max operating temp is 100C so you have a bit of wiggle room before it gets too hot and causes damage, depending on how technically inclined you are I would suggest reseating the heatsink, reapplying thermal compound and making sure the fan is running optimally and give it a good cleaning.

Alright thanks! Here's what pisses me off. Why would I have to go through all of that trouble for a fault that probably isn't mine? If I cannot fix this problem I'll just have to sell this and get a custom gaming rig (seriously not enjoying alienware services at all). I'm somewhat ok with technology so learning where all these components are wouldn't be too hard.

And wow! So much help from the forum members. Thank you all.:thumbsup:

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

laptops can be a real pain to take apart, and i wouldnt recommend it.

in the future, if you dont need the portability, i would go with a pc, as you can get higher end parts cheaper.

and then pick up a cheap 300-400 laptop for the portability

 

[NebulousThinker]

in the future, if you dont need the portability, i would go with a pc, as you can get higher end parts cheaper.

and then pick up a cheap 300-400 laptop for the portability

Here's the irony in all of this. I bought the laptop "thinking" that I was going to be taking it places to game and the times that I took it somewhere else was for regular internet, email, etc. The only time I game is when I'm at my desk (very stupid decision on my part, but I learned from it).

I've actually been looking at gaming desktops online (iBuypower, Cyberpower, and Ironside computers). Which one, if any, can you recommend?

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

how good are you with a screwdriver?

ibuypower is decent, but you do overpay vs building the computer yourself.

for the most part building pc's strait forward. the hardest part is knowing what to purchase and knowing what is compatible.

look up some youtube videos on how to build a pc. You will be surprised how easy it is.

as for knowing what to buy, create a new thread on here with your budget and what you are planning on using the system for

 

[NebulousThinker]

how good are you with a screwdriver?

look up some youtube videos on how to build a pc. You will be surprised how easy it is.

as for knowing what to buy, create a new thread on here with your budget and what you are planning on using the system for

I'm decent with a screwdriver and I've looked up how to build a computer! As of right now I just want a custom built machine so I'll come up with some specs and make another thread.

Building a machine is something I would like to due in the future though.

Thank you to everyone in this thread because you all were very informative and much better than Dell's tech support. :thumbsup: