E6400 overheating throttling

HerrKaputt: The quick way to test for throttling is to run Prime95 + Furmark at the same time. There are some that think this is an excessive load and you should not expect a laptop to be able to run a load like this at full speed. I disagree and showed in this post that the previous generation Latitude D830 had no problem running this load with the CPU and GPU both at full speed for half an hour without any overheating or throttling.

When testing with ThrottleStop, all you have to do is check the Log File option and you can also check the More Data option which will sample the CPU performance more frequently while testing.

Beyond this synthetic test, you can play whatever game you like and have ThrottleStop logging the CPU performance while playing. If you are having the frame rates drop down to a crawl during a game then this usually shows up in the log that the CPU is being severely throttled.

No hurry with testing. Post some numbers when you get the chance and I'll have a look.

 

I have done a bunch of testing myself, but as i said i have the intel gpu, and i have noticed more problems when i stress the laptop for video apps.
I think at this point i am pretty confident to say that Dell has adopted a quite conservative temp/cpu management. I can't possibly push this machine to work into the 70c degrees range , it starts throttling to keep the temps down, IMO this is Dell cheating. with Rmclock forcing the cpu at 100% i was able to push it to 70c with no problems rather than having my cpu at 90-100%. so this is BS, it's a scheme. As i said previously, i speculate that they did it to reduce repairs, or otherwise they have dumb engineers.

the A20 bios was only a more aggressive fan management with probably a higher temp threshold for throttling. Again, I am convinced this is only a bios/software issue, because my latitude can work at high temps with no sweat.

 

So, the Dell techs just left. They gave me hell for playing games on a machine "not designed for gaming". They mentioned that the thermal paste will keep getting deteriorated as I game and I will have to ask for these replacements every few months. I then asked why didn't Dell use a better paste and they said it's not just the paste, the airflow is too compact for proper cooling while gaming, etc. Anyway, they replaced heatsink and motherboard.

Very brief testing using America's Army 3 (a game that demands a lot both from CPU and GPU) showed GPU temperature maxed at 88ºC, considerably better than the 105ºC I was getting recently, and not too bad considering that the temperature is a balming 28ºC inside my house.

More on topic, RMClock shows no throttling on the "CPU core clock and throttle" window -- the one with the red and purple graph. This is not a proper test, but it seems that this machine doesn't suffer from the throttling problem.

I have work to do now, and my girlfriend is going to a conference and will take the E6400 with her, so I probably won't be able to do the tests until July 10th at best. Sorry...

 

what a bunch of BS! you can do whatever you want with a laptop, this is the top of the line, he was just trying to find some excuse for the poor design/build.

 

Here's the 59 page pdf document that tinkerdude put together that clearly shows the throttling problems that the Latitude E6000 series have.

throttlegate.pdf

Maybe download that and save it for the Dell tech next time he shows up. If you run the same test, your laptop will throttle, slow down and become unusable. It's part of the design that you were never told about when you bought your laptop.

It sounds like these tech guys have been brain washed into believing the nonsense they spew. Basically you spent extra money for the CPU and GPU that you picked from their sales page and now they tell you, "By the way, don't run any software that tries to use the CPU + GPU at the same time." That's like buying a 6 speed car and finding out after you get it home that only half the gears work.

Defective is a name for products that can't be fully used.

 

That's exactly how I feel. In any case, the point is moot since very soon I'll have a new desktop which will probably own, lease and sublet this laptop in gaming.

 

B.S + Idiot! Lucky the tech guy is NOT from Dell, but a contracted firm, so you can call Dell as many time as you want and get your heatsink replaced. Please don't hesitate, it's your right.

A laptop doesn't need to have "Gaming" or "Alienware" on it and be 10 inch thick to be a "gaming system".

 

Oh don't worry, I'll call them as soon as this gets past 95ºC (it got to 88ºC today). I just wanted confirmation, I was a bit skeptical about the "thermal paste deterioration" theory.

 

Look at idle temp and not under load, as load test can vary your temp as you play with a lot of factors.

If thermal paste deteriorate, that means it forms heat bubble from the small gaps, and it get hotter and hotter, to a point of hearing a small "pop" sound, where the hot air release. And your CPU will be melted in a spot. So, this is why it doesn't do this. Thermal paste does dry up... this is normal and expected. Because there is no movement (when it dries it comes closer to itself), that is why you must remove the old thermal paste on both heatsink and processor, when you remove a heatsink. If you don't, well, it won't do a good bond and you'll have cooling issue.

So you are 100% correct to be skeptical.
Do people change their thermal paste for the sake of changing it. Heavy overclocker do sometime do it every 3 years or so (but usually they change their computer by then), so keep their great cooling performance they have going. That is 3 years, not anytime a CPU is hot. This includes low end thermal paste as well.

If you really push your laptop, and throttle, than maybe some Artic Silver will help. As it conduct better heat and is thinner and can fill in more properly the metal texture of the heatsink and processor., But expect to put a lot (i did not try). I say this, because I noticed that there is a larger cap between the heatsink and processors (common on most laptops) compared to one on the desktop, where the heatsink actually presses on it for desktops processor for better contact.

Of course, you must remember, that laptops are not desktop... Desktop can sustain heavy load for hours without problems, even months if build with quality parts and proper air flow design, laptop (even gaming laptops) can't. It will come to a point that it will throttle (overheat). Sure gaming system can be under heavy load longer, but it's still going to happen.

If you play a lot of games, the obvious choice is to have a desktop system, where have a laptop for gaming on the go. But having just a laptop to game hours on it... so very wise, not even an Alienware gaming laptop.

 

Well, idle temperatures have ranged from 48 to 57 degrees. It's pretty good considering today was a pretty hot day.