E6420 Overheating, Questions About Repair

Interesting. I haven't seen anything like that on mine.

 

Really? Was it just like the one on the CPU, or something else? Did anyone do anything to the system before?

 

This system has had more service calls than you would think is rational. Yes, it was just thermal paste. But the GPU doesn't seem to be overheating though, unless I'm mistaken.

 

It's hard to say what the problem is without seeing the grease pattern on the chips and heatsink, but if the heatsink has been removed multiple times, I would get it replaced. Request a parts-only dispatch for the heatsink and install it yourself. Leave the thermal pads alone, scrape off the thermal grease for the CPU, then replace apply Arctic Silver 5.

There's no part number for thermal pads, so the only way to get them replaced is to replace the heatsink. Dell often dispatches thermal grease strips (DP/N UP755) with motherboard replacements or for heat-related issues, so make sure they send you the complete heatsink, not DP/N UP755 (you won't need it at all, Arctic Silver 5 is much better).

 

Thanks for all your support. The parts finally came in (it took them two days to send them) and I completed the repair today with your instructions. The new heatsink came with a thermal pad for the GPU, so I removed the grease from the CPU and the heatsink and applied the arctic silver. The temperatures still seem a tad warm, but I understand that there is a breaking in period for arctic silver so we'll see how that goes.

The issue I posted about in another topic (the strange buzzing sound) continues though. However, I'll consider this particular thread solved.

 

What are the temperatures like when the system is idle?

As for buzzing sounds, I think that is normal and probably coming from the CPU. I had a D620 that buzzed particularily loud, but pretty much laptops buzz to some extent.

 

It's idling around 125-130F right now. But it's not been that long since I applied the arctic silver, so it may go down a bit.

The buzzing sound does indeed seem to be coming from the CPU. It's amplified and makes "scratchy static" sounds when I'm scrolling a window up and down, and/or there is disk activity (it's solid state). I'm starting to notice the sound on my E6410, but it's much quieter in comparison. I would have thought I'd notice it if it were this loud before, but maybe not. I didn't notice it until the Dell technician last week tweaked on it.

 

That's a reasonable temperature. How about the GPU?

I have that sound on my E6410 as well. Since the motherboard has already been replaced, you could try to get the CPU replaced (that means you need to grease it again).

 

Right now the CPU is idling at 130F and the GPU is idling at 51F.

I compared my E6410 and E6420 and noticed they both make the "CPU whine" of "squeel" or whatever it is. I guess that's normal.

However, only the E6420 makes the "staticy" sound out of the speaker while the hard drive is being accessed or a window is being scrolled. I don't think this particular portion is normal

 

Have you gotten the motherboard replaced yet? Just in case, also check for an updated audio driver.