HowTo: Latitude E6400 (and similar) Performance + Cooling Guide

Good, good. Glad to see I'm not the only one here who actually has a normally performing E6400. As the saga continues (check out akwit's latest post, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=380579), I'm getting pretty scared that the problems will get worse over time. I should have held until the Precision M4400 made it to the outlet and snagged one of those...

But then again, the beauty of the Latitudes is that you get 3 or 4 years warranty (3 for me), plus an additional year added by American Express. 4 years seems like enough for any potential problems to show themselves...

 

If you don't have overheating problems I think you have little to worry about, because of the great warranty.

 

If i only do the CPU mod. i.e. apply arctic silver 5, will it void the warranty?

 

From Dell's site:

"The Limited Warranty does not apply to expendable parts and does not extend to any Product from which the serial number has been removed or that has been damaged or rendered defective ..... (c) by use of parts not manufactured or sold by the Company; or (d) by modification or service by anyone other than (i) the Company, (ii) a Company authorized service provider, or (iii) your own installation of end user replaceable Company parts. "

So, unfortunately, that's a yes, it does void the warranty. I'll just point out though that in most cases, they'll ship a replacement part to you if you ask them and you're comfortable replacing it. That way, they never get to see the computer . Also, I'm not sure if they would notice the difference between thermal compounds.

But anyway, all the disclaimers I made apply. It's your choice.

 

what's the normal for CPU & GPU temperature and fan speed?
because I am having overheating problem or I feel so.
I use to put my hands on the palm rest area when typing.... and after a few minutes...I feel the Heat of the body...
generally, if I do not even utilize my laptop, the CPU works (maybe thinking by himself !! ) and it's temp reach even 70 C . is this a normal temp for u?

my normal temps under no load :
CPU 50~74 C
GPU 62 C
HDD 45 C
sth seems to be wrong!

I monitored the CPU temperate with Everest. u can find a picture of monitoring period .

http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34234&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1242992003

 

is this issue related to the CPU model?

 

The CPU model may have something to do with it - (while under load), the TDP difference is 10W. That is at least a few C. Going from my T series to an X series increased the temps at least 5C.

HDD: Seems a little on the warm side (mine averages about 39), but mine is single platter (I don't know if yours is). That temp will certainly not cause problems, though.
GPU: Seems typical of what other people report here.
CPU: 74C while idle??? That's...a problem. 50C sounds OK, but 65+ at idle is probably not good news.

Can you put it under load and report those temps?

 

I had some fps drops when playing games and quite high GPU temps (over 100C) so I have now tested the copper mod, and it surely works! I had a temperature drop on the GPU for more than 15C when on load!. I was way below 100C even when I play games.

But I have actually reverted to original again because I noticed a sideeffect that made me a bit worried. The fan was on even more than before and when i checked the ACPI temp it seemed higher than before. (i even did the coppermod on the northbridge, with very little effect) A bit dissapointing ofcourse as I want a cool and quit system... And that sensor is controlling both the fan and the CPU throttling, right?

Can i be that the better contact with the GPU is heating up the whole system more?
Im concearned that that may be a bigger problem, as i am reading about the CPU throttling in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=348221&page=8

I am not clear on what is doing what so must test and read more too see which is the biggest "cause" of the lagging problems. The CPU throttling or the GPU downclocking. Or does anyboy know already?

 

I just ordered a shim for my M4400, same as OP stated. Hopefully I'll open it up this coming weekend. My current temps aren't too bad, the main concern is the GPU, which idles around 54C while the CPU is a cozy 34C. I'll post my results in a couple weeks.