Alienware 15 - Intense Heat and Fan Noise (i7-4710HQ, GTX 980M)

I got my refurbished Alienware 15 one week ago. I flashed the A00 bios, undervolted my CPU and iGPU, and started up Grand Theft Auto V on settings as high as my VRAM could fit. While playing, the fans spin so loud it sounds like an airplane is taking off behind my laptop. This doesn't surprise me, as I have read reviews warning me about the noise. But the keyboard also gets hot after a solid 10 minutes of gameplay, hot to the point where my fingertips feel toasty. I recorded max CPU temperatures of 73°C and the GPU at 67°C, which seems normal compared to other people here and NotebookCheck.

After 15 minutes of light browsing on Chrome, the bottom left area of my keyboard heats up, and all the other areas get warm. I get a maximum of 56°C for the processor and an average of about 50°C. Strange enough, I thought when I first installed the laptop, the surface temperatures felt cooler than they do now. Maybe something I changed or installed made a difference. To other Alienware users with similar specifications as me, how hot does your keyboard get, on a subjective scale? (I have no temperature reader.)

I also have the default 180W adapter instead of the superior 240W.

 

Well first off as you said your temps seem great... As far as heat this seems normal. Im not sure what type of GFX you have but most gaming laptops especially these because they are thinner are going to have heat on the surfaces. Perhaps they could have figured out a way to distribute the heat better but I can remember as far back as XPS gaming laptops having heat issues around the chassis. Most gaming laptops have warm or host surfaces, you have alot of power in a small package.

 

I guess I was stating the obvious about load temperatures, which seem to be fine. I was more disappointed with the temperatures after 15 minutes of light Internet browsing on Chrome. I don't think the processor should have to stress so much to load some web pages, but I might be wrong.

As I put in the thread's title, I have the GTX 980M and i7-4710HQ.

EDIT: Looks like there's something wrong with my iGPU as the AlienAutopsy tests fail. I hope the issue relates to my high temperatures so I can fix both problems at once.

 

Install BIOS A02 if you want the fan profile to be not so loud. I believe BIOS A03 has the same not so aggressive fan profile.

Many people here hate A02 due to lower spinning fans, I think otherwise as I value less noise even if it means a few degrees hotter, but than does deter me, I never had any throttling.

Keep in mind I had the 970M which uses less power than the 980M on the exact same cooling fan/heasink design, therefore my cooling doesn't have to work so hard.