Alienware 17 R2 non stop issues

Hello everyone I bought my first Alienware computer expecting amazing things, did my research and was between getting the Asus G75 and the Alienware 17 R2, decided to take a shot with the Alienware, wrong...

First it was the hard drive, faulty one, the hard drive cable was having problems too, I contacted dell support and they sent someone to change the hard drive, the motherboard and the hard drive cable. But the problems didn't stop there, I bought a cooling pad hoping that the heating problems could go away, ( http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...=1443136835&sr=8-1&keywords=cooler+master+u+3) it feels like nothing honestly I get 98 C max temperatures while playing Dota.

This is my benchmark score: ( http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8685638?)
Graphics: 9821
Physics: 7082
Combined: 3547
Temperatures reached 97 C max, a lot of throttling too
my specs are: BIOS A00, 240w psu, 4710HQ, GTX 980, win 8.1, I honestly don't know what to do, I'd appreciate any kind of help, thank you for taking your time to read this post.

 

If it's within the 30 day window, you can still return it if Dell can't fix it for you / you don't feel like taking any more chances with this laptop

 

It's been like 2 months so I have to keep it.

 

your notebook is perfect, you just need to replace the thermal paste with a high end thermal paste, like gelid extreme or grizzly kryonautic, the second is the best of the best. and install the A06 BIOS, nothing to worry, you have the 240W addapter. i can ensure you that you have a good laptop.

 

Well, it could be the heatsink / bad application of thermal paste at work here: my temps usually cap out at 80'C with an AW15 (A06) on stock paste. High quality paste never hurts of course

 

My temp stays at about 60 on both CPU and gpu, I have the same spec 17 inch, I control the fan manually in hwinfo 64, set it to 3000 rpm, I guess ur having a bad thermal paste or the heat sink.

 

Wrong. Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra is the best thermal compound, period.

 

Till it shorts out your gpu because a small speck is hitting the contacts on top of the GPU next to the die.

 

So be careful when applying it, don't overestimate your GPU die size, or cut out some thermal tape and cover all the resistors that surround the GPU die.

 

I ordered one gelid extreme paste, is there anything else I can do at the moment to help my computer out a bit? Thanks for the help.

EDIT: Do you think I can apply the gel myself or do I need some sort of specialist or something, im kinda worried i'm gonna mess something up.

 

you can do it youself, }

please read the manual before
http://www.dell.com/support/manuals...-us/GUID-5B8DE7B7-879F-45A4-88E0-732155904029

.. its really easy, just some things you should know before do it

1) if you have a alienware 15 dont forget to remove the screw under the ram ( if you have the 17R2, it didnt have it)
2) you nedd to remove all the screws, if you fell that you need to do force, just go back and search for other screw
3) i dont know how to say it in english .... mmmm remove the card that be in the right side of the lap ... in the 9 in 1 card reader port
4) you cant remove the board if you dont remove the display first ( take this in mind)
5) i use gloves, you can buy 2 pairs in a farmacy
6) use a clean table, and use a little bit of alcohol to remove the old thermal paste.
7) if you check the heatsink, it have numbers in each side of the screws, you need to unescrew in order and screw in order. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
8) when you remove all the screws under the lap, you will se a hole in the place between the two m.2 ssd place. you need to use your finger to remove the base panel pushing on this hole.
9) you dont need to remove the fans
10) take your time, its easy when you are organized.
11) spread is the best method, but you need to remind that the layer need to be thin and uniform you will be very happy if you do the things right.
12) when you go to put the palm rest panel again, put the alienware power logo cable in place. you will see that this special cable has a special place.

just dont forget to search like crazy for screws under the first panel. sorry but i speak spanish XD

spread is the best method, this is my heatsink and the repaste with ic diamond