Alienware m14x r2 fan

Hi guys, i have my new alienware m14x r2 two months ago, and my question and my discomfort is when i play games and the fan spin 3000 rpm or faster, y feel a vibration on my keyboard and it bothers me, that is normal ?
Thx!

 

yes,based on the design of the laptop (which is that of the 11x) it can get that high(esp. with i7 CPU) and OC'd 650m. I recommend propping the back of the laptop up so that the vent on the left can suck in the air it needs or else the GPU will get too hot and will throttle. If the GPU throttles then your gonna have a bad time.

 

Oh i see, using 3dmark 11 my temps are 73ºmax CPU and 60º GPU with a new thermal paste ( artic cooling mx-4 ), That temps for Alienware M14x R2 are fine? thx for the reply! the vibration only i feel it from left palm until the mid ( above the fan ) when the temps rise 68º+ CPU, when is idle i dont feel it.

 

I have used M14x R1 and M14X R2 both. But i noticed that this vibration wasnt present in the earlier version (R1). I was fairly surprised to feel it on keyboard when i first booted up the laptop. It made me curious enough to pickup screwdriver and open up bottom plate to see whats up. I even see that fan design has changed. So maybe there is some design issue where fan might not be having a proper fit.

Might not be normal, but i agree its there and it irritates sometimes. But over time you will get used to it! atleast i did

 

Yes you are right, i did the same opened the bottom plate and it looks like normal so maybe i have to get used to it , i check the screws and for me is all fine, something is strange but i dont know what, i have to say that i change the original thermal paste, so i dissasembly all the laptop and assemble all again and still having the same problem, i think is the fan desing that have more rpm than R1 and that is the problem maybe..really don't know.
Well if you know something im here

 

My fan is constantly spinning when I am playing games, but I do not feel any vibration at all.

 

Maybe its my fan problem, i'm going to take a look. I already opened the laptop, this avoid the complete care warranty? the lap is from mexico and i live in Argentina, because they told me not avoid the warranty doing that but i wanna be sure, inside nothing is broken because i test with alienautopsy and the diagnostic from bios and everything is fine, only the screws are a little bit worn because of the screwdriver, that have any problem for the warranty ? thx.

 

Alienware itself allows you to open and modify your notebook the way you want without voiding your warranty, except when you break something in the process.

 

Thx Mastaa to clear my doubts.

 

There is a small rubber piece next to the fan for vibration. Take the bottom off your laptop and check to see if it might have fallen out.

 

I put that small rubber i a way that it fix with the mother assembled because in other ways i cannot put it back. If you have a pic of the right position can you attach here ? if not don't worry

When i open the laptop again i saw the grill behind the fan broken on a side ( like some one hit with something) and between the fan and the grill has a little space, the vent of the notebook have' 5 or 6 squares, i feel the air blowing only on 4 or 5 squares and not on the entire surface, i have complete care warranty from alienware so if i call the support maybe they can check my computer right ? doesn't matter if i already dissamble the lap right without any broken part? because the notebook runs great, only the vibration and heat coming from inside is the problem.

 

Yes, I would call support. Tell them what is wrong with your laptop. It does not matter if you took apart your m14x.

 

OK great! thx alienowl then i comment what happened.
Thx!

 

Hi guys, i called dell support and they told me the warranty cannot cover replace the heatsink + cooler because the heatsink on a side have a little hit ( not by me, it came for fabric like this) they ask me why i opened the laptop and i should call thems before doing that because the warranty not support the broken pieces, reallly is not so expensive the heat and cooler, but my question is i have to pay a dell tech support to come to replace the heatsink? if on the future i have a problem with the motherboard, they can tell me that the warranty doesn't cover the lap because i already open it ? if the motherboard is in perfect state ( no hits and nothing on the entire mobo), because i have a problem heat from the pch (nortbrige / southbrige ) temperature and warms up my keyboard on the right plam and it takes long time to low down the temp, and i dont know if they going to say me that the warranty doesn't cover because i open the laptop, ( the motherboard i worry because is a expensive piece ).
Thx for help guys.

 

My opinion, Call them again. just say you are having overheating issues. Don't say anything about you opening up the laptop for anything.

Also they cannot say warranty is void when you opened up the cover. Alienware ALLOWS you to open up laptop and do upgrade/maintenance as long as you dont damage some part. Its not your fault you found something wrong inside while you opened it.

Although i would suggest you to NOT pay them for heatsink+fan, even if you do end up paying, your motherboard is still covered in warranty. Because if you face further problem in motherboard, dont tell them that you opened up laptop. let them figure out the problem. Major problem with dell reps is that they are eager to put the blame on you for anything wrong with your laptop. I had subwoofer issue( blown subwoofer) and they said it was my fault because i was using VLC! ( although i wasnt using it).

In nutshell, your laptop is still in warranty so don't worry

Also, i would advise you to contact Dell reps here on alienware forum. These guys are really helpful and will make sure your problems are resolved in a convenient manner.

 

Thx Nuaron for your advice, i'm going to do that, only when they come to see my machine i think they going to see the screws a little bit marked on the top, but well i going to do that and let's see what happend. About the motherboard i think is the pch temperature is too high and doesn't cool down fast..it takes a lo of time to go down and the fan always runing 3000+ rpm and the CPU and GPU are with low temp.
Thx again!

 

You can also send us an e-mail to [email protected] with the issue, service tag and phone number and we'll get back to you ASAP.

 

Hi guys again, well i bought a new cooler from a internet website, today i change the old cooler for the new one ( had the secure stick on the tape ) and the problem persist, i feel the same vibration on the keyboard with my hands when i playing... don't know what is wrong really, that happend the first time that i repaste the laptop...i don't know what to check because the fan is new and secure with the 3 screws... i live in argentina and i don't know how is the support here, because they don't sell alienware in my country...so i do the things by my own...
I have a lot of years repairing computers and i have a certificate ( microsoft ) of that on my college...but i don't know what to do to repair that, i think is something easy but i can't find the solution...
if someone know something about that and want to help me, i appreciate that!
Thx for your time!

 

anyone had this experience with the laptop ? thx

 

Sorry to hear about your problem kzius. This is the first time I see someone having such issue with the fan (vibration). Please check before you screw down the fan if it falls in place without forcing it. If it doesn't then there may be a construction issue with your system's casing and you may require to replace that part (which I doubt that will be the case).

About the PCB temperature issue, you have to deal with it. It has nothing to do with your motherboard being faulty. All of us we are facing the same problem. This is due to a longer usage of the system (atleast an hour), heavy or light use (doesn't matter), the motherboard gets warm and the keyboard as well towards the right side of the laptop.

The only way you can have this a little dealt with is by buying a good cooling pad and having it placed on it. This system contains high performance devices (CPU + GPU) in a very small factor and not having a proper cooling solution (a second fan to the right side of the system), it causes the system to heat up. There is nothing to worry about, its just something you will need to get used to and deal with it. This system has already been tested by Dell / Alienware to his optimal performance and they know about this issue, however it will not damage your system at all.

Another solution will be to take a break every few hours, put the system in sleep mode or switched off for about 30 minutes and then your matter will be solved temporarily.

Also please check the latest bios released by dell (A11), I believe that it helps a lot in the cooling solution Driver Details | Dell Canada

Best of luck!

 

Thanks Juliant for your help about the temps at the moment i don't really care ( because after the repaste with turbo on the gpu doesn't pass 65º and cpu 80º ) my only concern now is the vibration of the fan... i take out the fan, and i blow air with compressed air ( always with the fan in my hand ) and the vibration i think is the blades spining... i test the old and the newone and the both vibrate slightly...i have a fan of an alienware m14x r1 and i test it too and that one doesn't happend about that slightly vibration...i think my both fan from the r2 are bad...( i don't know why because the new one had the security tape and everything..so is new..) but well..i don't know...i have warranty of the laptop but i don't know if it gonna cover me...you know what i mean...
i'm frustrated a little bit...

 

No reason to get frustrated, send me a PM with your service tag I'll look into it.

 

My problem persist, alienware recommend me isolate the fan with a piece of rubber but i don't know how to do it or where to do it, so if someone know it will be great it's more than 1 year with this and i don't get used to, it bothers me....i send an email to dell support and they charge me u$s 110 dolars only to come the technical to see the laptop to diagnostic the problem, and for me is a lot of money at this time ( i live in Argentina ). I will appreciate all your help. Thanks.