Concerns regarding CPU temperature?

(EDIT)
Well after much uncertainty I'll probably email/contact Dell, or pay someone I know who disassembles/assembles laptops all the time and knows what they're doing (as when I replaced the hard drive with a better one in my M14x I accidentally broke one side of the clip which holds the SATA cable in place on the board, the ZIF connector, fortunately the clip on the other side holds it in place, so if Dell see that then I might have a problem?), but there are one or two questions I have before I do, would Dell use a decent paste, or accept to use my paste if I bought AS5 or IC Diamond? How long would it typically take them to do the job, assuming they can do it at my house?

Until I've had the problem resolved I'm going to reduce the clock on my CPU using ThrottleStop to maintain reasonably normal temperatures when under load.
(/EDIT)

Hi,
I never used to have this problem, but recently (today) I've noticed after playing Star Trek Online for about 30-45 minutes my max temperature on ThrottleStop shows 99C across the cores. As Tjunction is 100C I'm going to assume the processor was downclocked eventually in order to prevent damage. This hasn't happened before which is why I'm a little concerned.

The processor isn't overclocked, or at least I believe a while ago I set it back to a reasonable clock of 99.9MHz (I'm not sure if that's the default, assumably it is as i7 2720QM clocks at roughly 2.2GHz with a multiplier of 22 by normality). The GPU is overclocked but as I can see is running at temperatures of around 50-60C~, clocks 775/1080.

When playing Star Trek Online I'm playing at a resolution of 1280x720 with maximum detail, absolutely smooth gameplay too.

Any ideas why my temperatures may now be in the danger zone for the CPU? Any suggestions which may involve me not breaking the internal components easily? And yes, I do have a Coolermaster U3 laptop cooler running at full fan, with fans positions at the top left, top right, and lower middle of the base of the laptop. My room is air conditioned at a temperature of 21C, but if this keeps up I may have to reduce that temperature to around 18C~ just to try and help cool it.

Additionally the background static from the Intel HD audio has caused me to buy the Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro.

 

That is definitely not normal. 21C is pretty cool for ambient temp. That is WAY too hot considering you had it on a laptop cooler (it MIGHT be close to normal if it had been sitting flat on a desk). Probably needs a repaste. You can do this yourself if you're comfortable with it, or call Dell.

 

Well it's sadly still doing it, which means re-paste. What thermal compound would one suggest getting from a store in the UK? The best performing one obviously, I'm assuming people will say Arctic Silver 5? And for those who have re-pasted or taken their M14x to bits do you have any tips/advice to give when disassembling/assembling the M14x?

Edit: Interesting review at http://skinneelabs.com/as5-asc-asc2-review/4/

 

I'm thinking a repaste will help. But a lot of people, including me, it has been an issue. Idk what that meas for the longevity of the cpu. I read that getting to the heatsinks requires an almost total teardown. Basically you'll probably end up removing the motherboard. Idk if there are any warranty stickers you'd have to break, that would suck.

 

I'd definitely repaste, with Arctic Silver or IC Diamond.

Are your cooling stand fans right underneath the m14x vents?

 

Yes, they are. Two fans are at the back located beneath the left and right vents, one fan is at front center of the laptop where I've noticed a very small vent is located, so every little bit helps in my view. All fans are running full speed. As the other poster said, my main concern is that there are no warranty labels which I have to break in order to repaste it myself.

Well after much uncertainty I'll probably email/contact Dell, or pay someone I know who disassembles/assembles laptops all the time and knows what they're doing (as when I replaced the hard drive with a better one in my M14x I accidentally broke one side of the clip which holds the SATA cable in place on the board, the ZIF connector, fortunately the clip on the other side holds it in place, so if Dell see that then I might have a problem?), but there are one or two questions I have before I do, would Dell use a decent paste, or accept to use my paste if I bought AS5 or IC Diamond? How long would it typically take them to do the job, assuming they can do it at my house?

Until I've had the problem resolved I'm going to reduce the clock on my CPU using ThrottleStop to maintain reasonably normal temperatures when under load.

 

Have a look at my thread;

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/593312-artcic-silver-5-results.html

 

Thanks, that answers any questions regarding the performance of the compound, but hopefully someone can provide a possible answer to AW/Dell related questions.

As I've accidentally broken part of the ZIF for the SATA cable (left side of the plastic clip is broken, but the right side of the plastic clip is intact and holds the SATA cable onto the motherboard fine) will that cause any problems for me regarding warranty/repairs from AW/Dell? If people don't think it will then how do you suggest I go about getting the current issue resolved, that is a thermal compound re-paste onto the CPU? I've spoken to some call centers in the past and their troubleshooting process and understanding of components is diabolical, but I've never spoken to AW/Dell's technical support department before as this is the first AW laptop I've had.

And finally if I did get AW/Dell to come and do it, should I buy some decent paste (AS5) for them, incase they just repaste it with their usual paste which possibly isn't up to the job, or is this not possible and that they must repaste it with their own thermal compound?

 

If you call a tech to come to your house you can probably just ask them to use a tube of paste you buy yourself. I'm not sure if you can do that if you ship your system back to them.

 

I see, fair enough. There's no way I'm sending the laptop back, as that means I could be without a computer for days or weeks. Also do you know whether the broken clip I mentioned might be a problem when AW/Dell become aware of it when disassembling?