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    Right Wrist Rest (Hard Drive?) Running Hot

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by SaeYaka, Aug 25, 2011.

  1. SaeYaka

    SaeYaka Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I've heard mixed things about the M14x's heat and cooling.
    I recently got my M14x, and the cooling system seems to be working well as the laptop doesn't get too hot, except in one area-the right wrist rest.
    Apparently this is where the hard drive and dvd drive are.
    It's gets very warm while the rest of the lappy stays relatively cool under normal use, and under heavy use it gets pretty hot.

    Does anyone else have this issue?
    Is this normal?
    I expected the GPU and maybe the CPU to make the computer run warm, but not the hard drive so much.
     
    SaeYaka, Aug 25, 2011
    #1
  2. niko2021

    niko2021 Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah this is normal for me. But under normal usage it's only slightly warmer than the other side. It does get much warmer that it makes my palm sweat. I try not to use it for prolonged periods of time. I think it's because the hard drive is tucked away deep in the chassis, under the disc drive. I really never seen a laptop designed like that.
     
    niko2021, Aug 25, 2011
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  3. ted264

    ted264 Notebook Consultant

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    i would recommend running hwmonitor and checking the temp of your hdd, mine gets quite warm as well... altho I have 2 HDD One sad and a 500gb in the optical drive.
     
    ted264, Aug 25, 2011
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  4. johnspartan11712

    johnspartan11712 Notebook Enthusiast

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    That position is where the hdd, the only way to really reduce the heat would be to replace the hdd with an ssd or slower 5400rpm hdd. Over all the design of the laptops thermals is excellent very quite and cool when not gaming even in room temp of 27C.
     
    johnspartan11712, Aug 25, 2011
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  5. FelipY2K

    FelipY2K Notebook Consultant

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    i was thinking about using between the HDD and the chassis some material from cook gloves you guys you know what i mean? the silver tissue...
     
    FelipY2K, Aug 25, 2011
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  6. johnspartan11712

    johnspartan11712 Notebook Enthusiast

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    FelipY2k probly a very bad idea, as the engineers have most likely taken into account how much heat gets dissipated through the chassis. Putting some sort of reflective silver tissue (Gold leaf would work better), would increase the running temperature of the hard drive.

    Its the case of cook your palm or cook your hard drive :)
     
    johnspartan11712, Aug 26, 2011
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  7. Charismaztex

    Charismaztex Notebook Consultant

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    You could get an SSD which runs cooler than HDDs
     
    Charismaztex, Aug 26, 2011
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  8. FelipY2K

    FelipY2K Notebook Consultant

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    i got you ... you mean the tissue could maintain the heat inside instead let it be dissipated! ... my Momentus XT is around 48C.

    and just getting a ride on this topic, im so afraid to buy a SSD to my m14x, ive been reading a tons of issue and problems with new series of SSD like Crucial M4 and Corsair forse III.
     
    FelipY2K, Aug 26, 2011
    #8