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    M18X R1 Very Hot

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by Scotsman79, Feb 1, 2015.

  1. Scotsman79

    Scotsman79 Newbie

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    My Alienware M18X R1 has started to produce a black screen. I have noticed that the area of the primary graphics card is very hot.

    I have disassembled the laptop and checked the heatsinks. The primary GPU was completely dry, so I cleaned that up and re-pasted. I also used compressed air to clean the vent's and other areas where dust and hair may accumulate.
    Afterwards the laptop ran fine until now. I am back to square 1.
    I have also noticed that the fans do not seem to be increasing their RPM when things heat up. My laptop does sit on a cooling pad to help aid air flow.

    GPU #0 is 55 degrees
    GPU #1 is 51 degrees (info from HWiNFO64)

    Windows does not see any problems with my GPU's. I am in the process of looking at replacing the fans. I will later today re-flash the BIOS in case there is any corruption.

    Has anyone else suffered this issue and found a way around to resolve it?
     
    Scotsman79, Feb 1, 2015
    #1
  2. GodlikeRU

    GodlikeRU Notebook Deity

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    These temperatures are fine, you should think about cooling when it goes above 80-85C in normal gaming. I have M18xR1 too with HD6990M, gpu is dead now but I was getting about 78-82 in very demanding games.
     
    GodlikeRU, Feb 1, 2015
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  3. Scotsman79

    Scotsman79 Newbie

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    Yes I am aware those temperatures are fine. They do not rise too much if I am gaming, they rise to about 56-58 if I am playing a game. I did forget to mention that the cards on my laptop are the 580M in SLi Mode.

    I have not long done a clean install of the graphics driver. I will be able to monitor once I finish work. It's just the issue with the fans that bother me. I can control the fans using HWiNFO64 no problem at all, but when I put them back to System Auto they run slow and do not increase RPM when things hot up.
     
    Scotsman79, Feb 1, 2015
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  4. GodlikeRU

    GodlikeRU Notebook Deity

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    Hmm AFAIK MSI Afterburner can maintain temperature you want by controlling fans.
     
    GodlikeRU, Feb 1, 2015
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  5. Scotsman79

    Scotsman79 Newbie

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    I think I may have resolved the issue by simply removing my GPU driver and doing a clean install. My laptop fans seem to be doing the job now. If things go bad again though I will update this post.
     
    Scotsman79, Feb 1, 2015
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    reborn2003 likes this.
  6. D2 Ultima

    D2 Ultima Livestreaming Master

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    Glad you got it sorted out dude
     
    D2 Ultima, Feb 2, 2015
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  7. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    That's great to hear. Anyway using HWInfo will always work if you continue to have issues in the future.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Feb 3, 2015
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  8. Scotsman79

    Scotsman79 Newbie

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    Well the problem has came back. I do not think it is heat related as the screen will go black when the laptop boots up or randomly when I am doing other things.

    I have carried out lots of tests and still nothing points to hardware. I have also formatted and it has happened on a fresh install.

    It has to be caused by something simple that I am missing and I am wracking my brain trying to eliminate single points of failure.
     
    Scotsman79, Feb 4, 2015
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  9. Scotsman79

    Scotsman79 Newbie

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    I would like to say that I have managed to fix this issue. I stripped my laptop down and pulled the GPU's and re-sat them. Since doing that I have had no further issue's :)
     
    Scotsman79, Feb 5, 2015
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  10. st1y

    st1y Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nice going Scots man I will be doing the same tomorrow when I get a chance to my own R1 rig. Thanks for the info. :)
     
    st1y, Mar 6, 2015
    #10