m15x ATI 3870M running super hot.

I just bought a 3870m master card off eBay and after installing the card, I'm noticing some ridiculous temperatures. I have heard that 3870's were supposed to run much cooler than nvidia cards but in my case, they're running much much hotter, idling at 50-52 and when put even under 30%-99% load, usually at 99% when playing any game, it hits 100-110 almost instantly. I've repasted twice already and the heatsink is definitely working, but I'm not sure why this is. I'm thinking it may be a vbios or driver issue but I'm not sure as I have yet to test anything other than the catalyst 13.1 drivers. I've attached the vbios I am using, its on stock clocks too as far as I know. Any help would be appreciated.

edit: running constantly at full clocks 660/850, temps are 78 when doing nothing.

 

Is the fan spinning up to max when the temps rise? Is all dust clear from the fan?

Are there any bends or nicks in the copper heatsink pipe? One time when removing the heatsink from my m5750 I bent the pipe a bit and temps shot up. The fluid inside the pipe was unable to move properly and could no longer cool the CPU / Video card. I ended up having to replace the heatsink and that solved my issue.

Also I assume you know how to properly use thermal paste but if not read up and do not use a ton of it.

Last, the card itself may just be faulty.

 

The fans aren't turning on when they should be and the GPU fan is definitely not running at full speed. The CPU fan on the other side does run on full though. I think this might be the problem. The heatsink is fine, its definitely attached right with a nice amount of paste spread evenly and its definitely picking up all the heat. I've tried adjusting speeds with Hwinfo64 but it doesn't seem to work for me. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. The card itself works but the temps are just unbearably hot. I've taken off the bottom and am using a coolermaster SF-19 at max fan speeds. Drops the temps 10c on idle to 41-44c. But if I load up a game like starcraft 2 or any other modern game, it will instantly take the GPU usage to 99% and temperatures will read 100+ in a matter of seconds. As a result, it will constantly go back and forth in clock speeds from 660/850 to 300/405 every second. Here's a picture. I found that once it hits 110, it will drop the clocks to 300/405.

 

Very odd that fan wouldn't respond. That laptop came with 3870's as a configuration option so there shouldn't be incompatibility. You did install the latest AMD/ATI drivers right? Is your BIOS also up to date?

 

Yep. Its not the most recent now as o was testing older deovers but Catalyst 13.1 is the most recent and it made np difference and x36 bios which is ancient but the last update the m15x ever got.

 

Does the laptop actually shut itself off after the card hits a certain temp? I thought somewhere between 100-110 was their limit.

 

Not at all. It'll just throttle the card when it hits 110 and then immediately go back to full clocks once its below 110 leading to clocks going back and forth every second. Even with fans running at 100% doesn't seem to do anything.

 

If your fans are on 100% and it still heating up that much it's either a bad card or a bad heatsink. A heatsink could probably be bought for $20-ish on ebay if you wanted to try that first. Or pop in you old card and see of temps are the same, if they are then you know the heatsink is fine and it's time to find another card on ebay.

 

I'm thinking its the card but theres not much I can do except get another one. All the nVidia cards just die so fast, my last one just lasting 8 months. Unless I can get a 260 or 280, my best bet would be trying a 4850 from alienware, which are hard to find, or test a 4870 from a w90, which has been tested by one member not to work. That or if you would be so gracious as to sell me your one of a kind 4850 =)

 

Haha I at one time tested a 4870 in a m15x and it did not work. I assume the 4850 would be the same. The 4870 I got was actually a card made for a m17x as an upgrade but never sold to the public. As the story goes the seller knew someone close to dell and they were getting rid of them.

My 4850 does seem to be rare but whats funny is before I grabbed mine the card actually sat on ebay for 3+ months. The seller at the time had 3 4850's and 1 4870 (all red pcb cards) and I was the only one who grabbed one when the price dropped down. The rest he must have sold outside of ebay because they were never re-listed. I tried contacting him months after to see if I could get the others and sell them to NBR members to help the community but never got a reply.

Anywho I doubt a 4850 would work in your m15x but if you dont mind the buy / resell ebay process try it out! If not though and you want a reliable card I would look for another 3870 and sell the one you have "As-Is" being honest that it gets hot.