M11x R2 temp keeps rising

I've had my R2 for around 2 years, and with a reinstall of Windows and no programs running, the CPU temp keeps rising. I'll let it sit there, idle, and the temp will slowly go up and up until it reaches 80+C (WITH NOTHING RUNNING). I opened up the laptop and disassembled it to the point of only having the motherboard, I/O Panel and LCD display attached and cleaning the fan, but it only marginally solved the problem (making the temps rise slower, but they still rise). Is my machine broken? How can I fix this?

 

Did you reapply the thermal paste when reassembling the machine? Both the CPU and GPU will need it.

 

No, I was reading the instructions and it said to remove the bluetooth module and coin battery but the screw on the bluetooth module is kinda worn so I couldn't get it out. Do I have to remove the bt mod and coin battery before I can take out the motherboard?

 

Bump, could really use an answer!

 

No idea about the removal of the motherboard, but i'd say a proper repaste of decent thermal compound would solve your problem. If not, then i'd say there's an actual underlying problem and if it's still under warranty i'd get on to Dell about it.

 

Agreed, new thermal compound. I recommend Arctic SIlver 5

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/658506-m14x-r2-heat-issues-2.html#post8463030

It lists the top thermal pastes

If you're uncomfortable with doing the paste job, this is what you do.

1. Buy one of the high-grade pastes in that thread. Wait until it arrives.
2. Call Dell and say you're having a major over-heating problem with your laptop. Don't tell them about the paste you bought.
3. Schedule a technician to come out
4. Once tech arrives, be kind/polite. Offer him a drink. Set-up a nice, well lit and clean area for him to work on - he'll appreciate this.
5. Gives him the paste you purchased and kindly ask him if he can remove Dell's paste and replace it with the one you purchased.
6. Voila.

You can also buy a compressed air can for cleaning. I'm not sure if all technicians carry them.

Cleaning your laptop with this can significantly reduce temps and it's around 5.00$.

 

Just as a fyi, when dell comes with a new heatsink. It has square patches of paste already applied. So you will need to remove the paste from the new heatsink, clean it, then apply your own.

 

Not really, the pre-applied thermal paste is actually great.

 

Fixed my post, thank you.

Guess it'll depend on the technicians willingness and kindness to remove and reapply for someone who doesn't feel comfortable doing it then.

@katalin_2003
Eh, I figure if you have an Alienware (or any expensive gaming laptop for that matter) you'll want to treat it with the best/top pastes available

 

Yes, but what makes you think that the pre-applied one is not? The fact that new systems have poor paste jobs is not due to the quality of the thermal compound.

 

But can we identify which brand/quality of thermal paste is applied on stock mobos? I'm also thinking of calling Dell to get an engineer up so that he could "inspect" my M11x and I can also do some cleanup.

 

Most of the complaints regarding Dell's thermal paste is attributed towards the very poor application (sloppy job), but at the same time, some various other sites and forums are reporting that it's not only the poor application, but the poor quality as well.

Even if the paste is decent/average. Given you have an opportunity to replace it with top of the line paste, why not? You'll reduce your temps and will not have to revisit thermal paste for about a year if using the quality stuff.

@kcljj
I have no idea what the brand is - I just tried to google it for 10 minutes.

 

True, but we had a conference call with Bill and Louis not long ago regarding the GTX 580M throttle in the M17x R3 @78 C and we established that it's actually the application in the build stage that makes a difference (see the sticky thread in the M17x section).

When the heatsink with the pre-applied thermal compound is properly installed, temperatures were great and nobody was able to do better with aftermarket thermal paste.
And the fact that is hard at environment temperature, that's normal too. It becomes fluid at higher values.

So that's why I said if one has the chance to receive a heatsink with pre-applied TIM, it is worth a try installing it without reapplying his own thermal paste.

 

I applied AS5 and it seems to have helped a bit. I'm still getting really weird temps now. I usually idle around 60C and under load I go around 80C, so it's a 10C difference. I was hoping to get idles around 40C, but this is an R2 and I heard they run hotter.

I'm out of warranty so I doubt I could get a tech to come for free; if all else failed, I'd have to get a new mobo right?

 

no, you may just need to get a new heat sink if you cant get the old one cleaned out enough.

 

I didn't clean the heat sink, but it didn't look particularly dirty to me but then again I didn't really take a hard look.

 

Hose it out really good with canned air. Even a thin layer of dust can drop cooling by a bit.