M11x R3 - overheating CPU and warranty questions

Hello, I'm new to these forums so welcome everyone...

I've been experiencing this problem with my M11x such that when placed on a flat surface (i.e. my desk) - the CPU would overheat while gaming ect. It became even more annoying when, due to the high temp. (90*C), it would decrease its speed to 800mhz which rendered laptop's gaming performance useless...

Now, I made a claim (by customer support e-mail found somewhere in that forum) and I've been contacted twice, but unfortunately I was unable to answer nor call back (my phone can't dill with international numbers for some reason). Today, I was contacted by a man from Dell asking if I want to extend my warranty as it expired on the 10th of this month. Firstly, I was a little surprised, as I was near-sure that European Union Warranty Law states it must be 2 years (my friend once had his ps3 replaced after 18months, even though warranty was only 12months long; had to argue though). And I still didn't contact them about replacing my TIM/heatsink. Now I'm a little concerned whether they would do that for me (and an extra year on warranty costs 170 quid).

Now, my options are:
- since I made a claim before my warranty expired - I can still get my M11x fixed (can it work that way?)
- argue about warranty, where EU states it must be at least 2 years (anyone ever done that with them?)
- extend my warranty (at a cost of not buying SSD and extra memory I was planning before)
- do it myself (and I'd rather not to)

To be perfectly honest, I think my laptop should still be fixed, regardless of my warranty terms. This problem occurs due to the bad design/factory mistake (I've overclocked PCs for nearly 10 years and I know that TIM cannot just wear out in one year) and was reccuring for the last couple of months (just that I didn't ever had time to claim it).

For the side questions:
- I live in UK
- my M11x R3 is an i5 option with 4gb ram; it was used in proper, clean environment and was never overclocked

I'd please like to get some opinions on this topic. Maybe I'm not the first. btw. It would be nice they had my rubber feet reattached but I don't want to ask for too much at once.

 

If it were me I would just repaste the CPU + GPU with IC Diamond, clean the fan and heatsink ASAP, and be done with it. I prefer to work on my stuff myself because I'm meticulous so I'll take my time and work carefully. You could also add a couple adhesive rubber feet to the back to raise the fan intake slightly to improve airflow due to your overclocking requirements.

Only if that fails to resolve the problem would I resort to pushing a claim on an expired warranty or getting an extension.

Just an opinion as you requested.

 

Same here, you can follow this troubleshooting article or use a cooling pad and do the re-paste. All of them will be less hassle for you to be honest.

 

Yeah dude, do it yourself. You don't want those techies touching your laptop. I had an MX14 which they completely ruined and now i will never let them touch my mx11. I will do it myself ....

 

If this is your first re-pasting job you might want to check out this video, it's a very informative guide with do's and don'ts for re-pasting.

Graphics Card Thermal Paste Application Guide

 

Am gonna bookmark this for when the time comes .......

 

Now let me ask you experts here from Alienware, what temperatures do you guys consider to be overheating ?

90c +

Last night i was checking temps on my MX11 and noticed 85c top for my GPU and 84c Top for my CPU. Mind you, my GPU was overclocked to 641Mhz > 749Mhz core speed and Shader 13xxMhz > 1499Mhz and Memory clock 900Mhz > 990Mhz.

I was playing Borderlands 2 and the game was running smooth as on 720p Sony Bravia 40"Lcd. Loved it and i also have a cooler master U2 fan underneath with three fans.

When i leave the GPU stock, it does not go so smooth and max temps are GPU 82c and CPU 79c'ish


At this overclocked speed and game locked at 30fps, lowest i've seen is 29fps during big battles. Phys x set to low, i really hate to debris getting in the way all the time and blocking the view.


Is the MX11 easier to repaste than the MX14 ??? I noticed that it has no keyboard plastic thingy to tear apart like in the mx14.


Thanks for your input.

 

I'd consider 90c+ as overheating, as for which one is easier to tear down check it out for yourself, here's a M11x teardown video

What do you think?

 

Awesome thanks, bookmarked.

Stoopid me, i realised i had my laptop right next to me heater the night before when running those tests. Last night i turned off the heater and overclocked 797/1080/1595 , played for 1 hour only though and GPU 82c CPU 81c MAX. So i would assume that under load for a 3-4hr session it'll reach 85c-87c. Not bad .... I think I will carry on and when i touch 90c , that is when i will re paste it

The good thing i noticed when i overclock is that the GPU oftens go in the 86% usage as opposed to constant 99% usage when stock. When it goes to 86% my temps go down to 78c , so it's pretty nice getting those cool off periods in between battles

Thanks for the link.

 

Thanks a lot for the support. My main concern was caused by the "m11x feel" - you know, tiny heavy laptop, it gives impression it must be pretty packed up in there. Seems a bit harder than the PC job I did for a while... Would You recommend Arctic Silver 5 or should I use Ceramique just to be safe (although silver has been proven not to conduct electricity)?

 

Not a common problem in the m11x. I would use Arctic Silver man.

 

I've just done some testing to evaluate problem even further. CPU refuses to overheat (77*C max) when I put heavy load on it (2x orthos small fft) but do not use nVidia GPU. i.e. CPU overheats only when I use my GPU too. Is that normal? I suppose these are joined by a heat pipes ect. but can high GPU load cause CPU to overheat in m11x R3?

 

Actually Alienware and Dell have technicians come on site to fix your laptop and if you request it they won't use power tools. Only bad experience I've had ever was when a technician came and used power tools and stripped the screws and damage the laptop.

 

I learned this the hard way ... But power tools or not, the guy found extra parts after re assembly.

 

Yup, that's how it is ... joined heat pipe and the heat between CPU anf GPU are dependent.

 

Well I've done changing the paste. Chose one of the best ones (Arctic Ceramique). Still overheating after two minutes. Too bad it is now too late to return my M11x as I already opened it. Something else is faulty and I don't know what it might be. I bought 16gb Corsair Vengeance but I can't even think about overclocking it while it overheats even without it. Bull...

 

You must be having a fan issue then. Unless the paste job both at factory and by you were botched, I can't see that being the issue anymore. It can also be a defect in the heatsink as well. So I'd look into the fan and heatsink as two possible culprits.

EDIT: After rereading your posts, I can almost say for certain your fans aren't doing the job. The heat from the GPU and CPU are being transferred to the fins, but they're not being cooled properly it seems.

For now, you can try forcing the fans to spin up more by using HWiNFO64. It's not a permanent fix, but should solve the overheating until you do.

 

I use HWiNFO64 for monitoring and it shows GPU fan speed (as it's not really there) value of 100% throughout entire recording session. However, CPU fan speed seems to oscilate 6900-7100 (but rarely above 7000) with heavy load. With laptop elevated so that it can gather fresh air from underneath easily, core temp peaks at about 80*C. I can't see how is that increased to 90*C with laptop sitting on a flat, hard desk. I recently investigated laptop's internalls when applying paste. The actual radiator that seats next to the power port is in almost perfect condition (although I must've slightly bent one of the fins while trying to put power cord in). I haven't however, opened the actual fan case that both heat-pipes end at. There was a little bit of dust stuck on fan's blades but I doubt it had that much impact on my temperatures. Either way:
- I ordered dust-off copressed air spray to get it sorted
- it really concerns me how fan speed cannot stay consistent with temperatures peaking high and near the actuall cutoff/clockdown point
- also idle temps seem a bit too high with 60*C for CPU and 50*C for (DISABLED) nVidia GPU

Below, I attach HWiNFO readings from about 1hr gaming session of ArmA2: Op Arrowhead. For those that don't know, this game is very poorly optimized for multiple threads and is also very CPU-heavy:

arma2.CSV - Speedy Share - upload your files here

And here is my CPU-Z validated system info:

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

 

you should try calling up dell and see if they can fix this for you. I had mine fixed after calling them. good luck!

 

Well there are only two problems with that:
- I repasted my M11x which I believe voids warranty
- if i even had one since my M11x is form Nov 2011.

 

Hmmm, since the warranty is out, then maybe you can repaste the thermal paste? The dell technician came to place to replace the whole fan in less than 20 minutes. It was pretty simple for him to take out every unit and assemble back. But you may need to look for tutorials and get an additional computer standby to guide you through, good luck man.

 

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