6970m shutting down.

Hey guys, there was another post regarding this as well; after installing my 6970m yesterday, my M15x would shut down randomly after around 20 minutes of playing BF3. I repasted my card this morning and also checked the ribbon cable and it was pretty springy, so I don't think that is the problem..but then again I could be wrong . If that is in fact working correctly, could temperatures be causing the system to shut down? My HWiNFO32 info is as follows:
Alienware M15x EC (Current temps)
Temp 0: 63C
Temp 1: 47C
Temp 2: 48C
Temp 3: 43C
Temp 4: 38C
Temp 5: 52C

ATI GPU[#0] ATI RADEON HD 6970m
GPU Thermal Diode: 61C
GPU TS0 (DispIO): 61.5C
GPU TS1 (MemIO): 66.5C
GPU TS2 (Shader): 64C

Could someone explain all these numbers to me, as in what each corresponds to? Are they about average temps as well, or on the high side? I used Dynex thermal compound from Best Buy, so I don't know how much of a factor that is. Thanks a lot

 

True, and now here's another... why not just post in the existing thread?

Anyway, are these your idling temps? Can you make a GPU-Z during the game and attach it here? A 10 min log will do the job.

 

Sorry svl7 >.< I'll not do this next time. Yeah, those are idling temperatures, and also how do I attach the GPU-Z? If I try to copy/paste, it says that I have too many characters, unless you only need a specific portion?

 

Click on "go advanced" and then "manage attachements". Then you can upload the file.

 

Here's the file. Also, every so often, my game will become slightly laggy as well before returning to a smooth framerate; is that caused by these problems as well? Thanks!

 

Yeah, looks like thermal throttling, your GPU gets seriously hot, up to about 98°C in this log. Repaste time.

Also make sure the heatsink is sitting flat on the die, check whether there isn't a heatpipe touching a coil and creating a gap between die and heatsink.

 

Alright, thanks a lot! I'll take a look into this and hopefully everything gets better :x

 

Good luck! Mine somehow is without shutdowns for 2 days now. What i did was to repaste not only on the GPU side, but also the CPU side.

I also reflash my vbios core/mem to match 6990m (715/900), and up the voltage to 1.025v.

Currently temp never reaches 90 (the most is 86) while gaming of course, idling at 45-50.

 

By the way... is your BIOS up to date?

 

A09 for me

 

How do you update BIOS? :x Sorry I'm just a casual gamer so I'm slowly attempting to learn everything

I'm using BIOS A08. What does upgrading do for the computer? Is it possible to place the files on a flash drive as well, since I'm in college and don't readily have blank CDs on me.

 

Check here for a (very) thorough discussion of updating to the A09 BIOS. http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/549258-m15x-bios-a09-discussion-thread.html. And, yes, it can be done from a bootable USB stick if blank CD's are not readily available.

 

Thanks Revelator, I took a look at that site before posting, but got confused as to whether or not it was safe to.

Edit: Successfully updated to A09 BIOS!

 

My temperatures are still hitting the 90s when gaming even after I repasted. Is this becoming a problem with the paste or am I missing something?

 

@KumquatWrath:
Where did you get this 6970m from? It's not a Eurocom card with the soldered in heatsink mounts is it?

 

No it's not, I got it from Table21 and I'm pretty sure it is a Dell card. How would I make sure though?

 

the working fan on the get go. If you don't need HWinfo for the fan control, then you got yourself a dell card.

 

If it's from table21 it won't be a Eurocom card. Don't worry about it, it's just that I'm aware of an issue with that type of card when using screws that fit the soldered in mounts and a heatsink contact issue.

Seems like your thermal paste isn't working the way it should. What is the contact like when you take the heatsink off? ie, is it evenly spread over the die with no missed spots? You might like to try another thermal paste such as MX-4.

 

+1 on Mx-4, it's a great paste that should be in every household. lol

 

Yeah, I'm considering getting the MX-4, or some Arctic Silver compound from Fry's if they have it. I'm in college right now and the closest thing besides online was a Best Buy, so I just purchased Dynex, and I guess it isn't cooperating with me

The contact when I take off the heatsink appears to be even..at least thats what it appears to me since I applied it and made sure the whole thing was covered :x

 

different paste have different property and curring time (the time when the paste sets in). MX-4 is just one of the fastest curring paste out there. Also is used and recommended by others, so go for it.

 

My temperatures GPU temps are still idling at around 66C right now I ordered MX-4 though so waiting on that, it should lower my temps quite a bit right?

 

A good paste helps, but it's not a panacea for temp issues. Make sure your heatsink makes proper contact with the die, widezu69 posted some pics in the 6970m thread a while ago showing how he slightly modified the heatsink to make the card fit better... it's possible that your heatpipe is touching a coil , which can lead to bad die contact.

 

I'll take a look at that, thanks for the help. Do you know where this particular post is as well? :x I'm searching for it right now but there is a lot to go through.

I found it haha, the search function wasn't working for me for a bit.

 

search function is crippled and broken here, just use this instead:

search terms site:forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x

or similar.

 

I saw the picture, is it just that he removed all of the thermal pads from the heatsink or am I missing something? And while I'm at that should I repaste my CPU as well? Will that help? :x

 

since you already tear down the m15x, might as well take another 5 mins to repaste the CPU.

in a serious note, if you haven't repaste the CPU for a while, it is recommended because dell paste is crap.

 

I'm gonna repaste when I receive my MX-4 in a few days. Until then, well I'll just have to suck it up I guess >.<

 

*Update* I still have shutdown on 'certain' game. It's funny how BF3 didn't shutdown on me but lower demand games does. Eg. Borderlands

 

I had shutdowns in BC2 but im fine in BF3. It only shut down once and that was when alt tabbing out of the game. Im waiting for my 240w psu to arrive to maybe help with that cause the psu gets damn hot!

 

does having 240w really help? from other threads, the laptop still draws the same power to the 150w

 

in my experience, i've had sudden shutdowns with the 240w psu as well.
it depends on the reason for the shut down.

if you're noticing the light of your psu go off when it shuts down, then yes the 240w psu will help (this happened to me - my 150w psu was on the fritz).
however there is still a mobo limitation and pushing beyond that, i can force a shut down within minutes - no error log, no bsod just the motherboard crapping itself.

 

i see, mine didn't turn off at shutdown, so i'm going to cross the PSU out too. only a few ideas left for a fix now

oh by the way since you live in australia, how did you get the thermal pad? I check frozencpu site it's about 13 bucks, and another 15 bucks for shipping (fujipoly). Are there any other place that i could buy ?

i was thinking of pasting at the back of the GPU since someone mentioned that it helps

 

I did what widezu69 recommended with the mod and repasted with MX-4, so far my temperatures are looking a lot better Thanks so much for the help guys!

Edit:Attached a picture for reference, pretty much the same as widezu69's.

 

get some games tested. hopefull the shutdown issue is gone.

 

Yeah, I was able to play BF3 without the system shutting down or crashing. My temps hit a max of about 82-83C, does that sound right?

 

more than right, you're good to go! congrats!

 

About the same here with my 6990m, seems fine.

 

My M15x is starting to shut down again and I have no idea why...it only happens when I'm playing BF3 as well. I attached a new GPU-Z that starts a bit before I'm actually in a game up until the point where my computer crashes. Is there anything strange about the data?

 

This is such an annoying issue that i wish could be solved. BF3 im fine yet now playing skyrim and ive had 2 shutdowns in the hour ive played

 

I've been looking around and am wondering would the next necessary step possibly be undervolting the 6970m..?

 

I successfully played bf3 for a couple of hours, had to turn my clocks down to 510/700 and 1.025v. It seems keeping it below 75 degs prevents it shutting down.

I tried pushing the clocks a little higher and got shutdowns again.

 

I'm able to use programs to adjust my clocks, but I'm unable to touch the voltages.

 

Is heat really the issue for this though? We have ppl shutting down at 80 and others going beyond that and no problems. Ill play bf3 with no problems and the temps can get up to 103 but playing skyrim then temps about about 90 and it shuts down.

Just a theory but the only time i had been shutdown twice in bf3 was when i alt tab out of game. I noticed the clocks drop to idle clocks when your on desktop and when back in game clocks back up again. Could it be a problem that the card and m15x just isnt compatible swapping between 2d/3d clocks?

 

Yeah I'm having weird problems with my 6970M after I OCed it to 750/1000 and no voltage change. BF3 was fine for me, but Skyrim would close and my screen would go black, with Alien FX still on. Weird because I was getting 40-60 FPS in Skyrim at maxed out 1080p, but then it would take random dives, like I'd go from 45-25 in a split second. I changed my OC back to default and my computer did the same thing, black screen.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...u-need-know-upgrading-problems-solutions.html