It's getting hot in here..

Living in a country that has an average ground temperature of around 35°C isn't easy for a guy that's fresh out of London. But this problem is further amplified by the fact that my AW kicks out some serious heat. I've had it for over a year now and I've gotten quite used to it to some degree but lately paranoia has started to get the better of me. I mean, this thing gets seriously hot! It's starting to worry me slightly. I'm actually nursing a nice rectangular blister on the palm of my hand (courtesy of that shiny metal tag-plate) after relocating it after a couple of hours solid gaming. It's been like this for as long as I can remember but now I'm based in a country where 90% of the population are computer illiterate and any clown who can pick up a screwdriver will tell you he's a professional computer technician (until he breaks or steals your rig, at which point he pulls a Houdini, never to be seen again). If I were to encounter a critical hardware failure it would result in a waking nightmare as I go about trying to rectify the matter. So basically, I've been wondering whether it's normal for the underside of the machine to get almost untouchably hot? To be specific, the heat builds up almost entirely on the back righthand side of the laptop (as you're using it) and directly underneath the touchpad. Any ideas? I think it's trying to tell me something, but I really don't know what...

Edit:

Ok, I just removed the card to take a look at it (I'm curious like that..) and took a couple of pictures. I've never actually done this before so I really don't know what I'm looking for but the thermal paste doesn't look too good in my completely uneducated opinion. Could this be the cause of the heat issues I'm experiencing? Or is this normal? Please take a look if you have the time, this is bothering the hell out of me! Thanks.

 

Well, the paste dries out after a while... especially the standard Dell paste. As you lifted the heatsinks you MUST clean away the old paste and reapply new, fresh paste, otherwise the paste won't be of any use at all and you'll fry your system.

Also make sure the vents and the system generally are free from dust and for a good airflow I recommend lifting the system a bit with a book or similar, especially in a hot environment like yours.

Get new paste immediately, some stuff to clean the old paste away (e.g. isopropyl alcohol) and repaste (if you need help, check out inaps guide) and feel free to ask if anything is unclear.

Btw, did you ever measure the temps before removing the GPU?

 

repasting is a must now, since you opened it up and broke the thermal paste seal. also maybe a good idea to invest in a notebook cooler.

 

B a l l s !

Ok gonna shut down right now! Thanks for the help guys.

 

you can prolly get away with running on stealth mode until you repaste it.

 

Ok, running in stealth mode, with great caution.

I have one more question... There is a square of orange plastic film over the GPU, seperating the thermal paste from the actual chip... Is this supposed to be here? Should I remove it and apply the paste directly to the card or should I clean it and repaste exactly as it was? And I dropped one of the little foam pads on the floor and threw it away because it was covered in crap. I guessing this is just to hold the card securely and not integral to the cooling process?

Oh and get this, apparently thermal paste is incredibly rare in Zambia... Nice. Called every computer distributor and maintenance company in the country and only one guy has any. And he was very reluctant to part with it. Apparently it was "reserved" for another client, but he's willing to hand it over at a price.

LAME!

Should have checked these things out before I started pulling things apart. Thanks for your support in this trying time.

 

I'm removed the orange film. It hasn't had a negative effect so I think it is ok.

 

Lil foam pads u mean thermal pad? U need that it for mem temps..... order new sheet
the orange film is only around the the die and not over it there shouldnt be any reason to remove it....
did u study inaps thermal paste guide???? Its on his sig if u havent....

 

The link isn't working for me. Just takes me to some site about a rabbit!



So the thermal pad helps cool? NOoooooooooo! This is getting worse by the minute... And "order more" isn't an option. I don't mean to sound snarky in any way, its just that this place is pretty much living in the dark ages and any post from foreign countries takes in excess of six weeks to arrive, if it isn't stolen in transit (and thats not me being negative, it happens with ~40% of all parcels sent through standard mail aswell as courier services like FedEx and DHL). Will the laptop run ok without it or is it risky?

Oh and thanks for the lowdown on the orange film Widezu! That had me concerned.

 

I can't believe something dropped out of your laptop and you just throw it away but you do have my sympathies, sounds like your having a hard time with it.
And the film is to protect the chip from thermal paste if any spills over

 

Yeah but the orange film of worse for it. If a bit gets spilled over especially metal ones like AS5 and the coollaboratory stuff then it will immediately get spread under the film as the slightest will run and go everywhere and might affect the cpu or gpu. But just my 2c others may differ.

 

i sent u a pm

 

Ok so I've cleaned all the old gunk off and I've found a guy who seems to have in his care all three of the units of thermal paste in the country. Going straight for the heart with a big wad of cash on this one. They're apparently reserved for other clients but a few bucks will surely change his mind. Bribery is a way of life here and just about everyone from newspaper vendors to high-court judges are well and truly open for business and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get clear of the woods right now. I removed the orange film in order to clean the chip completely (a large amount had seeped underneath as Widezu mentioned), hopefully it won't cause too much trouble... As for the thermal pad, owing to it's sticky nature it was pretty scruffy after it hit the carpet. Looked a like a small furry mammal by the time I picked it up. I am regretting it's untimely disposal but I'm desperate to change the GPU anyway, just as soon as I can find a GTX 460m (or "unicorn crap" as I've come to think of it) so I'll do a thorough job at that point. Hopefully my crippled AW can limp along 'til then.

So I'm praying I can work with the mess I've created and come out smelling of roses. If not, I'll just have to get it insured and promptly get it stolen. Yeah, it's a retarded plan but I'm all out of ideas at this point.



Thanks again folks, you've been very helpful!

 

i too live in a hot country. i have had this laptop for about 7 months, and this will be its first true summer. but i have learned a few things from other systems, and a little about this one.

they are tougher than you think

-under normal conditions when certain components heat up, safety systems kick in to avoid damage. you were just unlucky enough that your problems happen to be with the most delicate (and heat sensitive) part.

-the heat you were feeling is the harddisk and not the video card and cpu. the HDD on the M15x is directly under the trackpad. it is not cooled in anyway, the plastic cover underneath the system is purely cosmetic and has very little heat insulation(top does).
if you are using it heavily on a mildly hot day (specially with no air conditioning), and the bottom of the laptop is touching your skin it will burn it in 10 minutes.
the ram also gets hot at times which is right above the metal tag,
the cpu and gpu, due to fans are kept cool, and under normal operation you dont feel ANY heat.

-the power plans make a big difference in temperature (avoid "high performance" keep it on "balanced" performance will be almost exactly the same when pluged in.


-once you repair your laptop properly (only try this when you are sure your laptop is 100% ok) you should use benchmarking software along with temperature monitoring software and see how high your temperature gets, if you get really good results, you dont have to worry about system heat for a few months.

-you should really get in the habit of using temperature monitoring software. 90% of the time i have 3 icons in my task bar that tell me the heat of the cpu and gpu.


i have changed my HDD to a SSD which i "think" has helped with the temperatures. but i dont remember seeing the bottom plate get burn hot.
under which conditions did that happen. what were you doing at the time and where were you ? any chance you were using it on a bed or sofa?

 

Thanks for the input!

I've repasted the GPU, after a 5 hour drive to meet a rather shifty muslim fellow named Ebrahem (lovely guy, saved my bacon). Running for the first time now, going to start on minimum power and slowly work it up. What's the program used for monitoring GPU temps? And what would be regarded as a dangerously high temp (it's a GTX 260M)?

Mex, thanks for the PM, helped me enormously!!

Madoon, I haven't used a laptop on a bed or sofa once in the last 7 years. I used to have an old Compaq Presario which literally started smoking after I ran it too long on my blanket!!

But I believe you are right, the HDD is the part that is getting REALLY hot, although the GPU itself it definately reaching some fearsome temps. I think this might have been caused by air bubbles in the paste?

Anyway, lets see what happens... It's a waiting game now, just hope I've done a good enough job on the pasting. Don't think I'll be able to easily reaquire the paste, but if I can just get it to limp along long enough for me to get the upgrades and equipment I need to update the system then I'm happy.

So now I just need to get my hands on a nice new GTX 460M... A seemingly impossible task.

Many, many thanks to all you guys that have given me help and advice. You've been invaluable in this endeavour! I'll be sure to rep the hell out you all as often as I can! Superstars!!!

 

For a GTX 260m dangerous would be like over 87c IMHO. I've had one and always tried to keep it below 85C. A 460m would be much cooler. For me in a warm room overclocked way high I get no more than 75C

 

After two rounds of Special Ops on MW2 the GPU temp hit 82°C...

Edit: Ok, max recorded temp so far is 92°C................

This doesn't seem good. Any suggestions?

I'm right in thinking the laptop will shut down if it gets too hot right?

 

Invest in aluminium cooler if you can. Also are you using 6 cell battery or 9 cell? If 6 cell, try putting a book or thin box or something to elevate the end to let more cool air to be sucked in.

Edit: But honestly, this laptop design does not really need a cooler(9 cell). My 5850 hit 72C max and i've been using it without cooler, no aircond. Im in malaysia where its fairly hot.

 

It's the 6-cell. I often elevate it slightly although I'm still concerned that these temps are off the charts after just 10 minutes playing MW2...

 

Give paste some time to cure and did u replace thermal pads, i never had nvidia 260 so dont really know about the temps for it but ive never hit over 90. And yes if the lappy gets to dangerous temps i will basically go into stealth mode....

 

Still running 1 pad short, perhaps that is adding to the problem. How long does the paste need to set and is it a bad idea to be using the computer while I'm waiting? Looking at getting a whole bunch of equipment in from abroad, painful though it may be (in both cash and time) I think it's a must. Excessive amounts of thermal pads and high quality paste along with a better GPU and processor. To be honest, I've never really been that happy with this 260M, hasn't performed to my expectations since the get-go. Although as you can tell I know very little about such things, so maybe I was just expecting too much!!

 

Oh u can use ur lappy its no problem, and after about 3 to 5 days and if the paste was applied correctly then u should see a couple more degree drop in temps. Im sure the pad is still part of ur issues. Just keep a check on ur temps every 30 to 60 mins while gaming, if u start noticing graphic problems while gaming check temps i dont know wat the room temp is but just keep an eye out for signs of trouble...