M1710 and Assassin's Creed...HEAT.

Wasnt sure if this should be in the gaming forum or not but I think it may be more specific to my laptop model more than anything.

I fired up Assassin's Creed for the first time on myt XPS m1710 last night...it all ran very smoothly at 1680 x 1050 with everything nearly to the max, then after about 20 minutes or so my system just abruptly powered off...like in a power failure but the battery didnt kick in so something was up.

I felt the case of the laptop and it felt almighty hot, but I wasnt sure whether or not it was any hotter than usual.
It wouldnt power back on for about another 30 seconds or so, so I assumed it had overheated. I let it cool down for a further 5 minutes or so, powered it back on and got a notification that indeed it had shutdown due to heat stress.

I've never had any heat issues on this laptop before after a lot of gaming on various games...as a matter of fact I played a couple hours of Tema Fortress 2 straight after the incident.
It's well ventilated, no dust on fans etc.

Has anyone had any trouble like this playing Assassin's Creed on a 1710?
Could it be driver related or is this laptop just not robust enough to handle this game?

Any help appreciated.

Mods if this is in the wrong section apologies please feel free to move it.

Thanks.

 

Was it sitting on your desk or on your lap. I have to assume desk otherwise you would have notices the heat sooner... Is there adequate airflow around and under the machine?

 

It sits on my desk, screen up and on a docking station so it's slightly even up off the desk a bit...The docking station seems to improve air flow but raising it up.
Like I said this is the first ever heat issue I've had so I'm trying to contact anyone with the same system to see if they run this game successfully.

 

Blowing out your air vents and fan.

 

Sorry but what?

 

Can you post your temps? (idle and load). No OC i assume?

Try a change of drivers and check if the fans are blowing hard

Other than that you can get a cooling pad and/or undervolt to help cool it down

 

This happened a few times to my M1710 while running Guildwars, Hellgate London, and UT3. I found that the best solution is to place a push-fan cooling base under the laptop to maximize air flow. Targus makes a pretty effective but somewhat noisy model.

Make absolutely sure that if you get a push fan cooling base (which blows air into the laptop instead of pulling the hot air away), because a pull-fan will actually make your heat dissipation issues worse.

 

Thanks guys for the replies.
I'd post my temps but I was surprised to find that the m1710 doesnt seem to have any inbuilt temperature monitoring and I dont have any gear to test it manually.
The bottom of the case feels ALMOST too hot to touch but I have no idea how hot it really is.

 

Use rivatuner (free to download) http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163 and post the graph

 

Download HWMonitor http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

It will show your CPU/GPU/HDD's current, minumum and max temps\

 

I checked out those programs sounds great...but I was under the impression that the XPS's had no way of monitoring temperature as there were no thermal sensors installed by Dell?
There are no temperature readings posted in the BIOS anyway.

 

dont be silly, theres on-die (built-in) temperature sensors for CPU/GPU so it knows when to shutdown when overheating so it doesnt do hardware damage. For HDD, SMART takes care of temps and problems

 

On my desktop AC has randomly crashed in a similar fashion to what your describing with 174 and 175 drivier sets, it never crashed on my with the 169s

 

Here are the temps at system idle.
The CPU/GPU seem extremely high to me!!!

Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ACPI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 55°C (130°F) [0xCCD] (THM_)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7400 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 54°C (129°F) [0x2E] (core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 54°C (129°F) [0x2E] (core #1)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

GeForce Go 7950 GTX hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 74°C (165°F) [0x4A] (GPU Core)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ST9160821AS hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 36°C (96°F) [0x24] (HDD)

Dump hardware monitor

 

Your CPU is a little high

Your GPU is really high

Your HDD temps are perfect

The system fans is the culprit. Its not cooling the CPU/GPU properly. You might wanna call up Dell about this

 

I'll check for dust and maybe try a different driver and see if that makes any difference, but I dont think I can drop the GPU by 20 degrees C at idle.

Somethings up.

 

Okay I just ran Half Life 2 in a window and watched the GPU temp using Everest.
The GPU temperature got up to 102 degree Celcius!!!!

Whats even more odd is that the fans were not even at their maximum...I'm not mucking around with it any more I'm calling Dell to get someone around to fix it.

I'm hoping I have onsite warranty.

 

Try updating the BIOS, that should improve thermal protection. It also controls the fan algorithm. If that doesnt work then call dell

Ive seen a similar thread like this in the past. If i remember correctly dell warranty service replaced his fans and it ran just fine after that

 

Run with I8kFanGui and set at which temps the fans should go on max, try that first. But have you opened up your laptop anytime at all? If not then the heatsink fins is definitely clogged with dust and the fan blades is also clogged with dust. Just open it up and use an Air Can to remove the dust and use if you have any 99% alcohol to clean out the fan fins, then you´re good to go

 

I dont think i8kfangui is compatible due to his model/BIOS

I thought i mentioned cleaning the fans earlier, must have been another thread. I overlooked it

Gregau, theres a big chance your fans are just clogged with dust if your notebook is older than 5 months or so

 

It is compatible I run it on my XPS M170 and I know people who runs it with XPS M1710 models, no problems. He has to set it up right though, only the temp offset.

 

I tried running that i8kfangui and the fans kept going back to their slow setting after about 2 seconds. If I ran it at "both fans to maximum speed" you could hear the fans kind of cut out before kicking back in for a spit second...kindof hard to explain but I dont think it's totally compatible with the 1710.

UPDATE: I know a guy at my work who happens to have the exact same notebook as me...an XPS m1710 with the same CPU and 7950 Go GTX GPU that is in mine.

Only difference is that he is running Windows XP so totally different driver setup.
Well guess what...I asked him to run the HWmonitor as well as Everest to check his temps and here is what he got over a period of a few hours of leaving his system at idle. He did NOT do any gaming.

Numbers are in order of CURRENT, MINIMUM, MAXIMUM
ACPI: 48, 44, 62
Core0: 44, 39, 59
Core1: 46, 43, 62
GPU: 68, 64, 80
HDD: 38, 38, 43

So it's running right on par at idle with my temps. What do I do here? Do I cancel my service call or advise the guy at work to log one himself?

 

no, his temps are fine. I have an xps 1530 and here are my temps:Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ACPI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 50°C (121°F) [0xCA0] (THM_)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T9300 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 48°C (118°F) [0x39] (core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 50°C (121°F) [0x37] (core #1)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

GeForce 8600M GT hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 66°C (150°F) [0x42] (GPU Core)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

TOSHIBA MK2546GSX hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 38°C (100°F) [0x26] (HDD)

Dump hardware monitor

Its your graphics card thats the problem. I suggest trying the 169 drivers, apparently the 174 for some users dont seem to manage the temps correctly.

 

Well I opened her up as per the instructions on the Dell web site and BOTH the heat sink fins were choked CLOSED from the ammount of dust.
It's funny because looking from the outside in with a torch, there was no visible dust at all but because of the setup of the cooling system and the direction the air circulates, the dust acumulates on the non visible part of the heat sink fins. Basically no (or very very little) air was getting through.
Being unfamiliar with the process (ie never having taken apart a Dell before and following the instructions carefully), it took me approximately an hour and a half total. Next time will take me 30 minutes tops.

After the cleanup heck what a difference!!!!
Check my more realistic new numbers below...intense 3d gaming is now 20 - 25 degrees Celsius cooler...as a matter of fact Assassin's Creed (the one that actually caused the crash that alerted me to this problem) actually ran coolest at around 74C average!!!
Portal (Half Life 2) ran between 78 - 81 degrees Celsius when before it was running at 99 - 102 degrees!!!

Being a worrier I'm actually a bit concerned that I may have caused some long term damage here...however I never, ever saw any artifacts etc though any of my gaming sessions...the only thing that alerted me to this was the fact that the system abruptly shut down that one time. I could have been running hot for months for all I know.
What do the experts think? Will she be right now???

Anyway, cheers for the assistance sorting this guys and keep those coolers dust free.

PS FYI I have had this laptop for about 8 months and it is kept in a seemingly VERY clean environment. It just goes to show that dust management is very important in these units and can creep up no matter how clean an environment you think you have.

Edit: After saying all that and thinking about how much of a PITA it was to take apart and clean, I shudder to think how many of these things are out there overheating right now. You'd think Dell would make the cooling system a bit more modullar so that the user could simply snap the fan out somehow (like the battery unclip system) and clean in there in a matter of minutes. The IBM rack mounted servers I work on at work have such systems in place for ease of maintenance so it's very possible.

Anyway the new numbers:
====================

Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ACPI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 40°C (103°F) [0xC37] (THM_)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7400 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 39°C (102°F) [0x3D] (core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 43°C (109°F) [0x39] (core #1)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

GeForce Go 7950 GTX hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 66°C (150°F) [0x42] (GPU Core)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ST9160821AS hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 36°C (96°F) [0x24] (HDD)

Dump hardware monitor

 

Yes dust is a major overheating issue. I'd recommend to clean it out every few months. I noticed that my old laptop was getting noisier and its fans were running at full speed even at idle!.. A few runs with some canned air and my laptop fans seemed almost non-existant

 

Good to hear

It might have shortened your gpus lifespan a little. No major damage though since the notebook will shutoff when it gets critical.

I suggest cleaning it out every 3-4 months with a toothbrush and compressed air

 

just outa curiosity but i just bought my xps 1530 about 2 weeks ago and my temps are so much higher than his.


Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ACPI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 50°C (121°F) [0xCA0] (THM_)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T8300 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 54°C (120°F) [0x38] (core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 56°C (123°F) [0x36] (core #1)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

GeForce 8600M GT hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 58°C (130°F) [0x37] (GPU Core)

Dump hardware monitor



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

SAMSUNG HM160HI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 41°C (102°F) [0x27] (HDD)



the temps vary though... the fans kick in when the temps is around 62°C for both cpu and vid card... and the temps get lowered to around 49°C... is this normal for the range to fluctuate so much... as in when gaming my temps can get 69°C for vid card w/o oc... and my cpu is undervolted at 1.0125v.... yet still so high temps...

 

Whats so high about those temps?
If you're wondering about my CPU temps then they are about the same as yours most of the time yeah they vary heaps.
My GPU still gets up near 80C in gaming but thats within the okay range.

If I could get mine down to 69C I would be over the moon but it aint gonna happen.

 

Quikswitch: If those are your idle temps then they are a little high. Undervolting mainly works/cools at full CPU load.

Have you updated to the latest BIOS?

 

Okay I think my GPU idle temps are still a fair bit high settling at an average of 69 degrees Celsius.
Gaming is now a lot lower at about an average of 80C but what are peoples opinions of that idle temp?

CPU is now a respectable 40C but right now I'm sitting here typing this and the GPU is sitting on 70C and NO fans are going.

Is this acceptable? I mean the fans just dont kick in...BIOS is the latest etc.

 

im runing A08 the latest ones that dell has released...