XPS 1530 temperature (I guess) problem

I bought an XPS 1530 about a month ago (T9300, 4gb, 1440x900, 320gb 5400rpm), which I <3, but have been noticing that the CPU seems to throttle back to ~1.6ghz (according to CPU-Z) whenever it's under heavy load. I'm presuming it has something to do with the CPU temperature, as it often (as far as I can tell from staring at CPU-Z and HWmonitor) happens when the CPU hits 90ish degrees C. The CPU, however, only hits 90 degrees whilst the rest of the system is running hot as well. Whilst gaming, for example.

To start, I tried disabling SpeedStep in the BIOS. This worked, as the CPU never rose above ~75 C stuck at 1.1ghz. The downside was, obviously, the performance loss. I did notice that performance at 1.1ghz was still better than it was when the said-throttling occurs.
I also tried undervolting, which worked well. The only problem I have with this is having to do it at all. I'd rather not have to take action to prevent something which, I believe, should not be occurring at all.

I've tested with both the A08 and A09 bios and both had the same result. I've also tried limiting the processor power management settings in Vista's power config. The CPU stayed clocked at 2.5ghz, until hitting that sweet spot and dropping down to 1.5.

I'm running Vista Ultimate SP1, which came with the system.
A09 Bios, nVidia 177.89 drivers (and have tested numerous versions from 156.63 to current).
My CPU idles in the high 50s (56 right now after roughly an hour of not using the system) and the GPU idles around 70 (69 right now). As previously stated, both shoot up to 90+ under load.

My question is this; is this normal behaviour, and furthermore, is 90+ degrees C for the CPU and GPU whilst under heavy load normal? Are my idle temperatures anything out of the ordinary? Is it possible that the GPU is hotting than normal, which in turn increases the CPU temp under load?

 

those temps seem a bit high to me. if its goin past 90c then i would call dell and make them replace it for u. my GPU has never hit past 74c and i'm still on the A08 bios.

 

74c under what kind of load? The most demanding thing I run is honestly World of Warcraft. Running in a window can be pretty demanding.

 

GPU hit 74c after 3-4 hours of use, no cool down period, and then did (3) consecutive 3dmark bench tests in a row.

edit: anythin over 90c+ isn't gonna be good for yur system. i would recommend callin dell and seein if u can get a replacement or a tech to come out and replace yur mother board.

 

Hi friends...

I have decided to buy xps 1530. But i am very afraid after reading the palmrest heating problem. I just want to know that how bad this problem is.

Is palmrest got heated even when using laptop normally like surfing net,watching movies(for many hours continuously) and not running any high computational application(game etc.).

And

How bad this problem is while running high computational application. Is palmrest touchable or not.

Thanks in advance......

Viku

 

I have no such issues (and to be honest, I haven't seen much of this issue either).. My palm rest is cool always, and gets a bit warm when using the wireless... but in general its been cool.

 

that is really high, my cpu temp has never gone above 50, gpu temp never above 67, and thats playing warhammer 40k on all high settings..use the dell support while you still got it.

 

CPU over 70C is bad... call Dell

 

Rubbish, the cpu is rated @90C.

 

ya, its rated @ 90C, but normal use shouldn't push the CPU up over 70 at any point.... maybe its a misaligned heat sink, but i wouldn't want to touch any computer with CPU over 90C

 

HI guys , I have Doubt too regarding TEMP for my XPS M1530

this is my temp reading (IDLE)



Is it ok ? and i think temp also depends on the location where we are ??

 

temp depends on ambient(surrounding) temp...
u'll get higher temp in summer vs in winter (just making a point)

@vinumsv, its a little bit high for idle temp

 

My temps with light usage, and then with the fan kicking in:

 

@ over 90C sure, but 70C is fine. Under full-load ie: Gaming ,my CPU hit's 76C which for me is perfectly acceptable. Idle I'm @ 58C, again perfectly acceptable.

Fingle.

 

Those are high.. Are you making sure the laptop is having enough ventilation? and you are not blocking any vents or something? Check it out.

 

he says its idle, which is HIGH

did u config i8kfan? for temp, u need to do a few stuff to make it work
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=185107

and use HWMonitor to confirm... after configuring, my i8kfan = HWMonitor within 1degC

 

Update!

The longer I watch the problem the less it seems to be temperature related, but it's still difficult to say. I can replicate it almost instantaneously running rthdribl ( http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/) too.

Summary-
CPU clocks down to 1.6ghz under load (from 2.4)
Goes back to normal shortly after load disappears
Possibly temperature related
Fixable via undervolting
Vista power management setings do nothing

Also, screenshots!

http://nite.art-mafia.net/xps/good.jpg
This first shot was taken about 2 seconds before the CPU clocked down to 1.6.

http://nite.art-mafia.net/xps/bad.jpg
This one was shortly after the first. The temperatures have dropped, but so has the FPS reading in rthdribl so the load is obviously there. The system overall feels far less responsive than normal in this case.

 

Those were my temps under full load from the Orthos test...
The idle CPU temps should be way below those temps say by 20-25C
I live in a hot place too but those idle temps seem a bit high.

 

Yes I did.

 

those temps seem pretty high for *idle* temps. they are a few degrees from my *full load* temps. make sure yur notebook has efficient air flow by usin it on a hard surface.

i would really recommend gettin a replacement system if u'r still within yur 21-day period. if not, then definitely get a tech out to replace yur mobo with new CPU & GPU.

are u makin sure that yur system is on a flat/hard surface so that yur notebook can get enough air?

the CPU downclockin issue seems to be temp related.