Dell Inspiron 1720 Temperature Query

Hi all,
I have a bit of a query in regards to the temperature of the Inspiron 1720 (Specs in sig) especially when under heavy loads, e.g. Gaming.

The laptop is designed for gaming as far as I know due to it containing a rather powerful graphics card (Nvidia 8600M GT), however when playing a game such as Left 4 Dead I have seen the temperature of the CPU peak at 91 Degrees..
I was just wondering if this is normal as I've heard reports that high temperatures going up and over 100 degrees would most certainly degrade the internal components...

Thanks,
Hon

 

Woah that's just high. Rarely this happens to any 1720. Anyway can you tell us the temps of your GPU? I suspect your fans and heatsinks need cleaning from dust.

I had a 2.8GHz X9000 processor (Yes X9000 is the most powerful chip you can get in a 1720; its quite a heated 44W component) and somehow my temps has never gone above 59*C on full load for 12 hours.

I'd say your fans and heatsinks need cleaning. Check it for dust. I do cleaning of my two machines every 2-3 months, (And by cleaning, it means opening up your laptop, removing your CPU, GPU, heatsinks and fans and cleaning them from dust. Reapplying thermal paste etc) till now they're still working rock solid. My 1720 is about a year old.

 

Well it is just over one year old (same as you)...

The 1720 looks quite difficult to open up even on paper, lifting the keyboard bar, unscrewing the keyboard, lifting various components out... I don't have a problem taking it out but the problem is putting them back in... Do you have a link to the maintenance manual by any chance? Reapply thermal paste?? mmm, i think i might need to buy some then..

How did you manage to get that processor? did you install it yourself or was it through dell?

 

I8kfanGUI is the program which I'm using for monitoring the temperatures and therefore may not reflect the real speeds... ?

 

I run my fan on full using I8kFanGUI when I game and have never seen my 8600GT (OC'd to 625/445) go above 60°C.

 

It's currently idling between 45 degrees 'celcius' to 55 degrees celcius whilst using powerpoint, firefox, and itunes.... sorry if i didn't make it clear before and people may assume that im talking in 'fahrenheit'..

i'll try running it in full when i next do gaming and report back on temps but doesnt the fan receive instructions to run on high anyway when under full load?

Also i haven't overclocked anything.

 

Ok I've just played Half Life 2 for around 40 minutes and I set the fan up high using the I8kFanGUI program..

CPU Peaked at 80 Degrees Celcius
GPU Peaked at 68 Degrees Celcius

Is it still a bit too high?

 

80 and 68 sound about right.

 

Your GPU seems fine. 68*C is pretty normal. (That is my overclocked temperature) 80*C is ok for a CPU also. But it shouldn't be that high for a 1720.

Yeah I think the only way is to crank it open and access the processor. Check its paste, dust etc. You can upgrade to a 2.5GHz T9300 if you want to. Check it from ebay. Yep I installed the X9000 myself. Bought it from ebay too. Warranty voided but meh...

Here ya go. The service manual: It's pretty easy if you try it. haha.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1720/en/SM/cpucool.htm#wp1179839

 

How do you check the temps of these things?

 

CPUID's Hardware Monitor

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

 

Well I've now finished uni and just had the chance to open my 1720 up for a bit of cleaning and found massive amounts of dust accumulating around the fan area!

I've been playing the new COD under heavy load and my CPU has reached 62 Degrees (Max) whilst the GPU has reached 57 Degrees (Max)!!! Plus I don't experience much stuttering when I play new games like COD and Left For Dead!!!!

It's like the laptop has been given a new lease of life, and I'm now very happy with it even though it's almost 2 years old At the way it's going, I envisage it being okay for 3+ years as long as I clean it at least once a year!

 

IcEmAn911, Are you playing COD Modern Warefare 2? I've been thinking about getting it, but wasn't sure if my 1720 (specs below) could handle it. I'm out in Iraq and was going to order it, but haven't had much time for research. How does it look and run? How does the 1720 handle it?

 

which cpuid is correct for the inspiron 1720 with vista 32 bit ?

 

i owned a vostro 1700 before purchasing a mac. this inspiron of yours should handle cod4 very well.

 

Apologies for the late reply.

MW2 runs perfect on my 1720...

Your laptop is just about the same as mine but you do have a faster CPU than me, so you can pretty much guess how it would run on yours