Dell Inspiron 9200 Hardware Problem

Alright folks not sure if this is the right place to post this but I have a Inspiron 9200 that I purchased about 4.5 yrs ago and will be replacing it w/ a Studio 1555.

One of the main reasons is b/c there is something seriously wrong w/ the laptop where it goes extremely slow all of a sudden but especially with watching videos. I can barely watch videos on itunes since every starts going really slow. Playing videos using VLC player helps a lot but other task such as simply minimize a window takes forever. Another big problem is the fans. They are extremely loud when they turn on and the bottom of my laptop gets real hot. Im thinking this is a serious hardware problem since I've tried doing a fresh install of windows XP and i still have the same problems. My friend who knows a lot about computers opened my laptop about year and half ago and found a whole bunch of dusty balls in the fans. He took them out and my laptop fans were not loud anymore and my laptop was a little bit snappier but its gone back to its old ways. What I want to know is what are some possible explanations for the slow down.

Here are the specs for the Inspiron 9200

Pentium M 725 (1.60GHz)
17" UltraSharp Wide Screen XGA+ Display
512MB DDR 333MHz 2 DIMMS
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
Windows XP SP2
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g 54Mbps)
53 WHr 6-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

 

If removing the dust fixed things for a while and then the problems came back, then your fans and vents are probably dusty again. Disassemble your system, clean out all the fans and vents with compressed air.

 

Aside from the RAM, which is a little on the low side, I would say your laptop should be able to handle those tasks just fine, unless you have many processes open. The first thing that came to mind was the reformat, but since you stated that you already tried that then I guess that's not it. Have you tried booting into safe mode to see if the problem persists? Otherwise I would agree with Mastershroom. Take it apart and see if the fans need cleaning again. I have an Inspiron E1705 with a very similar design and I have taken it apart before so I would imagine it would not be very difficult to take yours apart either.

 

Download HWMonitor and post up your CPU, GPU and HDD temps.

Also, what is the resolution (e.g. 720x480) and codec (e.g. xvid) and length (in minutes) and size (in megabytes) of the video you are trying to play?

 

I just checked and I8kfangui (a popular temperature monitoring and fan controlling software for older Dells) is compatible with your system. I use it on mine to monitor the temperatures and control the fans.

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

 

Right now the CPU temp says 58C with a peak at 68C. The other readings GPU, memory, chipset temp doesnt display anything.

Edit: Just checked the CPU temp when the fans started going off again. it was at 70C
Edit 2: Looks like my peak is at 84C. I'm assuming the peak stands for the highest temp recorded by the program.
Edit 3: Was just watching a web video and my cpu temp was at 94C.

 

Resolution is at 1280X800.

THM value: 54C min: 54C Max:66C
HDD vaule: 39C min:37C Max: 39C

It seems when my fans go off (and their really loud) all computer task become reallly slow and sluggish.

 

The only programs I run are usually firefox, itunes, and digsby all at the same time.

 

Are these temps normal for a Pentium M processor?

 

Definitely not. Your CPU in that computer should be at very most ~75C. The computer will turn off when the CPU reaches 100C

In i8kfangui, force the fans to high (or maybe not because you might get them burnt out) until you can get your vents cleaned out for dust.

Here is the official service manual which will tell you how to take apart and re-assemble your laptop.

You will need to get to the Microprocessor Thermal-Cooling Assembly and clean out the grill on the inside.

Or if you're lazy like I am, you can put your mouth on the back left vent (the vent around 13-14 on the ruler in the middle image) and blow hard (watch out for saliva) to simply blow the dust loose to the inside (watch for your eyes + dust).

You should probably clean out the vent to the left of S-video as well or your video card might get fried.

 

thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I'm experienced enough to completely take apart the laptop but I plan on getting to the stage where I can remove the keyboard which will hopefully will gave me enough access to the fans so I can blow compressed air into and clean the fans out b/c their probably clogged.

I've never had my computer boot off b/c of the temp but i'll I try to stay away from HD videos such as Vimeo.com

 

Well my peak CPU temp is around 66 and usually idles around 40, so 94 for a web video is definitely off, regardless of what CPU chip you have.

Have you tried booting into safe mode and seeing if the problem replicates in there? You can probably not watch videos but you can see if maximizing/minimizing screens still take forever.

It really was not difficult at all taking apart my E1705. All you really have to do is to know how to use a screwdriver. The service manual namaiki provided should help a lot. I take it your system is out of warranty anyways, so you don't have much to lose.

This is the guide I used to change the GPU in my E1705: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/349/2/ Take a look and see if your machine is more or less the same configuration (from what I see online the I9200 looks very similar externally). It shows you step-by-step how to take apart an E1705.

 

Can you link me to the namaiki service manual that he provided. What looks to be the toughest part is removing the display screen. So many different things you need to pull out.

 

Here is the part for removing the screen: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9200/sm/gilbertv.htm#wp1006390

I know it looks daunting at first, but it's really not that bad. Now that I have taken a look at it I must say it's pretty much the same as my E1705. You flip the laptop over and open the panel to have access to the Wi-Fi card. There you have to disconnect a black and a while cable. Now you turn the laptop back over and remove the four screws holding down the screen (assuming you've already popped off the hinge cover). There should be one more cable you have to disconnect before you can just pull the whole thing off, pulling the black and white wires through the opening in the process.

 

I went ahead and popped the hinge cover and unscrewed the keyboard but not sure how your supposed take it out.

here are some pics...








So I dont have to remove the Hard Drive or DVD-ROM even when I'm removing the palm rest?

 

There should be a little flap on the keyboard connector. If you flip the flap open the connector should be able to come out. Again, this is the case for my E1705.

 

What about this coin cell attached in the palm rest. Can i just unplug that or does it need to be replaced

 

It might be the CMOS battery, but regardless of what it is; if you remove it now, don't forget to put it back later.

 

Does it look like a little white connector? If so yes you'll have to remove it before you can remove the top case. Just pull it out gently.

 

thanks for the help guys. Im currently taking apart the laptop and im in stage where you unscrew the palm rest but two of these screws on the front just dont want to come out.

here is a pic of the coin battery..



Do I just need to pop open the white connector?

 

The white connector comes out in one piece. I would suggest careful handling as you do not want to break it. Just use the ridge to gently pop it out.

 

thanks. I really wish I had screwdrivers w/ magnetic tips. Would be really helpfully right now. One more screw on the front really tough. Then 11 on the back and home free

 

deleted post

 

should I take out the Hard drive Or RAM sticks? instructions dont show anything except a pic of ram lid being popped out

 

Alright well I finally got the palm rest open but surprisingly there wasn't a lot of dust clogged in the system fans. Here are some pics...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16811401@N00/3737489421/sizes/o/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3737486027_044bb09f5d.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3737486467_2aedb7d38c.jpg?v=0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16811401@N00/3737489895/sizes/o/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16811401@N00/3738281128/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16811401@N00/3737488373/sizes/o/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16811401@N00/3737487963/

Anything look out of place or broken?


Once again the problem w/ my laptop is the high temps especially watching videos (not so much using vlc but watching a web video or even a video podcast on itunes) and when the fans get loud my computer gets really slow.

 

You can see two cooling pipes, one extending from the CPU on the upper left-hand corner and one extending from the GPU on the upper right-hand corner. Have you checked to see if they are clogged?

 

u mean the yellow pipes part of the heatsink? they dont have holes in them

 

There are vents at the end of those golden pipes. Those may be clogged. I know you can easily take out the GPU unit by unscrewing the four screws.

 

ok this is kind of freaking me out. I just put everything back in and pressed the power button and my laptop isnt turning on. No lights. Nothing turning on. Any help guys? what could possible be the problem?

Should I pop the battery in? Its only plugged in though so it should start.

 

well that was a scare. I took off the hinge cover and pressed the power button and my laptop turned on! Seems like I have to press the power button a bit harder. I'll let u guys know if my laptop is any better. One thing I did fix was my DVD-rom it was improperly put in by my roommate the last time he helped me open up my computer.

 

well it looks like clearing all the dust did nothing to solve the problem. The fan (the cpu one) still goes crazy when I play video and my computer becomes really slow. Temp are still going around 85C.

 

You need to apply a thermal grease to your GPU and CPU so that the heat can be transferred effectively. Here is an example: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/cmq/ins_cmq_singlecore_expsd.pdf

I think NBR has a guide around somewhere, but I can't remember where..

 

so u think the thermal paste on my cpu or gpu has weared off and that could be a possible reason for the high temps and the slow down? Is this common or you think the paste may have been improperly put on my computer from the beginning? I really didn't have any problems w/ the fans or slow until about 2.5 yrs after purchasing the laptop.

 

Odds are you didn't have paste in the first place, but sticky thermal pads instead. These will deteriorate and lose their effectiveness over time.

 

I saw a post by you that said you put the arctic silver 5 on your new studio 1555. Does the studio also come w/ thermal pads? Or they they use thermal paste on the cpu?

And how difficult would it be to put the thermal paste on the cpu? I saw the arctic paste for 9 bucks on newegg.com Doesn't seem like a simple thing to do. Don't know much about about computer assembly.

Oh and here is a big pic of the inside of my 9200 if that helps. http://www.flickr.com/photos/16811401@N00/3737489421/sizes/o/

 

The Studio 1555 (and all laptops, as far as I know, other than those from XoticPC specifically with the option) comes with thermal pads. To put actual paste between the heatsink and CPU, you have to fully disassemble the laptop and remove the motherboard. It's not as hard as it sounds, though, and Dell has instructions available.

From your picture, the CPU is under the X-shaped heatsink to the left. You would have to remove that, probably wipe the CPU die and heatsink surface with rubbing alcohol to get rid of all traces of the old pad, and apply a thin layer of paste, and put the heatsink back in position, and tighten it all down.

 

doesn't seem to tough. Is the thermal pad on the heatsink or on the cpu chip?

Looks like arctic silver 5 is only 9 bucks and free shipping at newegg.com Might just gave this a shot

 

The pad fits between the CPU and heatsink. Usually when you pry them apart, though, the majority of the pad will stick to the heatsink surface.

 

how does one put on AS5 on the cpu? I keeping looking around youtube and many of the videos have people put a small drop and spreading it w/ a glove but the website seems to say not to spread and that it will naturally spread by itself

How risky is the procedure? If I did this incorrect is my computer fried? I was reading if the heatsink isn't properly installed your computer components are fried in 10 seconds of turning on your computer. Where would you rate this on difficulty? Also would I actually have to remove the cpu chip from the motherboard or can i just put the AS5 and rubbing alcohol on it while its still screwed on.

 

On a mobile processor, the exposed die is very small, so spreading is most likely not even necessary. A small (half a grain of uncooked rice) dab in the center, and press the heatsink down on it. The pressure should take care of the spreading.

If you really want, you can use a plastic grocery bag to spread it out over the die before replacing the heatsink.

You can clean the CPU with rubbing alcohol and apply AS5 while it's still locked in the socket. As for doing it wrong, as long as you can't see the shiny CPU die beneath the paste, you have enough. There's also the possibility of too much, but if you limit it to half a rice grain like I suggested, it probably won't be excessive. And no, I highly doubt your system will be friend in 10 seconds, even if you misapplied it.

 

ok this is a dumb question about what do u mean by exposed die? I think I'll hold off after I get my new studio 15 to try this.

thanks for all the help.

 

The CPU die is the small mirrored silver square or rectangle that the heatsink comes in contact with.