Dell Studio 1557 - i7 - overheating issues

ISSUES FIXED - see post #7.

Hi all

I'm having a few problems with my recently acquired Studio 15.

I've done a few Crysis benchmarks and while the first run is ok, the second and third runs are progessively slower. By running GPU-Z in the background, I can see the GPU hitting temps of 80c and the clockspeeds throttling back, too. When the clockspeeds drop, the framerate drops - I'm 99% certain its the GPU causing the issues. The CPU - a Core i7 720QM - is fine, and hits peaks around 60c.

Already had a new cooler fitted, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced similar issues....

EDIT: The framerate fluctuations are most obvious if you load Crysis and just stand still. The framerate constantly shifts from 8fps to 15fps and back again.

 

80 Celsius is nothing. My 1555's ATi 4570 regularly hits 90C in TF2 with no significant effect on framerate.

 

Woah. My 4570 goes to like....70ish max. I only play stuff like HL2 and NFS Shift.

 

How odd. Well, mine is definitely throttling. You can see it kicking in and dropping the GPU clockspeeds.

I noticed another chap on the Studio 1555 thread with the same problem, too.

 

I had exactly the same with my 1555 before i copper modded it.
I cant remember what temps it was downclocking (I think it was mid 80s)

A good way to highlight it is to run furmark and orthos to stress the system whilst running HWmonitor. Dont run furmark full screen and keep an eye on Both furmark and HWM. When the FPS dive you will see your temps drop (this is the card throttling) you will then see the temps rise and the process repeat.

 

yep.. another 1555 ATI 4570 owner here.. I hit 85+ degrees no big deal.. I hate it though and my computer could be very close to failing due to overheating :|

 

It's fixed!

A very bright spark over at Dell mentioned that it could be an ATI Powerplay issue, and it is.

Disable Powerplay and all works as it should. Enable it, and it throttles the GPU after a few minutes of gameplay.

I would suggest that anyone with throttling issues disables Powerplay and posts back in this thread.

 

but that would f'in kill my games.. Pro Evo 2010/COD4 for sure wouldn't run half-decently if I turn powerplay option to "maximize battery life". That would just mean I am getting low heat because I'm making the GPU do less work.

 

Note that I didn't say, "change Powerplay settings to maximize battery life."

I said disable it, aka TURN IT OFF COMPLETELY. Go into the ATI control panel and disable it. That way the GPU runs full speed all the time.

 

Batfink - by turning it off completely you are effectively locking your card at a mid level. This has 2 serious implications:

1. Poor battery life, it will not drop down to 2d clocks.
2. Poorer than expected 3D performance.

If you wish to test do a 3dmark06 run with and without powerplay, you will probably see a 500-1000 point difference

Also run GPUZ and check your clocks

 

You're right you know.

Damnit, that is depressing. I thought I'd sorted it.

What I don't understand, is why there aren't more Studio 15 owners suffering the same issues? Or are they all afflicted, but most people just aren't noticing?

 

My guess is a lot of people are getting it but may not notice it. I only found it happened with demanding games (crysis/COD WAW/DOW2)

The only thing that sorted it for me was undervolting my CPU and putting a copper shim on the GPU (although this is not for the feinthearted as you need to take the whole laptop apart).

The stock cooling on the 1555 is junk and I would imagine your 1557 is similar

 

I've actually had the cooler replaced once already by an engineer, so I've seen the rigmarole required to get at the CPU/GPU. They certainly don't make it easy!

As for people not noticing, I think you're right. Without an FPS counter, or GPU-Z running, many people would probably assume it's just the hardware struggling, or the hard disk loading data in the background.

But with the Core i7 models, I think alot more people will start to notice. I'm just not convinced that those two tiny heatpipes and solitary fan are enough to cool an i7 and HD 4570.

 

Does anyone know if the new XPS 1645 runs hotter than the new Studio 1557?

 

Dell is sending me a new laptop (1557) because of heat problems during gaming.I dont know if its a issue with all 1557's but mine would just SHUT OFF do to heat.I couldnt find any other issue but heat.
I think a good laptop cooler will be in order after getting the new one.

 

My Dell studio 1555 turns off abruptly, 15-20 minutes after i start playing NFS Most Wanted(or CStrike, AOE3,etc.). Movies, music, MS Office 2007, all such applications work just fine. I have an in-built ATI Radeon 4570 graphic card. I called Dell techical support and they told me to do a start-up diagnostic test. I tried it and can't find any problems. If it's due to something blocking the path of the hot air, these tests cannot recognize, right?

What should i do to fix my problem? I've bought my studio recently on 20th oct. I've been facing this ever since i bought it.

 

That definately sounds like you gfx card is overheating. to check, run gpuz or HWmonitor to view the gpu/ahci temps, then run furmark and prime to stress your cpu and gpu. Now watch as your temps rise. Mine would get to 90c and then downclock. Yours sounds like it is not downclocking but hitting a critical temp and shutting off (I would imagine about 105c).

 

Agreed 100%, +rep.

It is possible that it may be another component, but most of these would be picked up during the diagnostics tests - most notably memory errors can cause your machine to just power off completely very suddenly.

I would recommend doing as Ninja2000 suggested, but also with regards to those diagnostics tests, make sure you run the full memory test. It will take some time - but at least you can rule it out.

 

I received my second 1557 and it did the exact same thing.

15 minutes into HalfLife 2 it just shut off.

I just did the GPU copper shim on it.

I know I voided my warranty but I have a fully working computer again.

Heres my temps

Idle
http://img193.imageshack.us/i/idleeu.jpg/

Only stressing the Video Card
http://img697.imageshack.us/i/justvideocard.jpg/

Stressing the CPU %100 and Video Card
http://img192.imageshack.us/i/videoandcpu.jpg/

I shimmed the GPU and put AS5 on the CPU.

CPU only dropped about 2 degrees celsius but the GPU dropped about 7-9 degrees celsius.

I played HalfLife 2 for about 40 minutes and the entire Left 4 Dead 2 Demo (about 30min.) with no shut offs.

Im still getting a good notebook cooler tho. Those temps are outrageous!!!!

 

I ordered mine Jan 2010 and upon disassembling it to improve the thermal compound on the chips I was surprised to see they redesigned the heat sync so there are seporate heat pipes leading from the graphics processor and the cpu (the design shown in the service manual show's a single pipe that goes over both, which is really stupid in my eyes..)

I would not be too concerned about overheating if you buy after Jan 2010, if you bought before, I would call dell and see if you can buy the new heat sync/fan assembly (or ask if they will replace it for you..doesn't hurt to ask..)

Furthermore, after cleaning off the thermal grease they did not evenly apply, my laptop seems to be staying much cooler, between 6-15 degrees C, and that's pretty significant. FOLLOW SERVICE MANUAL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE T, and be careful not to break the tiny fragile plastic connectors on the motherboard! (especially ribbon connectors.. rotate UP, NOT PULL OUT!!)

Cheers,

 

Mine has the dual heatpipe solution too.It still overheated.

The cooler cant displace the heat fast enough is the whole problem and needs a COMPLETE redesign imo.If Dell does redo it we should all get the upgraded heatpipe for free!!

 

After reading about the i7 core, looks like they run hotter by nature, maximum of 100 C

and that your good at 80C or lower... I know that seems crazy hot but i guess that's the nature of the beast.. hopefully the new heat sync will help the graphics processor from throtling to bad, havn't had time to test with a demanding game yet.

Maybe the best thing we all can do is to play games, make our laptops overheat and send them back to DELL hoping for a redesign to happen. At least they've done something, that's evidence to show they are aware of the problem and want to do better..

 

My GPU hits 105 degrees, and my CPU sits at 80 degrees. Under light gaming.

DO NOT BUY THIS LAPTOP. The thermal design is horrible. Leave it running on a flat surface for 2-3 hours while playing dragon age ... and you'll see the CPU downclock itself to 400mhz, while you can burn yourself on the bottom of the case.

 

I`ve got the same heating issues... can`t play gta san andreas for more than 15 minutes before it shuts off...

I called support this morning, i have to take my notebook to a tecnician to remove/replace the fan... i think that it would be the same s**t as the one i alredy have, so i`m thinking about what i`m going to do

 

Complain. Complain complain complain. Call dell, demand a full refund.

 

Hello All,
Overheating must be a GPU issue and not a CPU issue.
I got my son a 1557 for Christmas and installed BONIC that day and have been using it to crunch numbers for ufluids and worldcommunitygrid. 100% processor use for just over 1 month 24 hours a day without any issues! I do have the bigger battery which lifts unit for better air flow.
After opening the lid from an extended close the touch pad is very warm to almost hot but not that big of an issue. Bonic software doesn't run when on batteries but it's pluged in for 22+ hours a day.

 

@ninja2000: Yes, but by turning it off, it doesn't throttle back to low levels ALL THE TIME.

So what if it's locked at mid levels? It never runs at those mid levels under heavy usage, so mid > low. Although, you'll get crazy high temperatures, and probably kill your PC just outside of warranty coverage.

 

My Studio 1557 i7 was working just fine until I installed the latest BIOS update, which ironically said it was supposed to deal with the video card. Now, after my laptop heats up, it turns right off. I called support and couldn't even finish the diagnostic test before it shut off. No BSOD either - just turned off.

I suspect that the latest BIOS update allowed the machine to run with a hotter graphics card, which in turn is causing the card to choke. Dell refuses to send me a new laptop or a refund, since I bought mine in November. Instead, I have to send it to some facility, where they will examine it. This is pretty awful. I asked if they would send me a replacement instead, but they said my warranty doesn't cover it. It's true that I got the most basic warranty, but the laptop is only 3 months old and well within the hardware warranty period. Any suggestions before I send this in?

 

Oh, and the symptoms: the first (and only) time I was in Windows 7 x64 doing basic things (running SSH into a unix shell). I noticed that the fan didn't seem to be blowing, despite the fact that the keyboard was hot (this was new). Then, the mouse started moving very slowly. A few seconds later, the computer shut off.

 

I'm sure it isn't a fan problem, but they kept talking about the fan with me, too. Lucho87, did you ever get your problems resolved?

 

Nope, i called for a full refound, i`m buying a Vaio now. I`ve got same/better specs, no issues (from what i`ve read), and build quality is by FAR, best than any dell i have eve seen... even my ex xps1340, she looked very cool from far... one you had it in front of you, you could see the sharp edges of the cover and display... Dell isn`t what it used to...

 

Dude, i wouldn`t spend a minute more dealing with those issues... no Quad Core is woth it, trust me. Ask for a full refound, you`ll be really sorry if you don`t, sooner or later... this laptop is for troubles only...

Dell sucks

 

Damn. Kind of regretting that I argued with them for 1 hr 20 minutes just to get a replacement. If I have any trouble whatsoever with that, I'm going to ask for a full refund. (I'm outside of my 14 or 21 day or whatever window, sadly.)

 

yes....i am facing same issue...but i use extra coolpad so,now its run normaly...

 

This sounds like another line of Dell laptops that might have some performance throttling issues. If you're interested then run a log file with ThrottleStop and it will keep track and show you if your CPU is slowing down while gaming or when it is working hard.

ThrottleStop 1.93
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/ThrottleStop.zip

 

Mine was locking up, certainly, but I don't even game...

 

This is stressing everything 100% after playing Quake 4 about 40 minutes or so.

Damn thing seems to be all over the place

 

I'm not sure what you were stressing your computer with but that log file definitely shows throttling at full load like many other Dell laptops show.

At full load, a Core i7-720QM should never drop the multiplier below 12.0 unless it is overheating. The DTS column on the far right of the log file shows you how far you are away from the Intel specified thermal throttling point. The smallest number I see in that column is 10 which means you are approximately 10 degrees away when the CPU will start to thermal throttle and slow down.

All of the reductions in the multiplier you are seeing has nothing to do with Intel. This is all being done by the Dell bios, likely to keep an inadequate power supply from failing. Does your computer use a 90 watt adapter? Time and time again that has proven to be inadequate when you have a Core i7 mobile CPU combined with an ATI GPU.

The competition like HP use a 120 watt adapter with a Core i7 and ATI GPU but Dell thinks 90 watts is enough.

Dell doesn't believe in synthetic testing so maybe you can find a game or some other application that is slowing down due to this throttling. Run a log file and look for the multiplier dropping down below the default of 12.0. Your log file above shows drops down to 8 or 9. At 8.0 your computer is running at 67% of the performance that Intel rates these CPUs at and at a multiplier of 9.0 you are up to 75.0% of its rated performance.

Edit: I just noticed a few dips down to 7.0 where you are running at 58.3% of your rated performance.

The HP Envy 15 can run at 100% of its rated performance even when overloaded with Prime95 + Furmark. With Dell, they decide what applications that you will be able to run on your laptop and can throttle back the performance accordingly with no warning to the end user.

 

Hello im getting 109 degrees after 10 minutes of Crysis or NFS Undercover, what i have to do, i chat with someone in dell and say "that temperature is normal and dont may cause any problems"

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/619/108d.jpg

 

Wow. It sure seems like there are a lot of problems with the studio 15 with i7. Those are bad news as I am considering it for my wife. She never games so maybe I'd just skip the ATI gpu and go with the basic one.

 

Its the only GPU offered for the 1557 and 1558.Not sure how it does in the 1558 though.

 

True.
Damn.

 

It depends on what she is using it for as to whether it will cause any problems. gaming seems to be a hot spot for issues, so if she is not gaming then maybe the problems will not be so prevalent.

 

She is not going to game. Still it doesn't feel right to buy something I know has a problem. I also think that a poorly designed cooling system will have a negative effect overtime even if she won't game.
Probably will get it anyway with a long warranty..

 

Mine is overheating and I've never even installed a game, much less played solitaire on the thing. This is not just an issue for gamers - beware.

 

Any idea if Dell is going to offer 120+W power adapters to 1557 customers who have 90W adapters?

 

Why not buy one yourself? Or is it more complicated...?

 

I played Shift and use GPU-Z software to log the temperature. I found out that the GPU temperature increased to 95 degrees celcius but the framerate maintain at (average) 30FPS. I think the temperature increase like that because the GPU fan speed stuck at 30%. I use cooling pad by the way.

High temperature aside, I hasn't experience any drop of performance while playing games. Maybe the GPU fan can be controlled with third party software.

kizwan

 

95 degrees is very high. Your gpu will not hold much with those temps.

 

Higher power adapter capacity also require changing other parts too, such as battery, don't you think?

kizwan