Dell Studio 1557 - i7 - overheating issues

Hmm...that maybe means your notebook is overheating. I played SC2 before but never got the same message/error.

 

Well after doing the AIDA64 and Furmark the computer died ater 10min and I had to wait 5-10 min before i could boot it again

 

Confirmed, CPU overheating. It is time for Dell to change your notebook with good one. I hope different model or you'll be plagued with the same problem.

 

If its of interest to you all, other forums confirm that the Dell Studio with faster processors has an inherent overheating problem. There is however a fix.

I have had this problem with a Dell 1557 i7 for some time and having just found the fix for it. It is definitely a hardware problem, due to poor heat transfer from the GPU to the heat-sink (poor heat transfer pads fitted to the heat-sink as standard). If you install a 0.9 mm 35 mm x 14 mm copper shim between the Video Ram and heat-sink and a 0.7 mm x 20 mm x 20 mm shim between the GPU and heat-sink, bed both and the CPU with good quality thermal paste and your temperatures will reduce by 20 degrees.

Don't believe me, try it. I didn't believe it either, but it has worked like a charm. The copper is a much better conductor than the crappy thermal pads. Its quieter, no more blue screens of death, shut-downs, etc. and runs with GPU and CPU no hotter that 75 degrees even under full load. Iddle is around 45 degrees and no fan. If you have good DIY skills, 22mm pipe is 0.9 mm wall thickness and 15 mm is 0.7 - make your own, so what are you waiting for? Otherwise, search ebay. Trust me it works and the Dell Studio 15/17 i7 will become the mega powerful full HD video display gaming laptop you thought it was but never delivered.

We shouldn't have to resort to DIY to compensate for Dell's poor build quality, but what the hell it works. Hope that helps someone.

 

There is already a thread about copper shims mod:-
Studio 1557 copper shim dimensions/thickness

However, your post/feedback on the copper shims is highly appreciated.

 

Hi and welcome.
Thanks for your comments and confirmation that this mod does indeed work but as kizwan quite rightly points out there is already a thread that discusses this mod in some detail.
Wow, just realised it’s been 12 months since I modded my 1557 and contributed to that thread.

 

hey guys,

Posting here again after almost a year. If you check my posts you will see that I had a tech come out to me last summer and fix the crashing issue that resulted from watching videos (blue screens) when unplugged from AC power. He replaced a lot of stuff, including the motherboard and HDD.

The fan has been kicking in LOUD lately and I suspect it's a heat sink issue. I had the laptop crash a couple times, which I would believe is due to heat problems. Touchpad gets warm, but not usually *hot*.

Here's a shot of a Real Temp. Is there a problem here? I don't know much about normal temperature levels.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/krispf3/heatreads.jpg

Please let me know what you all think I should do (again).

 

If those are your normal temps id say its time for a good cleaning (dust and what not) in the heatsink area.You could always try some compressed air (in a can) into the vents.If you feel adventures you could take it apart and clean it properly and while your there do the shim mod to the GPU and replace the thermal compound on the CPU.You would see a big change in your laptop afterwards...trust me.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...io-1557-copper-shim-dimensions-thickness.html


Also looking at your CPU usage you might want to check out your background processes to see if there is a problem in that area.May be some stuff running that doesnt need to be.

 

yep, hit some canned air and got a little debris. I would love to open this up and give it a good cleaning. any idea how to open up the 1557? i assume there's a manual somewhere...

i'd like to mod this, but it's only a year old and i dont want to mess up the warranty with dell. especially since there are problems on file.

I like dell, and i love my laptop, but damn this thing has been a headache. my roommates went with HPs and I must admit, i'm a little embarrassed that a damn tech had to come fix this.

 

Looks like it's the same all over for the Studio 1557..

I've had it for about a year now. Should have sent it back the first day but I was to excited to try out my brand new "super-laptop"...

When I bought this relatively expensive computer (with a few mods it did cost me KR 12.000 (Norway) which is about $2130.

I7 QM720, Full HD LED, 500GB HD, 4GB DDR3, WLAN, ATI Radeon HD Some-number, Bluetooth.
I think the only upgrades I didn't but was 8GB DDR3, the better WLAN and Blueray.

This was as I said about a year ago. I really did expect it to be a high performance laptop which could run most games at desent resolution and fps, but as I said I should have returned it the very first day.

'cause on day 1 it froze and showed the bluescreen several times when I was watching flashvideo... On a computer this good?

I have had a few Dell computers, both desktops and laptops. I have been very satesfied. It now looks like I have actually bought my last Dell tho. I have friends and family that have wanted descent computers at a lower cost and when they have asked my for advice I have told them to buy Acer. They have no problems whatsoever..

I was thinking about returning my laptop but I never did. I have also been reading different forum post the time I have had it and seen what kind of it really is.

And all this because Dell - who probably knew about the bad enginering flaw of the laptop which prevented air from comming in and worse the hot air from comming out - just gave a and sold them like they were anyway to get more $$$$$. This is the right way to LOOSE customers stupid morons...


Yesterday (last night) I finally started to copper shim mod mine.
I had been reading "dellboy1557"'s post over at ubuntuforums and decided to try this out myself. I bought a 0,7mm copper plate and a 0,9mm copper plate.
Cut out 0,7x20x20mm for the GPU, 0,7x20x22mm for the CPU and 0,9x35x14mm for the videoram.

So I took my Studio 1557 apart, cleaned the heatsink, cpu, gpu and videoram for old thermal compound. Added Innovation Cooling Diamond compound to the cpu, gpu and videoram. Placed the coppershims in place. Some of the same thermal compound on top. Mounted the heatsink back on.

I also opened the fan-casing to dig out a huge load of crap that also blocked the air..

Mounted it back together and it seems better but I havent really had time to test it yet.

Will test it and post some feedback. I also took some pictures that may be helpfull which I will also post

Hopefully this was what was needed to finally get what I thought i bought...


AND one more thing.
A couple of months a go my BATTERY said "good night"... I can now use the computer for about 15mins the the battery is flat and I ALSO got the red X over the battery in the start-bar...

DELL was trying to save money in THE WRONG END.. Bad engineering and some cheap and bad components.

 

I just ordered Arctic MX-4. I'll update here later how it goes. I only have problem with GPU temp.

 

fan WOrks fine only few days in 2010 ..now again this heating problem start...temp. is so,much high that u cant touch keybord also...it shuts down when i start playing pro. evo soc. 2011..problem is in GPU..sure...do,somthing dell..now i am thinking to buy another brand laptop..this one disappointed ....

 

hi..not at all..dnt buy this 1557 dell i7..heating problem is still in there..

 

I have the Dell Studio 1558 with the i7 and I'm having the same problems that seem to be described here. I'll probably end up on the phone with Dell for a long while very soon.

My CPU temps sit at about 70C with only a web browser open to post this. If I close out everything except Speedfan they will get a little closer to 65C. Most newer games I have overheat and shutdown the comp within about 15 minutes, some older ones will run for an hour or two if I'm careful with laptop placement.

Not sure what I'm going to do to get this fixed. As it worked just fine when I got it, I might just go for a replacement one.

 

Anyone knows a way of underclocking or undervolting it?

Can I use setFSB for this model?? my proc. temps are 75ºC in idle and over 90ºC in full load. It even turns off some times.

5 months ago I sent my dell studio 1557 to an assitance and they reapplied the thermal paste, in the first days it helped a lot but recently my temps has only grown.

With my prior laptop, an intel core2duo, I could unvervolt it with rmclock and the temps would decrease about 10~15ºC but this software doesn't work with my i7 720qm.

 

Hi vasantonio,

To lower the processor temperature, you'll need to replace the thermal paste. I recommend Shin-Etsu thermal paste because it works great on my Dell Studio 1557. Now idles temp are around 45C to 50C. When playing games, max temps are around 70C to 74C. Please see my result here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/7911260-post1823.html

BTW, don't forget to clean out the dust on the heatsink. Especially at the exhaust holes. The dust can prevent the hot air from escaping. This is the first thing you'll need to do before replacing thermal paste.

 

Hi kizwan,

thanks for the answer,

is that the right one?
Shin-Etsu G-751 High Performance Thermal Compound (3g) | eBay

how much I'll need ? do you know a good place or vendor to buy from?

How do you clean the heatsink? compressed air?

so, there's no way of underclocking this notebook?

thanks again!

 

I forgot about undervolting (your previous post). Undervolting is possible but it required hardmodding the voltage regulator chip. Underclocking only possible by turning off the Turbo Boost by setting the "processor maximum state" to 99% (in windows power plan).

Yes, that one ( Shin-Etsu G-751 High Performance Thermal Compound (3g) | eBay ). One tube will do. I bought two just in case I screw up when applying thermal paste. However, I managed to do it in one attempt, only use one tube & still some left in it. I bought from local vendor. When applying the thermal paste, I use a single-line method on the CPU & a "dot" method on the GPU. BTW, I use aluminum shim on the GPU & VRAM because I unable to acquired copper shims at the moment.

I don't have a compressed air can, so when I disassembled my laptop, I'll clean the heatsink too. The FAN & the exhaust holes/grills are the two places of the heatsink assembly you need to clean from dust.