NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Legacy (single-core notebooks) › Dell XPS heat and preformance problems.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Dell XPS heat and preformance problems.

post #1 of 16
8/20/05 at 8:35pm
Thread Starter 
I am utterly dismayed that my XPS cannot handle its own cooling needs. For instance, when I play WoW, for the first one to two minutes, it stays at 50 FPS. Then, when it starts heating up, preformance goes down to 10 FPS. CRAP. I believe there are two possibilities, 1. when the fans kick in they take power from other components, or 2. it gets too hot for the components to work corrects so they either scale down or simply arnt as effective. It would be great if someone explained what I could do to help my fans out so this would not happen, or whether there is an interface to configurate the fans and their power supply. Thank you.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 16
8/20/05 at 8:51pm
Clean out your fans/heatsinks with compressed air. You should see a huge gain in performance.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 16
8/23/05 at 4:56pm

Xps Has Big Problems

The XPS gen 1 has major issues. Visit the XPS Inspiron video lag forum. Explains alot. Please note, Dell has started to delete postings. I have even been banned for suggesting they have a recall.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 16
8/24/05 at 2:14am
Your processor is throttling down causing your problems. What processor do you have in your laptop? I am guessing you have the 3.4GHz Prescott.

You can use i8kfangui, www.diefer.de, to monitor your temperatures. i8kfangui can also control 2 of the fans but I would only use it to monitor temperatures and leave the fan control up to the built in thermal bios. And you can use RMclock to monitor throttling, http://cpu.rightmark.org/

As long as you have NOT upgraded the motherboard bios to A06 you can get to the built in thermal bios by pressing Fn+z+r. From there you can disable bios thermal controls and set all fans to high, 40. Leaving the fans on high is noisy but keeps the system as cool as possible. As someone already stated, make sure your heatsinks are cleaned out.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 16
8/24/05 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cannibalize
I am utterly dismayed that my XPS cannot handle its own cooling needs. For instance, when I play WoW, for the first one to two minutes, it stays at 50 FPS. Then, when it starts heating up, preformance goes down to 10 FPS. CRAP. I believe there are two possibilities, 1. when the fans kick in they take power from other components, or 2. it gets too hot for the components to work corrects so they either scale down or simply arnt as effective. It would be great if someone explained what I could do to help my fans out so this would not happen, or whether there is an interface to configurate the fans and their power supply. Thank you.
I just got my XPS Monday and love it I play WOW on it every night so far and have not had any problems it does not even get to hot I can play with it sitting on my lap for at least 3 hours and have not problem.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 16
8/24/05 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sapuddy
I have even been banned for suggesting they have a recall.

lol, And welcome to the forums. But anyway, Those other people have some good suggestions. I had a Dell Ispiron 4150 a while ago, Pentium-4M 2GHz, and it realy got hot, called dell, all they do it just use this program that tests your fan and just do nothing else. Its just the fact that there is a Desktop CPU in a Notebook.

You might want to consider a notebook cooler, it may help, and how hot is the room you are operating the system in?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 16
8/27/05 at 5:37pm
kevon,

good to see you at this forum. I hope everyone at the Dell forum follows this as well. I have been keeping the heat sinks clean and am not experiencing any problems. I have moniter the CPU and it stepped down to 2596 mhz while running BF2. Is that significant? You have the gen 2. Is it really that much faster?
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 16
8/28/05 at 5:30pm
Yes, that is significant. Do you notice any lag in your game when it is throttled?
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 16
8/28/05 at 9:25pm
No lag at all. Half Life 2 is also fine. Burning DVDs is also no problem. I really can't complain about my comp. My bitch is with Dell. Having to remove the fans to properly clean the heat sinks which clog because the fans have to run on high to keep a too hot processor from burning, which then voids the warrenty, that's my bitch.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 16
8/29/05 at 12:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sapuddy
No lag at all. Half Life 2 is also fine. Burning DVDs is also no problem. I really can't complain about my comp. My bitch is with Dell. Having to remove the fans to properly clean the heat sinks which clog because the fans have to run on high to keep a too hot processor from burning, which then voids the warrenty, that's my bitch.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, (because I may be!), but as far as I know, it's pretty difficult to burn up an Intel chip, as they would lock up/throttle back to protect themselves from frying. (?) I've had very little heat issues with my NW XPS in playing WoW/BF2/etc, though I use a Dyson vaccuum along with canned air at the same time to clean, seems to work pretty darn well. :0)
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 16
8/29/05 at 2:54am
We just need to admit it. Unless you are using the XPS in a highly airconditioned room, it will throttle and overheat.

my CPU temp with 2 webpages up and streaming Art Bell = 57C
my CPU temp after quitting UT GOTY = 70C

I am not happy about this since my 9100 rarely if ever has reached 65C

... and yes my fans are clean... lol!

Lets just hope no one re-lives the Powerbook 5300 days. Now that was a desktop hibachi (several units reported catching fire)
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 16
8/29/05 at 10:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corvus_Corax
Please correct me if I'm wrong, (because I may be!), but as far as I know, it's pretty difficult to burn up an Intel chip, as they would lock up/throttle back to protect themselves from frying. (?) I've had very little heat issues with my NW XPS in playing WoW/BF2/etc, though I use a Dyson vaccuum along with canned air at the same time to clean, seems to work pretty darn well. :0)
You are correct, the P4 will throttle first and then shut off completely if that does not cool the chip down enough. You have very little heat issues because you have a Northwood processor which runs much cooler than the Prescott.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whackamac
We just need to admit it. Unless you are using the XPS in a highly airconditioned room, it will throttle and overheat.
The Prescott will overheat and throttle, the Northwood stays cool enough in the XPS and does not throttle based on my experience.

I had an XPS with a 3.4 Prescott which would idle at 55+C and get up to 73C where it throttled. In comparison, after Dell replaced my Prescott with a Northwood, idle temps went down to about 45C with the fans barely running. If I turned the fans up at idle the temps would drop down into the 30's. At a full load the Northwood would get up to about 63C and the fans would still not be on their highest setting. All these temperatures I am stating were in a room at about 27C (no air conditioning).
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 16
8/29/05 at 10:44pm
Quote:
We just need to admit it. Unless you are using the XPS in a highly airconditioned room, it will throttle and overheat.

my CPU temp with 2 webpages up and streaming Art Bell = 57C
my CPU temp after quitting UT GOTY = 70C

I am not happy about this since my 9100 rarely if ever has reached 65C
Why is this? I too have a prescott 3.2 9100, and it usually hovers around 60-65, fans blazing, while playing evercrack2. Why does the XPS overheat? Isn't it nearly the same box? Does 3.2 to 3.4GHz really make that difference?
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 16
8/30/05 at 11:11am
Kevon,

Have you noticed the posts have stopped on the Dell site. Did they stop allowing post? That site was very active until last about Aug 24th-25th.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 16
9/2/05 at 1:11am
I have been following the Dell XPS problem since my troubles started. I have left the technical end up to people like kevon, who has been top notch. I have been working on the legal end. The link to Lieff Cabraser will only work with people in California. Seems that they can only handle CA law. SORRY. Have one more attorney looking into it. Recently found this article. VERY INTERSTING!! http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115363,00.asp A must read. Maybe the problem has been around for a long time and Dell has known about it all along. Kevon, drop me a line.

SAPUDDY
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 16
9/2/05 at 6:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevon
You are correct, the P4 will throttle first and then shut off completely if that does not cool the chip down enough. You have very little heat issues because you have a Northwood processor which runs much cooler than the Prescott.



The Prescott will overheat and throttle, the Northwood stays cool enough in the XPS and does not throttle based on my experience.

I had an XPS with a 3.4 Prescott which would idle at 55+C and get up to 73C where it throttled. In comparison, after Dell replaced my Prescott with a Northwood, idle temps went down to about 45C with the fans barely running. If I turned the fans up at idle the temps would drop down into the 30's. At a full load the Northwood would get up to about 63C and the fans would still not be on their highest setting. All these temperatures I am stating were in a room at about 27C (no air conditioning).
How did you get Dell to replace your Prescott with a Northwood?
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Legacy (single-core notebooks) › Dell XPS heat and preformance problems.