Hi all, i'm a "n00b" here so I apologize if I ask any stupid questions or if i'm not too familiar with some hardcore computer lingo and stuff.
First of all I would like to say that I was really really looking forward to receiving my system (specs shown in my signature), and once it finally arrived I was very happy and excited to finally have it in my possesion.
Unfortunately I later found out that I had made 2 very bad decissions when purchasing this system:
#1. I should have got at least the 1 year waranty, but instead I just got the stupid 90 day waranty.
#2. I honestly think I shouldnt have opted for a "mobile desktop" with a desktop processor, because I think that is the source of all my problems with this computer.
Well the system ran fine for about the first month and I honestly considered it to be my "prized possesion." Then one day I was playing World or Warcraft and it shutdown by itself (fans didn't even turn on). As if it just died on me. I called tech support and he walked me thru a number of troubleshooting methods, he had me remove various components (battery, ram, cd-rom drive) one by one to try to pin-point the problem. Eventually he came to the conclusion that it was a problem with the motherboard. Thankfully they said they would fix it, they even sent me a pre-paid shipping label.
After I sent it to them I monitored my email day after day to check on the "phases" of the repair process. However it was taking an awful long time so I ended up calling them. They apologized for the delay and told me that they were experiencing a high volume in the repair department (
... not a good sign i would think... ) So almost a month later, literally 25+ days after I sent it to them, they finally sent it back to me.
Upon receiving it the problem seemed to be solved and I was notified that they had replaced the motherboard. I also went out and bought an Antec notebook cooler because my friend suggested I do so.
Well, about a month and a half later, my system started shutting down by itself and the fans would go on full blast (similar to how a car's radiator will turn on full blast after you turn off a car, to try to cool down the engine). So I assumed it was an overheating issue. This would happen while I was playing games but not all the time. And sometimes it would happen if I was just surfing the net or just doing a scandisk, so i'm not sure if it depends on the workload...
I called Alienware and I spoke to customer support. I told her about the problems I was having and I asked to speak to tech support. She told me that she could not transfer me to tech support because my warranty had expired. So then I told her to transfer me to her manager or someone who I could talk to that could help me resolve my issue. She then told me that she could not do that either, and all i could speak to was customer support. I was thinking WTF good is that gonna do?
I then informed her of how unsatisfied I am with their product and what a big disappointment it has been. 
Anyways... with all that background info disclosed, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how I can fix this problem because it looks like i'm not gonna get any more help from Alienware...
If someone could please help me with my problem I would so greatly appreciate it! =\
Things to take into consideration:
- Not sure if the Antec notebook cooler (cools by blowing air up into the notebook) was helping that much, so I purchased a Titan Serina (cools by sucking all the hot air from under the notebook and venting it thru the back)... however neither seem to be solving my problem.
- Already tried to prop up the rear of the notebook while its on either cooling pad for better air flow.
- Already used canned air to get all the dust out... numerous time mind u.
- Already replaced those lil thermal sticky pads in between the heatsink/cpu and heatsink/gpu with thin layers of polysynthetic thermal silver compound.
- Im using Speedfan to monitor the temperature, (idle: 40-50c, heavy load: 55-70c ... and sometimes it says 1 degree celsius, whats up with that?)
- I've already removed and tested the battery and each stick of ram to see if they were causing the problem.
- This prolly doesnt matter, but mouse and keyboard being used are USB.
- Ive heard of GetThermal and some sort of flash bios thingy to adjust fan settings, but i dont know where to get or how to use either of those things. Also i'm not sure if either of those options would make my problems worse cuz i have no idea how to use either...
Someone please help me..
tyvm in advance...
First of all I would like to say that I was really really looking forward to receiving my system (specs shown in my signature), and once it finally arrived I was very happy and excited to finally have it in my possesion.
Unfortunately I later found out that I had made 2 very bad decissions when purchasing this system:
#1. I should have got at least the 1 year waranty, but instead I just got the stupid 90 day waranty.
#2. I honestly think I shouldnt have opted for a "mobile desktop" with a desktop processor, because I think that is the source of all my problems with this computer.
Well the system ran fine for about the first month and I honestly considered it to be my "prized possesion." Then one day I was playing World or Warcraft and it shutdown by itself (fans didn't even turn on). As if it just died on me. I called tech support and he walked me thru a number of troubleshooting methods, he had me remove various components (battery, ram, cd-rom drive) one by one to try to pin-point the problem. Eventually he came to the conclusion that it was a problem with the motherboard. Thankfully they said they would fix it, they even sent me a pre-paid shipping label.
After I sent it to them I monitored my email day after day to check on the "phases" of the repair process. However it was taking an awful long time so I ended up calling them. They apologized for the delay and told me that they were experiencing a high volume in the repair department (
... not a good sign i would think... ) So almost a month later, literally 25+ days after I sent it to them, they finally sent it back to me.Upon receiving it the problem seemed to be solved and I was notified that they had replaced the motherboard. I also went out and bought an Antec notebook cooler because my friend suggested I do so.
Well, about a month and a half later, my system started shutting down by itself and the fans would go on full blast (similar to how a car's radiator will turn on full blast after you turn off a car, to try to cool down the engine). So I assumed it was an overheating issue. This would happen while I was playing games but not all the time. And sometimes it would happen if I was just surfing the net or just doing a scandisk, so i'm not sure if it depends on the workload...
I called Alienware and I spoke to customer support. I told her about the problems I was having and I asked to speak to tech support. She told me that she could not transfer me to tech support because my warranty had expired. So then I told her to transfer me to her manager or someone who I could talk to that could help me resolve my issue. She then told me that she could not do that either, and all i could speak to was customer support. I was thinking WTF good is that gonna do?
I then informed her of how unsatisfied I am with their product and what a big disappointment it has been. Anyways... with all that background info disclosed, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how I can fix this problem because it looks like i'm not gonna get any more help from Alienware...
If someone could please help me with my problem I would so greatly appreciate it! =\
Things to take into consideration:
- Not sure if the Antec notebook cooler (cools by blowing air up into the notebook) was helping that much, so I purchased a Titan Serina (cools by sucking all the hot air from under the notebook and venting it thru the back)... however neither seem to be solving my problem.
- Already tried to prop up the rear of the notebook while its on either cooling pad for better air flow.
- Already used canned air to get all the dust out... numerous time mind u.
- Already replaced those lil thermal sticky pads in between the heatsink/cpu and heatsink/gpu with thin layers of polysynthetic thermal silver compound.
- Im using Speedfan to monitor the temperature, (idle: 40-50c, heavy load: 55-70c ... and sometimes it says 1 degree celsius, whats up with that?
)- I've already removed and tested the battery and each stick of ram to see if they were causing the problem.
- This prolly doesnt matter, but mouse and keyboard being used are USB.
- Ive heard of GetThermal and some sort of flash bios thingy to adjust fan settings, but i dont know where to get or how to use either of those things. Also i'm not sure if either of those options would make my problems worse cuz i have no idea how to use either...
Someone please help me..
tyvm in advance...
...
I pm'd u the info, and I look forward to hearing from you.
