M9700 Overheating Issues - Page 3

I have bveen having much the same problems, for a month now during WoW I have had the frame rate drop to a point where it was as if the game had frozen and recently it has been shutting off. contacted alienware and after running stress tests and monitoring temperatures remotely they are now sending me a brand new heatsink and AS5. After the phone call I removed the heatsink itself and noticed a large amount of discolouration on the copper parts of the heatsink in contact with the CPU.

I must admit that my m9700 does tend to sit powered on for weeks and I believe even for more than a month and so I think this problem was brought upon myself. Although I have to say alienware were really supportive and didnt have any qualms about sending out replacement parts.

Well, I wouldn't blame yourself for the heat issues...

The turion runs pretty hot. I personally think it runs hotter at full tilt than current thermal grease and heatpads can handle long term. The stock heatpads dry out and crack, then you have gaps in the interface. I use AS5, and even with that, the turion gets hot enough to force the grease out over time if there are any air bubbles at all in there.

I want my m9700 to last as long as possible, so that means keeping an eye on temps. I use Notebook Hardware Control, and keep the temp in my systray so it's always on. You can also run a graph on the desktop to monitor the temps.

I have it set to warn me if the cpu goes over 87 deg C. It usually takes months after an application of AS5 to do that, but if it does, I clean out the fans and heatsinks, and re-apply AS5 on the cpu. My vid cards and SLI chipset seem stable, so I haven't had to deal with those at all.

I leave Notebook Hardware Control on dynamic switching during normal use. This lets the cpu step down, and it rarely gets over 60 deg, usually it's in the high 40's.

For gaming, I set NHC to max performance (just right click on the temp in the tray, and it gives you a quick check option). Then I open a free program called Systool. I go to cpu overclocking, choose nForce4 chipset, and set the fsb to 199.80 so nothing in the system overclocks. I then open Cool&Quiet, and since I have it set to max performance, it reads 12x for the multiplier, and 1.450 volts for the VID. I lower the VID to 1.425, click write, then I can play for hours on end and the cpu won't go over 82 deg C. I also tried at 1.400 VID, and the temps stayed below 80, but my computer froze due to instability. Some of you might be able to run at 1.400, I know of one guy that runs at 1.35 though he doesn't play demanding games. This seems to take care of my issues, and I haven't had to re-apply AS5 since using this process.

When I'm done gaming, I switch NHC back to dynamic switching and the temps quickly drop into the 40's again.

I'm not sure sending out new heatsinks is necessary as I've seen great results with just a new application of AS5. And with AS5, the less the better as long as you have coverage of the silicon.

This all is kind of a pain I suppose, you shouldn't have to do any of this with a retail product, but with computers it's all about controlling heat. The cooler you can keep the cpu, the longer it will last.

dloading NHC as I type this (thanks for the tip btw) and am wondering is there any way to buy AS5 over the counter in the UK. I have asked around in PC world and 1 or 2 other places and all I could find was a brand called akasa which doesnt seem to have helped the problem much.

was running WoW on my comp this evening and the THRM temp is 95 but I dont think the CPU temp went over 80 and yet it still shut itself off (recorded using CPUID HWmonitor).

update: new heatsink arrived today (AS5 arrives tomorrow ) however it looks second hand with what looks like thermal Gel already caked onto the copper plate on the CPU coverand I am wondering if this is normal. this area of maintenance is new to me so please indulge my potentially stupid question

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...4/100_0057.jpg

How do you set a temp. alarm? Is it an option in NHC that I'm not seeing?

I don't know if the heatsink comes with the heatpads on them or what... As long as the fan works well and is dust free, I'd use it. Keep your old one also, as it's probably fine. I think the turion just gets too hot longterm for the heatpads and the heatsinks are fine.

I'm using an older version of the program, but it should be similar...

First, open NHC, and go to the settings tab, click on "show advanced NHC settings". In this page, I click cpu temp, and cpu clock so I can tell in the tray if I've got it on max performance or switching by the speed. It also shows the cpu temp in the systray.

Next, go to ACPI tab. Under ACPI notebook temp, there's a "cpu temp warning". Click on that temp and change it to what you want. I set mine at 87 deg C. It won't interrupt your game, but if the temp goes past your setting, when you quit the game you'll get a balloon with text that your cpu has exceded your temp. When mine does this more than once, I clean out the radiators and fans, and sometimes I re-apply AS5.

Under the status tab, you can use the image on the right to set up monitoring, where you can have graphs of temps and other properties shown on your desktop on a running graph. I don't do this anymore as the temp in the tray is good for me.

Also, once you have something like the temp or speeds shown in the systray on the bottom right, you can right click on that number, and a quick menu will open up so you can switch from max performance to dynamic switching without opening the full interface.

When I game, I set NHC to max performance, then open systool. Under systool, I hit "CPU overclocking", choose nForce4, and hit read. I set the fsp to 199.80 so it's set at standard speed with no overclocking. I then hit "Cool&Quiet", click read, and it shows the multiplier at 12x when on max, and VID of 1.450 volts. I set the VID down to 1.425 and click write.

With these settings, I can game for hours with the temps not going over 83deg C. After gaming, I right click on the temp in the tray, and reset NHC to dynamic switching. This overrides the cool&quiet setting in systool and returns the system to stock setup for normal use.

When dynamic switching is on during gaming, the fans are on and off, which lets the temps spike. With max perf. on all the time, the fans are consistent, and so are the temps.

Looks like the ACPI tab is only in the professional version(?)

Thanks for the info.

ETA: Nevermind, I found it--Doh!

Hi, I'm brand new here and have been wondering why my m9700 has seen its temp go through the roof, to the point where it was shutting down. I can't tell you how relieved I am to find out that I'm not alone! Thank you to everyone who's taken the time and effort to put some very useful hints and tips out there - I'll get some AS5 on to my heatsinks ASAP and will get back (hopefully) to gaming! Thanks.

Hope this works for you. The AS5 should make a big difference.

Can anyone recommend anywhere in the UK that can apply the AS5 for me? I've seen the tutorial but with something as expensive as this I really don't want to screw it up. I live near London (north) and can travel about a bit to deliver it if needs be.

I've installed NHC but don't know where to find the systool. I tried to RUN it from the start menu but it's not in there. Is it a separate piece of software? Any help much appreciated. Cancel that - I've found the systool software. However, it can't detect my motherboard. Can anyone help with that, instead?

Open systool, click on 'CPU Overclocking'. Then click on the down arrow by 'Clock Generator', and scroll down to nForce4. Choose nForce4, then click on the 'Read' button, and it should show you the clocks for the fsb and cpu speed.

The m9700 uses the nForce4 chipset, a desktop chipset, with mobile cards, so that's why the mobo isn't recognized, but it works from the nForce4 chipset fine.

Cheers - I followed your instructions and it's all set up. I'm still running hot but I haven't got any AS5 on yet. Hopefully that'll help, too.

The AS5 will make a much bigger difference than everything else.

Don't put it off, once you've done it you'll see how easy it really is. When I did it the first time, I saw temp drops of more than 6 degrees at the top end, more than that at idle.

m9700 FreakWare here too and same problems, so glad I found you guys, couldn't find a decent answer anywhere else! Not even from FreakWare! Been happening on and off for over two years now....

Will be ordering my Silver stuff pronto!

Thanks again!

had the same problem with my malx when i had the motherboard replaced. the monkeys who did it cocked up the pad alignment so I cleaned it all off and re-AS5'd it now its working fine.

Better be as well because the UK is supposed to be getting a heat wave this week

A big thank you

Guys, having read the thread, I can only say a big thanks, especially Hammerhead for the information. I`ve been trying for quite a while to eliminate the overheating problem on my M9700, cleaned everything, worked initially, but almost back to square one. So I`ve got some AS5 and will give it a shot, downloaded NHC (do I need anything else? ) I`ll let you know how I get on. Also, before I forget, I did ring Alienware when it started and they informed me it was the Graphics cards, they would replace them at £175 each! Thanks again

Ok, bit more information. Downloaded NHC and the CPu temp on start is running between 49/50. As soon as I start anything (technical term, sorry most of my PC skills are self taught ) such as running as system scan it`ll rocket to 89/90 as soon as the scan is stopped it`ll drop almost instantly. Even unplugged the charger so as to eliminate that from the possible culprits. Got the AS5, just awaiting the cleaning fluid to make sure that I don`t leave anything to chance. Also bought a Zalman notebook cooler on the offchance I could solve the problem without opening her up again. Any advice will be appreciated and I`ll keep you updated as to the success or failure of the AS5. Be lucky.

Success?

OK. Everything cleaned off (question as to whether I needed to remove and clean off the heatsync that has leaked under the clear plastic covers on the cpu and graphics cards?) and AS5 applied (hopefully) as per the excellent tutorial.

One thing I didn`t do last time was the CPU. So with that AS5`d as well, fingers crossed.

From start to finish it took 20-30 minutes to complete.

Knowing that it will take about a week for everything to settle down, I was tentative at first to start WOW. So logged in and played for 14 hours, no freezes, no blue screens no shut downs.

Temp got up to 89C but no further, NHC warned about the rising temp, but it stayed constant, if I dropped out of the game to look at my mail the temp went down to 60-65C.

As I`m sitting here now watching the screen it`s idling between 49-52C.

The cost of the Cleaner, purifier and AS5 (£8.45) money well spent.

Tobias, if you read this post, I only live on the East side of London, if you haven`t manged to apply the AS5, I would happily do the job for you, it isn`t that difficult.

I`ll post next week to update if I`ve had any setbacks.

Just need to educate myself a bit more to become more profficient.

OK.
A week or so on and no shut down`s temp running currently at 60-64.

Just logged into WOW and the temp has gone up to 85.

NHC is warning about the temp but no problems so far.

AS5 has cured the problem?

Even if this has to take place every so often, it`s a lot better than having the machine sitting at the bottom of the wardrobe because I can`t use it.

Thanks for the information.

I`ve just bought myself a further project an M9700 that powers up but doesn`t boot up.

Be lucky.