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m5700 Randomly shutting down

post #1 of 10
12/29/08 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
Hello,

I have an m5700 that recently started being used as a gaming laptop. After a few sessions on it, it notably ran way too hot to the touch. While it was hot, it had laggy / jagged gameplay, but didn't shut down.

I bought a laptop cooler tablet for it with a few fans, and that seemed to considerably lower the temperature on it. This worked for a few days, but all of a sudden it started randomly shutting down, even without a game being played on it (just sitting there at a windows desktop).

I downloaded SpeedFan and the CPU temps were about 54C. However, the GPU was reading 0. Not sure if this model is compatible with SpeedFan or not.

To minimize any sort of additional heat that was being generated, I removed the battery and am running it entirely off of the power supply. Still shuts down randomly.

Curiously enough, I left it alone for a day (plugged into the wall outlet), and the laptop reset its time to 1980.

The laptop still randomly shuts down.

So my question is: did I fry something?

I read on other models that if the BIOS doesn't correctly detect temperatures, it will shut the system down to save itself. Is there maybe a way I can download a new BIOS that doesn't have the functionality? I found an ftp link (ftp://aliendl.alienware.com/Mobile/m5700/BIOS), but I can't browse the contents. Does anyone know the direct link to the BIOS file?

Any help is appreciated.
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post #2 of 10
12/29/08 at 10:00pm
use ATITOOl for GPU temp and see what it shows when you are gaming and idle...
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post #3 of 10
12/30/08 at 4:13am
Thread Starter 
ATITool / SpeedFan both show the "sensor" is 48C, and the GPU is 52C. It spiked to 58C and then shut down. This is idle, sitting here with maybe a browser window open.

When I try to game it shuts down, so I assume it hits at least 58C.

Are these normal temps? Can I patch something so that it doesn't shut the computer down at a certain temperature?
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post #4 of 10
12/30/08 at 5:28am
Mobile vid cards nowadays don't start to downclock or shut down until well into the 90 deg C range.

Your issue does sound like it's heat related though. Vid cards and cpus will usually clock themselves down before shutting off at a threshhold temp. I'd consider removing the vid card heatsink, and the cpu heatsink and applying new thermal grease. I use Arctic Silver 5. While you have the back off, make sure the fans are working. I wouldn't override the heat shut off if you can figure it out, you'll likely just burn up the vid card if it hasn't already developed issues.

Instability can be caused by memory failures, so as a first step in diagnosis it's usually good to check and make sure the memory is fine first. I'd remove the memory, and reseat it, then start it up and see if it's still unstable. You can also download and run memtest if your system will run long enough...

Edit: I just noticed in another string you've got an aftermarket AC adapter. If it supplied different amperage or voltage to the m5500 than the stock unit, it's a likely suspect.
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post #5 of 10
12/30/08 at 6:17pm
Thread Starter 
I guess I'll check the memory then, although I have seen Memtest say that RAM was good when removing it eventually solved my problems.

As far as the power adapter goes, the system has been in use for a year+ now with the after market power adapter. Haven't seen any problems with it since. It's pretty much started since it's been used as a gaming laptop.

Thanks
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post #6 of 10
12/30/08 at 10:49pm
i would say its your heatsinks... clean them out and reapply the thermal grease... and dont block the vents and make sure if you use a laptop cooler make sure its not choking your fans in your laptop.....
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post #7 of 10
10/15/12 at 11:41pm

I have a similar problem my Dell Alienware m5700 (original m5700) is randomly shutting down usually with in the first 1-3 minutes of use ive tried reapplying thermal paste and and cleaning out the heatsinks even (did not use water used isoporpyl alcohol) and the little battery which allows it to power up the bios has been replaced with a new one of the same type and quality as the original im trying to run windows 7 prof on it but i doubt thats the problem in case of bad ram ive swapped out ram cards to no avail so if anyone has any ideas ill gladly listen.

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post #8 of 10
10/15/12 at 11:52pm
Have you tried using a notebook cooler? Let it run before starting the comp iup

cheers ...
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post #9 of 10
10/16/12 at 7:42pm

yes i have tried that thank you for your idea though, i believe it might a bios problem so im investigating possible causes and the possibility of replacing my bios chip and how to possibly flash in new bios im also going to dive a bit deeper into the hardware of my laptop and see if i can find any physical problems i may have missed when i checked it previously.

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post #10 of 10
10/17/12 at 1:32am
Good luck Kerrero.. Please share with us what you find

cheers ...
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