Start a Conversation

Unsolved

P

1 Message

1339

March 12th, 2019 07:00

Area-51 R2, overheating

Hi everyone,

I would love some help with a problem. I have an Alienware Area-51 R2 desktop. It was bought maybe 4 years ago. It was used for maybe 8 months with no problems. Then, left idle ( unstated) for 3 years until the other day. Once started, it worked fine for maybe 10 minutes then restarted itself. It booted fine and then restarted again after 5 minutes. After restart the amount of time it lasted decreased until finally it was restarting before the splash screen, until I turned it off completely. I am thinking its an CPU overheating problem. The fan is spinning fine but maybe the radiator is blocked or the cooler in the end of the hoses. I have read forums that say it could be the power supply wattage, but it has a 850w PSU so I don't think its that as it work fine for months. What do you think? Can the cooling system on these be flushed? If it cant be flushed, can I buy a new one ?

Any help would be great, thanks.  

8 Wizard

 • 

17K Posts

March 12th, 2019 11:00


@Peterpdoyle wrote:

 

1. Once started, it worked fine for maybe 10 minutes then restarted itself. It booted fine and then restarted again after 5 minutes. After restart the amount of time it lasted decreased until finally it was restarting before the splash screen, until I turned it off completely.

2. I am thinking its an CPU overheating problem. The fan is spinning fine but maybe the radiator is blocked or the cooler in the end of the hoses.

3. Can the cooling system on these be flushed?

4. If it cant be flushed, can I buy a new one ?

Any help would be great, thanks.  


1. Could be many things.

If you press F12 on boot, does it pass the ePSA ?

2. Possibly. See this:

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/CPU-Z-GPU-Z-Core-Temp-SpeedFan-Area-51-R2/m-p/6179886#M5546

And I thought he had posted some (cooling related) ePSA screen-shots, but not sure where they are.

3. The Asetek Liquid-Cooler is a "Sealed All-In-One Cooler" so not really.

4. Yes

2 Intern

 • 

402 Posts

March 13th, 2019 09:00

If left untouched for some time, the coolant inside the AIO could have broken down and gelled, causing blockages within the system.  That could very well explain your overheating issues if that's the case.  As these are sealed units, you wouldn't be able to flush them (easily).  If you're mechanically inclined, you could drain and flush via disconnection of the inlet and outlet tubes to the cold plate.  You'd also need to tear down the cold plate to remove whatever could have solidified around the impeller.  But, considering the prices of AIOs these days, it's easier just to buy a new one.

March 13th, 2019 21:00

Hi have you tried refilling your aio water cooler or Cleaning out your computer Light dusting it Here are 2 videos that may help On your specific problem hope this solve's your problem

 

No Events found!

Top