Alienware M14x R1 Overheating Issue

Question

Hello all! I was just writing after searching in vain for a diagnostic tool that would pick up a somewhat sudden, but not at all unexpected issue I've been having with my M14x R1. I've known these laptops to have absolutely godawful cooling issues, and have tried over the years to alieviate it. I've re-pasted the CPU, installed a fairly high end SSD along with new RAM, cleaned the internals/fan habitually, and even have TWO different fans circulating air under the cooling stand I've had for a long time. Still though, the damn thing idles at around 75C, and maxes out at 95-99C in no time when playing almost any sort of game. The heat issue hasn't horribly impacted gaming in the past, but recently it's gotten so bad it renders almost any game more or less unplayable, with fps hanging in the teens after about 5 minutes of gaming. In fact, I've been getting much better performance by forcing games to run off the integrated Intel video card. I have Turbo Boost disabled, and have use updated video drivers (though I have tried using older ones to pinpoint issues). My warranty is long since expired, as the laptop almost 2 years old now. But I know 99% of the hardware is still in fine shape (I think), so I'm hesitant to start the search for a new PC already. Does anyone have any guidance as to what sort of problem I might be experiencing? Every diagnostic I've run claims everything is fine, but being unable to play games that I've run just fine in the past suggests otherwise.

AndrewSi · Answer

Hello, is it your CPU or GPU that has the temp issues?

You mentioned you have repasted the CPU, how long ago and what sort of product did you use?

Did you also re-paste the GPU also?

My son has had a M14xR1 for almost 2 years, it has needed several GPU re-pastes to keep the temp acceptable, they will never be low, but you should be able to get it to an acceptable level.

If you have not already, I suggest a re-paste of your GPU with Arctic silver 5 or IC Diamond (IC Diamond is a lot harder to use).

Also might be a good idea to check the state of the thermal pads, the M14x gets pretty hot so that will definitely shorten the life of the thermal pads.

Tangent09 · Answer

It's been somewhat of a creeping problem, but in the past it was mostly the CPU. It regularly hits 99C when gaming, but the GPU seems to be around 67-70 most of the time.

However...I have noticed that very recently the GPU has also been running hotter than usual, even though nothing has changed in the PC.

I pasted the CPU about a year ago, using IC Diamond thermal paste. I did not however repaste the GPU.

I'm a bit dumb hardware-wise, what exactly are the thermal pads..? Ido try and clean the heat sink and some other stuff occasionally, but it's very likely I missed something in my ignorance.

Thanks very much for the help! I really appreciate it!

AndrewSi · Answer

Hi again, the thermal pads are (usually) either blue or light green in colour, they lay over the component that are beside the GPU and sometimes also the CPU.

Also if I forgot to mention, cleaning inside the heatsink "fins" is very important as that's where the air flow comes from/to. If your fans have a large coating of dust stuck to the "fins" that may be affecting the temp too.

There's also a chance one or both of the fans are on their way out

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