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dart451

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27 Posts

16457

August 1st, 2007 12:00

Over heating issue?

Hello, I have an XPS Gen.2 computer which has the copper w/tubes heat sink, shroud and two case fans which cool the processor.  I thought processor was overheating, 132F ( fans would speed up shortly after a cold boot and become very loud)so...I removed heat sink (per suggestion by Dell techs) , wiped off old grease and used new compound found at Radio Shack.  I then reseated the heat sink and shroud.  Well, what a mistake!!  Now I'm afraid to keep the computer on for very long at all cause the temps are now getting around 161-168. (I'm using MBM for temps).  So, now Dell has suggested that I order a new heat sink kit, part#9Y212, which I did order.  I should have it in a few days but I'm wondering if the heat sink could really be bad just because I removed it and replaced it?  I actually took it back off and wiped all the new compound off and put it on dry and it's running a little cooler without the compound.  However, if the processor was not over heating as I suspected, 132F is about 55C which is a proper running temp, (wish I compared this before screwing things up!), then what would have been causing my fans to speed up and make so much noise?  They're not squealing like a bad bearing or something...just running at around 4000 rpm after about 10 minutes.  I used to be able to hear the fans increase speed a little when processor had to work hard but this is way beyond working hard!?  Any feedback would be welcome!  Thanks.

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 6th, 2007 20:00

Hmmm?  Must be a pretty dead forum!?

tphillips63

2.6K Posts

August 6th, 2007 20:00

The gen2 is pretty old and the XPS forums did not pick up a whole lot till the later models came out.
I got two Gen 3s back when they came out and I don't think  they had a XPS specific group then.
 
If your fans are getting louder could there be dust buildup somewhere on the motherboard?
 
I doubt your heatsink is bad but who knows.  The replacement will have a thermal pad so just use it and watch temps.
Did you check diagnostics and run the fan tests to see if they might be out of spec?


Message Edited by tphillips63 on 08-06-2007 04:56 PM

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 6th, 2007 21:00

Guess I spoke too soon!?  Thanks for the response!  Anyway, I just replaced the heat sink I got from Dell Parts.  It has helped the temperatures but the fans are still quite loud.  No, no dust, I keep it nice and clean inside.  How do you run the diagnostics on the fans?  Thanks.


Message Edited by dart451 on 08-06-2007 04:04 PM

tphillips63

2.6K Posts

August 6th, 2007 21:00

If you do not have your disk (cd, Resource CD) I think it is labeled, download it here.
I made it tiny since it is huge.
Anyway run them and there should be a fan test in the menus and it really just sends different voltages so they spin at various levels but it might help.
 
Did you get a can or two of that air and blow out your power supply and fans/motherboard real good yet?  That might help too.
 
 

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 6th, 2007 21:00

It won't run on my machine!  I've downloaded it and unzipped the file but the delldiag.exe won't run.  A black box flashes on the screen when I try to run it but that's about all.  Any suggestions? 
 
I think I figured it out...I'm gonna have to make a floppy boot disk and then run it off a floppy boot...I'll see if I have a floppy laying around. 


Message Edited by dart451 on 08-06-2007 04:48 PM

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 6th, 2007 22:00

Well, that didn't work either!  I was able to boot from floppy but then when I try to change directories, it can't find my hard drives!  I assume that the fat32 (floppy) can't see the NTFS?  I don't have enough floppies to make all floppy discs...any suggestions?

tphillips63

2.6K Posts

August 7th, 2007 00:00

If you are still having trouble making the diags, call support.
Even though you are out of warranty Dell support will talk to you.
Ask them if there is a version that you can get in .ISO format so you can make a boot CD.
The new diags have that and they may be backwards compatible but I would call just to make sure.

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 7th, 2007 01:00

Thank you...I'll try that!  I'll let you know...

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 9th, 2007 21:00

Ok, I figured out that the Dell Resource disk has SysDiag on the CD. All I had to do was boot from CD (F12) and I was able to run the diagnostic on my computer. I ran the fan tests and everything passed. The computer still sounds like a 747 taking off but at least it doesn't overheat anymore! Anyone for those Bose sound eliminator earphones?

cademetz

1.3K Posts

August 10th, 2007 02:00

dart451 -- How much experience do you have applying CPU thermal grease? I ask because if the temps went up after reapplying the thermal grease, there is a good chance you applied too much or too little. The trick is to get just enough to allow for a very thin layer to make up for any microscopic gaps between the CPU core and the heatsink. In a best case scenario, you would have 100% metal to metal contact, but since both the CPU and heatsink will have imperfections, thus the need for the thermal grease. With CPU thermal grease, more is rarely better.
 
I would also highly recommend using a good quality grease such as Artic Silver 5 which can sometimes be bought at a local computer store. Alternatively, just get it from newegg.com
 
Artic Silver also has some guidelines for applying thermal grease depending on what CPU you have: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
 
I used to build my own systems (now I am just lazy) and overclocked most of them; which meant the best cooling possible and hence, lots of experience with thermal grease application. Let me know if you have questions.

dart451

1 Rookie

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27 Posts

August 10th, 2007 03:00

Thanks for the reply!  I think I have the overheating problem solved! I received a new heatsink that had the thermal grease already applied...seems to have solved the overheating problem.  You're right!  I probably put too much grease on the first time cause I was getting cooler temps when I wiped it all off.  Too bad the fans are so loud though...sounds like a lear jet running up it's engines.  Ran SysDiag and it showed fans working properly.

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