High CPU & GFX Temperatures on XPS1530M

Bump...

Any XPS 1530M users can give me some idea of their CPU and GFX temperatures while idling or while gaming/running applications?

Don't do much gaming, but see temps as high as 60°C on the CPU and 65°C on the GPU (8600GT) under normal operation. This hasn't changed in 2 years.

These temperatures are not unrealistic while gaming. If the temps drop fairly quickly after exiting a game, then you are OK. Dell is correct about the temp increase. A slow increase is normal when gaming, and normal temps should be seen when not gaming. Go ahead and blow out the inside, being careful to NOT spin the fan too much while cleaning.

However, if you smoke the 1530, you will probably be able to get an Alienware replacement!!!

Hi,

I have the same laptop you have and the same issues in the past. I would invest in a laptop cooler if I were you. There are some really good ones and some really bad ones. The first one I purchased had a USB to DC cable that went bad after a month or two. I wasn't able to find a replacement cable so that irritated me. I did find a good cooler with a USB to USB cable that works very well and keeps my laptop very cool. It sucks the heat away from the unit.

http://www.xoxide.com/linxntbkcooler.html

The link above is the newer model of the version I bought last summer. I haven't had any problems with it and it does wonders for keeping my laptop cool. Removing the covers and dusting the fans off probably will not make a difference in cooling. The fan is just too small and you probably generate the most heat where your motherboard is which should correspond with the area just below your keyboard. This area usually gets red hot for me. The cooler solved that problem though so I highly recommend it. For $24 its a good deal.

Hey Limp and all Frustrated XPS M1530 owners,

I was playing Company of Heroes last night and my XPS M1530 just shut down to avoid overheating (the palm rest was scorching hot but I was so into the game I didn't think about it).  My system has the Intel Core  2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40 GHz with 4GB of RAM and the same Nvidia 8600M GT GPU.  My normal running temps (using SpeedFan to get the readings) were about 70C for each CPUand 75C for the GPU.  During gaming with Company of Heroes or World in Conflict the CPUs were in the 80s and the GPU was closing in on 100C.  Of course when the system shut down, it wouldn't reboot for some time.

My guess is your suspicions about the dust build up are correct.  I spent 5 hours on the net looking for a solution to my heat issues and finally came across this link;

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/clean-replace-cooling-fan-dell-xps-m1530-laptop/

I'm semi-brave with computer repairs but this "easy" fix was a big deal for a newbie like me.  Anyway,  I followed his instructions today (had to go buy compressed air, thermal paste, and 99% alcohol for cleaning) and now the temperatures are far lower.  Both core CPUs are running at 40C and the GPU is running at 56C.  I haven't tested it under load (playing games yet) since I just finished, but I'm so excited about the improvement so far, I'm sure it won't be an issue (I'll post later on with an update).  I just purchased Starcraft 2 so I needed to fix this heat problem before getting into it.

My vent, fan, and everything else looked exactly like the one in the link above, caked in dust; in retrospect, I should have been more diligent with the compressed air from time to time but live and learn.  When I removed everything to clean it, the thermal paste that came with the laptop was so rock solid, it was like concrete (and doing nothing for the cooling of the system).  After I got the screws out, it made a horrible cracking noise when the heat sink unit "popped" off the CPU and GPU (scared the heck out of me too) because the heat sink was cemented with the old thermal paste to the processors.  I used a flat-head screwdriver to scrape off the old "paste" before cleaning it with the alcohol and adding new thermal paste.  To make a long story less long,  now I have a perfectly clean fan/vent and brand new thermal paste that seems to be doing the job.

My warranty has expired so I had no reservations about opening the back cover but I would bet your guess about what is wrong with your system is spot on. 

Anyway, best of luck to you; hopefully if someone was having the same heat issues with this machine as I was, my story and this link will help.

Cheers,

Swanny

Congratulations on the repair!!!! Going inside is always scary. 

Dust and poor heat transfer are the major reasons for high temps. Unfortunately, Dell always wants to replace the system board. There is NO way a functioning system board will generate too much heat by itself. It's ALWAYS heat NOT being removed. Dust bunnies really hinder air flow, and improper paste application are the big problems. I suspect that when Dell replaces a system board, the tech does not clean and replace the old paste. They just bolt the old CPU and the old heat sink back together.

The paste should last a reasonable amount of time. I have only used Arctic Silver, so can't do compare. The best thing is to just watch the temps.

My M1530 has basically kept the same temps for 2 1/2 years. Periodically I blow it out, which reduces temps a few degrees. I guess the paste application from the factory was reasonably good, though I don't get temps as low as yours.

After seeing the pictyres on your referanced post, I am tempted to go in an do a better clean-p.

Gaming success!!!  Ran Company of Heroes again through the first campaign taking my time along the way.  The GPU topped out at 72C while the CPUs (two cores) went  up to 65C and 62C as the high marks.  Big difference from last night's unscheduled shutdown.

The thing that amazed me the most was when I closed the program and watched how fast a clean fan/vent with the new thermal paste could cool things down.  Within 90 seconds of exiting the program to windows, the GPU went down to 61C and the CPUs went down to 47C and 51C.  Within 5 minutes I was at 57C for the GPU and 41C and 47C for the CPUs.  Great stuff--and at no time did the palm rest feel hot (just warm air flowing out the back vent).

I only played for 20 minutes mind you.  I'll check back after I install Starcraft 2 and have a few marathon sessions under my belt.  One thing is for sure, if I hadn't done the repair today, I wouldn't be playing Starcraft 2 on this system.

One question though--maybe you could answer this for me Kirk.  Although I will be more diligent with using the compressed air to "clean" the vent/fan from time to time, is there a timeframe the thermal paste should last?  I used the Cooler Master Thermal Paste

 (http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/cm_premium_thermal_compound/).

Cheers,

Swanny

Hi, I have the same laptop you have and the same issues in the past. I would invest in a laptop cooler if I were you. There are some really good ones and some really bad ones. The first one I purchased had a USB to DC cable that went bad after a month or two. I wasn't able to find a replacement cable so that irritated me. I did find a good cooler with a USB to USB cable that works very well and keeps my laptop very cool. It sucks the heat away from the unit. http://www.xoxide.com/linxntbkcooler.html The link above is the newer model of the version I bought last summer. I haven't had any problems with it and it does wonders for keeping my laptop cool. Removing the covers and dusting the fans off probably will not make a difference in cooling. The fan is just too small and you probably generate the most heat where your motherboard is which should correspond with the area just below your keyboard. This area usually gets red hot for me. The cooler solved that problem though so I highly recommend it. For $24 its a good deal.

Thanks for your sharing! Now I got it, This is what I'm looking for.