Dell XPS15z Overheating

Yep. Overheating issue. Realised there was a possible issue shortly after buying it. Advised Dell's quality team of this when they called to see if I was happy, but they're english was so bad I don't think they understood.

My Dell is overheating when playing something as graphically unintensive as minecraft. I've got the same specs as you.

PC stutters and comes to a halt.

15z.

Xug.

The system uses switching technology to use either on board graphics or the discrete video card, depending on the application. For some reason the computer may be using on board graphics some of the time (which will run much cooler) and the discrete card most of the time. That might explain why it runs cool some times.

Also, if you are using the discrete card the system is going to run hot (part of the reason for the switching techlonolgy in the first place). Ventilation is going to be critical, so you should check the following: (1) is the room temperature changing, cooler days will place less demand on the computers cooling systems than hot days; (2) are the vents on the side and rear obstructed?; (3) Are you using different surfaces to support the computer while playing?; (3) do you have dust buildup blocking the fan or vents?; (4) Is the fan actually working properly? For example, if you have taken steps to reduce fan noise you may have also have reduced system cooling as a result.

I have a XPS 14Z, which is similar to your computer, just smaller. The only time there are major noise/heat issues is when the discrete card is being heavily used, such as in video intensive games. Then the computer can get quite hot in one corner and the fan runs full blast all the time. It is easy to see that if there are any problems with cooling you might get system issues stemming from overheating. If your system is getting very hot the fan should sound like a small jet taking off, if it is not then you have a fan issue.

In normal use (I use my desktop for gaming, the laptop primarily for work and/or casual computing at home) the only issue I have with my computer regarding cooling is a soft "breathing" from the fan noticeable when ambient noise levels are very low, which stems from the fan speed changing slightly.

Have a look to see what CPU and GPU temperatures you are getting while gaming, if you can. That will be usefull information for trying to figure out what the exact issue is.

Another thing to keep in mind is that allthough these computers can run resource heavy games, they are not really designed for that purpose. They are more intended as high status business/moderate home use computers. So, if you bought the computer as a gaming computer, it was not really an appropriate choice.

Thanks for the feedback Tugela, Well the time it worked fine was pretty much same room temp as when it doesnt work so don't think its that. Flat wooden table so no obstruction of vents and doubt its dust buildup cause its been like this straight out of the box. Havent messed with any fan settings since buying, boot up menu test says the fan is fine, not sure if there is a better way to check this? The fan does run louder when gaming and very quiet when not. I did a quick temperature reading, when idle CPU is running around 55'c, when i ran Modern warfare it climbed to 92'c in about 15mins. Nvidia card was reading 44'c while idle, up to 76'c when the game was running....do you think maybe the processor is the problem?

The machine is primarily for work, its just frustrating knowing that it is capable of running intensive games without overheating, but that was a once off. Id say the first 10 times i tried modern warfare 3, it would very quickly get hot to the touch so I would just close the game, then one afternoon I pretty much played Modern Warfare straight for about 4-5 hrs, finished the game and it was fine, abit warm but not hot. Loaded the same game the next day to see if it would still work and it was back to its old ways, overheating in about 20mins, so who knows why it worked fine once. I tried playing some older games too like Red Alert 3, same problem....

me and my brothers get 3 of that model (XPS 15z).............and the same problem >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I talked to a Dell official when I had to get my HDD changed about this issue.

Turns out this is common, and the laptop's not meant for gaming. I'm extremely disappointed with the 15z and wish I never got it.

Hi Avro200,

The system I've had for approx 18 months was never great, despite the fact I had elected to upgrade the RAM and go with the i7 chip. It struggled with photoshop and was a knee capped machine from the start. Lots of overheating issues.

I did get tech support to come out once and they replaced the fan on the CPU and this made a significant difference in the heating problem (the fan made far less noise), however the machine was never what I would call fast and I regret the purchase.

I thought XPS series was meant to be one of Dell's premium products, perhaps to compete with Apple macbook pros, but it wasn't the case. 

I don't see myself getting a Dell again.

I'm having the same issues with my 15z, although I'm just trying to hook it up to an external LCD TV to play movies off the laptop.  Runs for a few minutes and gets extremely hot before shutting down.    Computer is less than a year old, and Dell has already had to replace the HDD and screen.  I'm pretty disappointing with the Dell product.   Complete junk.

Same issue here.  VERY disappointed.  Intensive graphic use frequently results in overheating (to the point of burning my fingers) and system sputtering to a halt.  I have found a workaround that helps which is to create a power profile and go into advanced settings and set the maximum power to CPU to something like 70% (since apparently the bottleneck for games is the graphics card).  It seems to allow my games to run longer.  But it does seriously radiate heat to my hands so I'm trying to make sure to only play with a game controller (who knows what hours of resting your hand on that will do!)