Everyone should read this_Vostro 3700 Overheating Issue

Question

I own a Dell Vostro 3700.  The laptop is having serious overheating issues.  The problem is being caused by the terrible design of this laptop.  Usually computers are equipped with two cooling fans, one for cooling the CPU and one for cooling the GPU.  This laptop however has only one cooling fan which is expected to do the work of two fans.  The issue only arises once the Nvidia GT330M GPU comes out of sleep mode, when the performance increases, or when the computer is put into a high performance power scheme.  Unfortunately it is not possible to set the speed of the fans in the BIOS as Dell has decided not to allow users access to this. Originally when I bought this laptop it came with a dedicated 1gb graphics card.  The laptop worked superbly and I never experienced any issues with overheating.  Then the power port on the laptop broke and dell sent out a technician, who replace the base of the laptop, which the power port is actually connected to, totally crazy design again but who could guess the reason for Dells abnormal laptop design at this stage.  The technician also replaced the motherboard, why I have no idea, as there was no issue with the motherboard.  The new motherboard had a new GPU, a hybrid which allows the machine to switch to intel hd on board graphics card and back to the Nvidia GT330M when needed.  This is where the overheating begins. My issue is not just with the laptop itself, but with Dell in general.  This is the second machine I have bought from Dell, my spends with this company is over €2500.  When the new motherboard was fitted I had issues with the graphics card drivers not being installed correctly, which should have been done by the technician.  I then had to contact Dell by phone, in India.  The online tech support took control of my laptop remotely and then proceeded to install the drivers from their office location, which is India.  However, during the course of the install the tech supports working day ended, and without telling me he left me there and went home for the day.  3 hours later I phoned the tech support department and was told by a security guard that the tech support had gone home, I had to figure out how to install the drivers by myself, which was no plain click next and install operation. Another issue was that the original base had the id tags and windows install key stickers on it.  The new base was totaly clean.  So I rang Dell requesting my codes, which I have paid for.  Trying to explain to the Indian tech support what my issue was took over an hour, they continually asked me for my service tag number, which I didnt have obviously, but they became rude and obnoxious over the issue and then just hung up on me.  Incredible. From what I can tell on this forum, Dell have made no attempts to rectify any of the issues with the overheating of this model.  I am starting here and I am going to continue to suggest that people steer as far clear from this company as possible, until this issue is addressed.  I will also never be buying an item from this company ever again.  Intel and Microsoft should also be aware that this company is hurting their image as companies who offer high end computing solution.  As for the tech support, abismal.

Raffi123 · Answer

I have the same problem unfortunately, I have to put my computer in sleep mode to let it cool off or it will shut down on its own.

LeoCaballero · Answer

Here's a link to NVIDIA's website, it scans your computer for the correct driver... EVEN IF IT IS NOT ON DELL's WEBSITE http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx?lang=en-us

EveningDarkStar · Answer

If you are still interested, you can read my thoughts on this laptop at en.community.dell.com/.../20272595.aspx  I encountered the same overheating problem that you reported and IMHO this laptop was badly designed and I feel like I have been ripped off by Dell also.

Eric-the-Red · Answer

Same problem here. Run any game with decent graphics and everything starts overheating. It just closed down at 100 degrees! Even when browsing the internet and writing posts (as now), the motherboard is at 68 degs, CPU at 64 deg and Nvidia graphics card at 61 deg. However I haven't been able to find what the maximum allowable tempertures should be on the Dell website. Has anyone else?

if you want to play games then the answer is to buy a new laptop and not Dell next time - But in the meantime, there are a number of laptop stands out there with cooling fans built in. Unfortunately I had to re-wire the one I bought as it blew air the wrong way. (Wasn't using the stand when the laptop cut out)

If you want to check your temperatures then try Speccy from Piroform (who do CCleaner) - www.piriform.com/speccy

Must finish by saying my 3750 has been a real workhorse, used every day for AutoCAD and Photoshop (without overheating), and I've been really pleased with it in every other way, which will give me a real problem when I do decide to re-new.

teyc · Answer

I own a Dell Vostro 3700 with overheating problems.  It is so bad that I count my lucky stars when the CPU temperature is only 81 C. Caveat Emptor.

the_diablo1 · Answer

I was going to buy a Dell laptop....thanx for the heads up :). Won't be now!!

scocou · Answer

I had problems with my Vostro 3700 overheating also, I solved them by installing SpeedFan. It allows manual control of fan speed, I now set it to maximum when heavily loading the GPU. No more problems, although it is rather noisy.

SpeedFan is free, get it here: www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

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