[UPDATE] - the over heating issue has been fixed. I spoke with Dell about it earlier in the week & the believed the issue to be with the motherboard.
Dell dispatched a technician a couple of days after my conversation with them & replaced the motherboard, heat sink & fans. I had the technician apply Arctic Silver thermal paste to the board & any other areas that used the stock thermal paste, as suggested by several dell forums & my local computer store (Dell thermal paste is terrible). Dell did this for me at no cost & without Dell support warranty.
I’m on day 3 since the repair & the laptop seems to be running fine. I have stress test the laptop & still comes back with throttling of 13% due to heat, but am no longer getting drops to 0.8ghz when the laptop is reaching high temps. Temps seem to be holding around the 80 to 100 degree mark now.
I have also had the hybrid power feature start working once this board with changed. Previously I would not have my battery power be used while plugged into the adapter, while high performance gaming, however after the board change, this has started happening. Support told me that this was due to hybrid power mode that’s default on this laptop.
i have invested some money into a cooling pad for my laptop to prevent the laptop from throttling, will update this post when it arrives to let anyone of if this has any meaningful effect on the laptop.
final thoughts;
I have come to the opinion that the Alienware m15 R2 is a flawed laptop with temperature issues that can wreck your motherboard & GPU/CPU fans. This may be due to a design flaw, thermal paste used, the upgrade to my graphics card & screen or a combination of all the above.
I hope that my post helps someone with similar issues & acts as a guide for them to get the issue resolved without costing them much more than the already expensive laptop already has.
Hi @Oblivion900 welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
The Alienware m15 series employs Hybrid Power Design to maintain full system performance under extreme heavy loading conditions. It does this by allowing power to be drawn from system battery with the AC adapter plugged in. The system will throttle during heavy loading and may cause performance issues.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
thanks for the info. I understand that throttling is part of the laptops design when under a heavy load, but I shouldn’t really be facing this kind of throttling when my laptop is capable of playing the game at ultra specs.
the issue I am facing is that the hardware is causing much more heat than the fans can keep up with. I’m trying to see if there is any known fixes to this issue as I do find this to be a huge flaw in what is meant to be a high profile gaming laptop.
While I understand that throttling is in response to the temperature getting too high & is attempting to cool the laptop, I shouldn’t be in a position where my processor slows to < 10 fps on a game it’s designed to play.
The m15 R2 DirectX information says system has 9th generation Intel core CPU and BIOS 1.7.1 has been installed. Note BIOS says Intel CPU undervolting abilities are disabled in response to Intel Technical & Security Advisory, to mitigate Intel's Plundervolt vulnerability. Instead of peaking at around 87°C during mixed usage, CPU safe temperature threshold has been increased to 100°C (boiling point of water). After cleaning and repasting, CPU temperatures will still be just under 100°C. All parts within the laptop enclosure will be at an uncomfortable higher temperature, and Lithium-ion battery aging chemistry will be accelerated.
Some users have installed an earlier BIOS version that does not mitigate the Plundervolt vulnerability. After BIOS roll back to old version finishes, press F2 to enter BIOS menu and reset the BIOS settings to default, so that undervolting is available. Then disable Windows Update ability to update BIOS again, under the “Security” tab, disable the option “UEFI Firmware Update Via C_apsules”. Be wary of any Dell BIOS updates, as they will remove the undervolting option, and ability re-flash BIOS to old version.
I have managed to roll back my bios to 1.3.1 & attempted to do undervolting, howver even with this bios roll back, I am unable to do any undervolting. I have attempted this on a few different bits of software, but it still is showing the options as greyed out.
I have done further research on the issue I am having & installed the program aida64 to monitor cpu speeds & temperature. This program has recorded temperatures hitting 100 degrees celsius & a cpu throttling (max 13%) which rises as far as 19% after running a stress test for 10 minutes. The warning given during this test is that overheating is detected.
During some of my research I have also read that power supplies do make a difference. I was supplied with a 180w power supply, could potentially buying a 240w power supply fix the issues I'm having? Or could this possibly be a damaged heat sink, fan or bad thermal paste?
Recently, my CPU works normally while not gaming. Once gaming, the CPU drops to 0.8ghz. I am so confused and frustrated. I think you are right, the thermal design of m15 r2 is so bad that it will almost certeainly cause damage on the motherboard. I am glad that you got your laptop fixed out of warranty. How do you approch to Dell to let them fix it for free??
This is clearly a design issue, I can't image how many m15 r2 users gonna suffer from such horriable thermal design. A super expenseive gaming laptop yet survive no longer than 2 years??
This is so disheartening, from what you have described its exactly what is happening to my 3yr old m15 R2. Of course I no longer have warranty, so looks like I'm just out of luck. I spent so much additional money on this because I really thought I was buying an amazing product. Well Alienware and Dell you have lost a customer..I am no longer purchasing any products from you. I can't believe I wasted so much money on this. As a single parent, I worked so hard and extra hours to get this laptop which I thought would carry me through 5-6yrs, and it didn't even get me past 3..this is so absolutely crushing for me.
Oblivion900
5 Posts
0
July 22nd, 2021 17:00
[UPDATE] - the over heating issue has been fixed. I spoke with Dell about it earlier in the week & the believed the issue to be with the motherboard.
Dell dispatched a technician a couple of days after my conversation with them & replaced the motherboard, heat sink & fans. I had the technician apply Arctic Silver thermal paste to the board & any other areas that used the stock thermal paste, as suggested by several dell forums & my local computer store (Dell thermal paste is terrible). Dell did this for me at no cost & without Dell support warranty.
I’m on day 3 since the repair & the laptop seems to be running fine. I have stress test the laptop & still comes back with throttling of 13% due to heat, but am no longer getting drops to 0.8ghz when the laptop is reaching high temps. Temps seem to be holding around the 80 to 100 degree mark now.
I have also had the hybrid power feature start working once this board with changed. Previously I would not have my battery power be used while plugged into the adapter, while high performance gaming, however after the board change, this has started happening. Support told me that this was due to hybrid power mode that’s default on this laptop.
i have invested some money into a cooling pad for my laptop to prevent the laptop from throttling, will update this post when it arrives to let anyone of if this has any meaningful effect on the laptop.
final thoughts;
I have come to the opinion that the Alienware m15 R2 is a flawed laptop with temperature issues that can wreck your motherboard & GPU/CPU fans. This may be due to a design flaw, thermal paste used, the upgrade to my graphics card & screen or a combination of all the above.
I hope that my post helps someone with similar issues & acts as a guide for them to get the issue resolved without costing them much more than the already expensive laptop already has.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
July 16th, 2021 02:00
Hi @Oblivion900 welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
The Alienware m15 series employs Hybrid Power Design to maintain full system performance under extreme heavy loading conditions. It does this by allowing power to be drawn from system battery with the AC adapter plugged in. The system will throttle during heavy loading and may cause performance issues.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
Oblivion900
5 Posts
0
July 16th, 2021 05:00
Hi crimsom,
thanks for the info. I understand that throttling is part of the laptops design when under a heavy load, but I shouldn’t really be facing this kind of throttling when my laptop is capable of playing the game at ultra specs.
the issue I am facing is that the hardware is causing much more heat than the fans can keep up with. I’m trying to see if there is any known fixes to this issue as I do find this to be a huge flaw in what is meant to be a high profile gaming laptop.
While I understand that throttling is in response to the temperature getting too high & is attempting to cool the laptop, I shouldn’t be in a position where my processor slows to < 10 fps on a game it’s designed to play.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
July 16th, 2021 23:00
Hi @Oblivion900 thank you for sharing update.
The m15 R2 DirectX information says system has 9th generation Intel core CPU and BIOS 1.7.1 has been installed. Note BIOS says Intel CPU undervolting abilities are disabled in response to Intel Technical & Security Advisory, to mitigate Intel's Plundervolt vulnerability. Instead of peaking at around 87°C during mixed usage, CPU safe temperature threshold has been increased to 100°C (boiling point of water). After cleaning and repasting, CPU temperatures will still be just under 100°C. All parts within the laptop enclosure will be at an uncomfortable higher temperature, and Lithium-ion battery aging chemistry will be accelerated.
Some users have installed an earlier BIOS version that does not mitigate the Plundervolt vulnerability. After BIOS roll back to old version finishes, press F2 to enter BIOS menu and reset the BIOS settings to default, so that undervolting is available. Then disable Windows Update ability to update BIOS again, under the “Security” tab, disable the option “UEFI Firmware Update Via C_apsules”. Be wary of any Dell BIOS updates, as they will remove the undervolting option, and ability re-flash BIOS to old version.
Oblivion900
5 Posts
0
July 18th, 2021 02:00
Hi Chrimsom,
I have managed to roll back my bios to 1.3.1 & attempted to do undervolting, howver even with this bios roll back, I am unable to do any undervolting. I have attempted this on a few different bits of software, but it still is showing the options as greyed out.
I have done further research on the issue I am having & installed the program aida64 to monitor cpu speeds & temperature. This program has recorded temperatures hitting 100 degrees celsius & a cpu throttling (max 13%) which rises as far as 19% after running a stress test for 10 minutes. The warning given during this test is that overheating is detected.
During some of my research I have also read that power supplies do make a difference. I was supplied with a 180w power supply, could potentially buying a 240w power supply fix the issues I'm having? Or could this possibly be a damaged heat sink, fan or bad thermal paste?
MatthewChen233
3 Posts
0
February 26th, 2022 18:00
HI Oblivion!
I have an exact same issue in my m15 r2!!!
Recently, my CPU works normally while not gaming. Once gaming, the CPU drops to 0.8ghz. I am so confused and frustrated. I think you are right, the thermal design of m15 r2 is so bad that it will almost certeainly cause damage on the motherboard. I am glad that you got your laptop fixed out of warranty. How do you approch to Dell to let them fix it for free??
This is clearly a design issue, I can't image how many m15 r2 users gonna suffer from such horriable thermal design. A super expenseive gaming laptop yet survive no longer than 2 years??
What a joke ALIENWARE , mlm .
adminnnnaaa
1 Message
0
February 6th, 2023 04:00
hello
Syntext
1 Message
0
May 27th, 2023 01:00
This is so disheartening, from what you have described its exactly what is happening to my 3yr old m15 R2. Of course I no longer have warranty, so looks like I'm just out of luck. I spent so much additional money on this because I really thought I was buying an amazing product. Well Alienware and Dell you have lost a customer..I am no longer purchasing any products from you. I can't believe I wasted so much money on this. As a single parent, I worked so hard and extra hours to get this laptop which I thought would carry me through 5-6yrs, and it didn't even get me past 3..this is so absolutely crushing for me.