m17 R3, serious heatsink problem

Question

I have an Alienware m17 R3 laptop that I purchased in August of 2020 that is now out of warranty. Since getting my laptop, I have gotten a heatsink replacement four times and a motherboard replacement once. This is because my laptop's heatsink continues to fail over and over again.

And now, my biggest worry has come true. My heatsink has failed for a fifth time and my laptop is now out of warranty. I am now using my laptop with a garbage cooling pad I found on Amazon for $24 and my computer continues to overheat because the fans do not run. Is there any reason this is happening? Every time I have asked Dell support, they simply replaced the heatsink and it worked again for a few months before inevitably failing. I am also getting the warning in the BIOS that my fans are not detected every time I start up my computer, complimented with some incredibly loud beeping sounds, successfully waking up every single family member in my household.

Does anyone else have problems like this? Is there any way I can get my fans running again without replacing the heatsink? I would really rather not pay $90 every few months for a replacement on a laptop I already paid $2,000 for, expecting it to function correctly. I'm not mishandling the laptop in any way, it just sits on my desk.

What I have tried to fix the problem:

Re-seated fan cables
Re-seated the heatsink itself
Changed the thermal profiles in AWCC
Uninstalled and re-installed AWCC
Factory reset the laptop

Let me know if there is anything I should add. Any help or responses would be awesome, thank you.

Lukas Cullen · Answer

I am having the same problem.  Is your whole laptop overheating or just the top of your keyboard?

uzai · Answer

Entire computer. It gets so hot that it shuts down. The cooling pad from Amazon prevents shutdowns from happening but thermal throttling still occurs. At this point, I've boiled it down to the laptop is terrible and there's nothing to be done about it. Just definitely won't recommend Alienware to anyone, I would never wish for someone to waste $2,000 on a dysfunctional heating pad.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @uzai this is a user to user discussion forum and not sure what you want to do.

Dell has assigned a contractor to fix the Alienware m17 R3 laptop under warranty. Dell 100% guarantees the work of their assigned contractor. Dell provides parts that can be new or refurbished. If the contractor has messed up, you tell Dell and they assign a different contractor. These contractors are not Dell trained technicians and may never have worked on an Alienware m17 R3 laptop.

The Dell warranty has not been renewed, does this mean that you (or a colleague) consider yourself to be competent and if a mistake occurs, prepared to sell Alienware m17 R3 laptop on eBay for parts or consign to scrap? Please visit YouTube and watch Alienware m17 R3 disassembly video [Example] and read Support for Alienware m17 R3 Service Manual.

Dell Alienware m17 R3 Laptop Replacement Parts | Parts-People.com

Many users just get a different laptop that works, and get on with their life.

Alienware

m17 R3, serious heatsink problem

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