Thermal trip is an overheating issue for sure but is that before or after you reapplied thermal paste? The memory not found then a new amount? Assuming you did not add RAM then it is possible the CMOS battery is weak or failing. I would start there and see what effect it has. The instructions are here and considering the system is 10 years old it is very possible.
@ieee488 Yes, but it's just Flash/HTML games, and it did just fine with those things (and BlueStacks) for almost a year.
@JOcean I did add ram when the laptop was purchased, and someone over on Bleeping Computer actually suggested that perhaps the ram is of different voltages, but again, wouldn't it have had problems from the start if that was the problem? Also as far as I know it hasn't had a thermal trip since I put new paste on, so at least that's resolved. The CMOS battery did occur to me, but I know one of the most common symptoms of that is the time/date being off on the computer, which hasn't happened. I can replace that though, I think I have some spares.
As it turned out, the two ram sticks were of different voltages (which I didn't know was something that could even be a problem) and the 4GB one was on its last legs. So far the laptop is doing fine with no crashes with just the 8GB one in. Date and time have been fine, which is good because I'd have to buy one of the pre-wrapped and wired CMOS batteries if that needed replacing.
JOcean
9 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
0
October 2nd, 2021 15:00
Thermal trip is an overheating issue for sure but is that before or after you reapplied thermal paste? The memory not found then a new amount? Assuming you did not add RAM then it is possible the CMOS battery is weak or failing. I would start there and see what effect it has. The instructions are here and considering the system is 10 years old it is very possible.
somnomania
6 Posts
0
October 2nd, 2021 15:00
@ieee488 Yes, but it's just Flash/HTML games, and it did just fine with those things (and BlueStacks) for almost a year.
@JOcean I did add ram when the laptop was purchased, and someone over on Bleeping Computer actually suggested that perhaps the ram is of different voltages, but again, wouldn't it have had problems from the start if that was the problem? Also as far as I know it hasn't had a thermal trip since I put new paste on, so at least that's resolved. The CMOS battery did occur to me, but I know one of the most common symptoms of that is the time/date being off on the computer, which hasn't happened. I can replace that though, I think I have some spares.
ieee488
4 Operator
•
11.1K Posts
0
October 2nd, 2021 15:00
E6520 is from 10 years ago. These laptops were not meant for gaming.
.
U2CAMEB4ME
4 Operator
•
6.2K Posts
0
October 3rd, 2021 09:00
Welcome to the Dell Community @ieee488
12GB could be a problem.
Do both memory sticks [4GB + 8GB] have the same number of chips on each side???
Are the speeds and latencies the same???
Do you also receive the message "Date and Time" needs to be reset???
Lets get a stable system before we talk about gaming.
There are a few upgrades that can be performed to increase minimal gaming performance.
Best regards,
U2
somnomania
6 Posts
0
October 4th, 2021 10:00
As it turned out, the two ram sticks were of different voltages (which I didn't know was something that could even be a problem) and the 4GB one was on its last legs. So far the laptop is doing fine with no crashes with just the 8GB one in. Date and time have been fine, which is good because I'd have to buy one of the pre-wrapped and wired CMOS batteries if that needed replacing.