# Alienware Laptop Overheating(I think)



## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

No suprise right? I have come accross so many problems like mine. I am hoping that someone can give me something new to try. I think that it is a overheating issue at this point but I may be wrong. I have done all of the following:

Used 8 cans of compressed air(laptop was in Afghanistan for a year)
New thermal grease in the video card assembly and processor assebly
Installed WIN 98, low level format, re-installed XP PRO
All fans work, they run at different times
All software is updated including the BIOS.

My concerns are; the fans don't stay on. They will run for a few seconds at a time and then stop. The computer will shut down and the fans will come on again for a short time blowing out very hot air. I have to wait 5-15 minutes before I can turn the pc back on. The copper heat thing(sorry I don't know what it is called) that sits over the processor gets very hot in a short amount of time. Alienware states that if my keyboard BIOS and Sytem Bios are the latest that I should be able to hit FN + F2 and controll the fans. This does not work and my BIOS are the latest. When I used the copressed air I got quite a bit of dirt to come out along with some dust bunnies. I am not comfortable enough to take the entire laptop apart to blow it out. I took all the back panels and keyboard off. I am so lost and so curious as to what the problem may be. I don't want to pay ALienware to talk on the phone with them($50)just for them to tell me to send it in for another $250. I am hoping that I can fix this on my own with some help. Does anyone out there know how to work on Alienware laptops or just have some advice on what I am missing or could try? Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thank you.


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

I should have added that when I first got the laptop it had this problem untill I removed the battery. the battery does not hold a charge so I left it out and the laptop worked great for some time. Then the problem started up again. Not sure if that means anything or not.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi, and welcome to TSF! :wave:

This is definitely overheating. Generally, laptop fans come on when you power the laptop on and turn off until the laptop gets hot. When you are in Windows, download MobileMeter from my sig and post the temps it displays.

You may want to invest in a cooling pad that will help cool the laptop. Here are two good ones:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834999336
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835192013

The second one is a lot more comfortable on the lap. :wink:


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

Okay. Here is the deal. I turned the laptop on and the fans started up. Once the laptop booted up the fans turned off, I got online and downloaded Mobilemeter. Once the program opened it showed the laptop temp at 62 degrees celsius. I let the computer sit and the temp went down to 58 degrees celsius, then 46 degrees celsius and then stopped at 32 degrees celsius. The room that it is in was at 73 degrees fahrenheit. I opened Windows Update and let it scan just to get the computer doing something. I went out of the room for 3 minutes and when I got back it was off. I waited untill the next day to try again and Mobilemeter showed 1 degree celsius for about 30 seconds and then the laptop turned off and the fans came on for about 1 minute with very hot air coming out of the back. I waited for a while and then turned it back on. The laptop booted up and I installed Mobilemeter agian. This time the fans came on and it showed 72 degrees celsius. Once the fans turned off it went down to 32 degrees celsius. I let it sit in idle for a minute or so and it still shows 32 degrees celsius and stable. All of a sudden the laptop turned off again and the fans came on blowing out very hot air for 30 seconds even though it showed it at 32 degrees celsius. On occasion, when I turn on the laptop it takes awhile for the welcome screen to appear. I am sure that all of this shutting down and heat business is not good for it. Also, thank you for the links to the cooling pads. Ironically, this laptop is 17 pounds and doesn't fit on anyones lap. My brother is in the army and before he went to Afghanistan he decided to spend a boat load of money on a laptop. He just went back for his second tour in Afghanistan( 22 years old) and he left it with me to fix. Lucky me. Any suggestions?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Give SpeedFan a try. MobileMeter is reading the temps incorrectly. There will probably be about two, three, or four readings. Pay attention to the HDD and Core readings. Make a note of these readings and disregard any that are unreasonably out of range.


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

I did what you suggested and Speedfan is showing the same temp. I changed it to Fahrenheit and it was at 146ish. This is on startup. The first time I turned on the laptop the fans came on and stayed on the whole time. Again, all of a sudden the temp dropped to where it should be and moments later the pc turned off. Speedfan did not give me the ability to control the fans. If fact, the fans never showed up in the program. I re-installed it and still nothing. The Fn+F2 that is supposed to control the fans does not do a thing. On Alienwares support forum it states the following:

Keyboard Controller BIOS and System BIOS must meet or exceed the following versions to use the Fn+F2 control.

Area-51M 7700, MJ-12 7700i:

Keboard Controller BIOS 1.00.02
System BIOS 1.00.03 

Mine are as follows:
Keyboard Controller BIOS 1.00.02
System BIOS 1.00.04

I am lost as to what I am doing wrong. I hold down Fn and press F2. The fans don't speed up or slow down or go into silent mode. Speed fan has a way to download information about your specific motherboard. I have not found out what type of motherboard I have yet. Maybe that is why the fans don't show up in the program. Someone said that I should clear the CMOS. I don't agree but I wanted to get a second opinon. Could something in the BIOS be keeping the fans from working? What do you think?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

OK, one more program: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/Notebook-Hardware-Control.shtml


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

I installed the program as you said and this is what it tells me.
CPU Clock: 2887MHz(jumps from the 1000's up to the almost 4000's) 
CPU Load: 3 % (moves between 3% and 7%)
CPU Voltage: ...
CPU Speed: Dynamic Switching
Charge Rate: Unknown
Life Time: Unknown
CPU Temp:32 Degrees Fahrenheit
HD Temp: ...
RAM Free: 1.58GB(78%)
Virtual Free: 1.84GB(91%)

I am not worried about the battery because I don't have one in. I got to thinking that maybe I needed something specific to my motherboard and downloaded GetThermal for the motherboard I have. The amazing thing is that I can manually control each of my fans. The temp started out at 60C and dropped to 6C as I increased the fan speeds. It has shown 6C for 10 minutes now no matter what speed the fans are at and has not shut down. I have both programs running at the same time and NHC shows about the same. It seems as though if I leave the big fans off and run the VGA fan full boar the sytem temp stays at the appropriate temp but the VGA temp goes up to R:55C, L:63C and stays there. I have *not* found a combination of fan speeds that will lower the temp of the VGA. I can hear the fan running and feel warm air come out but the program shows the same high temp. I left the big fans off for about 5 minutes and the laptop shut down and the VGA fan appears to be moving very slowly still. The fan staying on after it has shut down is new to me. I tried to turn it back on and it won't even get to the boot screen. Progress.....LOL. The computer is now too hot to turn on. There are two hot spots on the bottom of the laptop. Over the video card and over the processor bay. Is it possible that the video card is bad or is it normal that all of the fans are needed to keep it cool enough? But then again, the VGA temp never changed anyway. Interesting.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Does your BIOS read temperatures? If so, post them from the BIOS here.


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

I can't find anywhere in the BIOS that shows the temp. I am not that well versed in the BIOS but I have not been able to find any temps. I took the case apart while it was running and all of the fans work. They just don't run very long or very fast. It's like the laptop heats up almost instantly but the fans don't run when they should. I am leaning towards the video card now. When I use GetThermal and turn the big fans on the HD/CPU temp is ok but the video card temp is thru the roof. My questions now are:
1) Why are the fans running so little of the time and the FN+F2 button won't control the fan speeds? I don't want to use GetThermal and run the fans full boar all the time just to use the laptop. So what's wrong there?
2) Why is the laptop heating up so fast. I know it is a beast but WOW! The heat that comes out of the back is scorching hot in a matter of a minute or so. The video card area under the laptop gets the hottest but the fan does run. It doesn't run as much as the other fans do.
3) I put new Artic Silver 5 thermal paste on the video card. Could I have used too little? I followed the directions and of course when you put the card and heat sink together it spreads. I made sure that none of it got on the chip board around it. 
4) Could it have anything to do with the power supply. I read a post in the Alienware forum that other models have had overheating because the power supply became insufficient. Possibility?

Thanks for your help!!


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

In the BIOS, do you see a PC Health section?

Unfortunately, fixing this problem in a laptop will be very difficult, and it is quite hard to tell that overheating is the issue, though that is almost always the case with laptops.

See if the problem changes when you take the laptop to a cool place like a basement or air conditioned room. Also, if you have a friend with a laptop cooling pad, see if you can borrow it temporarily to see if that makes a difference.


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## MylesCameron (Jul 29, 2007)

Hey

Sorry to jump in on this thread but my problem is pretty identical.

I've downloaded Notebook Hardware Control 2.0. But can't see to find the option to change the fan speed. I'm guessing it's under ACPI Controls, but there's a message that says "ACPI Control System is not yet configured for this system". 

Any idea on how I fix this? Or at least change my fan speed.

(I know my Laptop is over heating because when I have a desktop fan aimed at it, it's fine, but i'd rather loose the fan tbh).

Thanks:tongue:


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi Myles, :wave:

Please start a new thread for this topic in the Laptop support forum:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=108


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

I don't see anywhere says PC Health but again that may be due to my lack of expertise. My brother called from Afghanistan and wants me to send it in. He thought it would be an easy fix. I will get back to you in a few weeks and let you know what they found out. Thank you for all of your help with this.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

You're welcome. Good luck.


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## evilcableguy (Jul 19, 2007)

Well here I am, one month later and I finally got word from Alienware. They are claiming that the motherboard needs to be replaced. Since it was a customer service rep and not a technician that called me I could not get any specific details. Lame. I asked them to send me the old motherboard since it was bought the first go round and let me tell you, they did not like that. The response made me believe that they had no idea what the issue was, they figured why not replace the motherboard. I was told that there is a very good chance that they will not send the motherboard back with the laptop. Also, it took one full hour just to set up the service ticket. I was on hold between questions for ten minutes at a time. So $630 later (shipping and labor was $259 and the motherboard was $371) it will arrive by Wednesday. I will let you know if this actually fixes the computer. Also, for anyone out there with this same laptop, they don't make this model anymore so spare parts must be purchased from a third party. GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY WITH ALL ALIENWARE COMPUTERS. They have many parts in stock set aside ONLY for people with warranties.


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