Problem with my X80r Pro, may need to return

[Tonytouch]

Hi guys, I bought an X80r Pro about 1 year ago and am now having an issue with it when playing games.. I played games on it quite a bit when i first got it but I haven't for the last few months or so...until now. I was playing Hitman Blood Money when suddenly it just turns off. The whole thing just shuts down instantly. I played it again and the same thing happened. I tried playing Stalker and yep, it also shut down within 20 mins of playing. So it's obviously overheating right? When I'm just browsing the net, using msn, facebook and general stuff nothing like this happens. It also never used to do this playing games when I first got it.

I have the 2 year care pack (lucky I got that now) so it is in warranty if it needs to be collected but is there anything you can suggest to try before I have to use that? Never had any problems with it otherwise, great laptop.

thanks

[Sublios_Pixelus]

cleaning out the heatsink would be the first thing to do, not sure what the layout is like for that laptop so can't tell you how mind.

is there a model number on the sticker on the base of the laptop at all?

[Tonytouch]

not sure how i would do that but the model number is M57RU

[NeilX90]

Tony,

A quick clean involves getting a can of compressed air from the likes of PC World and blasting it into the various vents on the laptop. It cleans *some* gunk out and might be enough to solve the problem.

A proper clean involves unscrewing the base of the laptop and attacking the dust/hair/general crud, which always builds up around the CPU and GPU ducts/fans, with a brush.

If you return the laptop to Nova for overheating and it's just clogged cooling systems, methinks you will be getting a bill for it.

The other possibility is that the CPU heatsink is not making good contact with the processor - this normally happens over a couple of years rather than months, but if it wasn't done well to start with, applying new TIM would be the fix for that.

[Tonytouch]

Tony,

A quick clean involves getting a can of compressed air from the likes of PC World and blasting it into the various vents on the laptop. It cleans *some* gunk out and might be enough to solve the problem.

A proper clean involves unscrewing the base of the laptop and attacking the dust/hair/general crud, which always builds up around the CPU and GPU ducts/fans, with a brush.

If you return the laptop to Nova for overheating and it's just clogged cooling systems, methinks you will be getting a bill for it.

The other possibility is that the CPU heatsink is not making good contact with the processor - this normally happens over a couple of years rather than months, but if it wasn't done well to start with, applying new TIM would be the fix for that.

ok thanks, will try both of the cleaning methods and if theres still a problem will have to give Nova a call. Will have a look at the CPU but dunno how i would be able to tell if it needs any of that TIM stuff? I do have some arctic silver 5 with the arcticlean stuff as well as some Zalman thermal grease...either will be fine to use right? I hope this laptop is easy to open up..

[TheMadDutchDude]

Never take a laptop heatsink assembly apart. I've heard that it just won't work to the same standard afterwards. Leave the stock TIM as it is. Just clean out the fans and heatsinks and you should be good to go.

[Tonytouch]

alright won't touch that then, will just open it and clean it and will let u know if it solves the problem.

[IainK]

i wouldn't open it up, because if there is a problem this could void your warranty, and they legally have to fix it without sending you a bill aswell, compressed air is worth a try though

P.S dust build up seems to be a big problem with laptops, why don't they have air filters? too much air flow restriction?

[NeilX90]

Mad & Iain - there is no particular risk to reseating the CPU heatsink with new TIM or opening up the case for cleaning, as long as you have a rough idea of what to do. There are some gaming laptops (I shall mention no names) that really need the CPU/heatsink doing on delivery to get decent temps. You would be surprised at the number of laptops that just have compression fittings with no TIM for the heat management.

I'm actually not sure why there is no filter - there are plenty of materials that would do the job without restricting airflow to a great extent. (There's a project for me !) However, the X80 fits an enormous amount of computing power into a (fairly) slimline chassis so it may well be that a filter would be the proverbial straw.

Personally, I would be more than happy to open up a year-old notebook for cleaning and I would also be happy to dismantle and reassemble the heatsink/ducting components - this is very much one of those 'your mileage may vary' problems. I don't think Nova are, in any way, "legally obliged" to fix it at all - however, if you have one of those two-year care packs I think I would be reluctant to mess with it too.

The compressed air will lessen any heat problems you have, Tony, but it is no substitute for a full and proper clean-out.

And whilst I'm thinking about it - are you **sure** it is overheating that is causing the shutdown ? Post some temps. for us !

[Tonytouch]

And whilst I'm thinking about it - are you **sure** it is overheating that is causing the shutdown ? Post some temps. for us !

Im not sure but I'm guessing it is because like I said it only happens playing games. what program will tell me the temperatures? I need to know them really when Im playing games on it..

[hegemon]

Im not sure but I'm guessing it is because like I said it only happens playing games. what program will tell me the temperatures? I need to know them really when Im playing games on it..

You could try Speedfan, nice small app that will give you temperatures and fan speed. It will chart the temperatures so you can alt+tab out of the game to check on them.

Download here: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

[IainK]

in this country you have rights as a consumer, with computers and technology everyone seems to think they no longer operate under British Law, the way they tend to do it with the one year warranty is an American thing.
As long as you havn't abused it they have a legal obligation to fix your laptop (even out of warranty) within a reasonable expected lifetime of the product, and let's face it, you don't buy a laptop to last one year do you?

[Tonytouch]

ok just got that speedfan...

these are the temps after after the laptop has been left on for an hour or so, they pretty much stay like this.

http://i41.tinypic.com/33b1ee0.jpg

these are the temps after playing Hitman Blood Money for 10 mins or so..

http://i41.tinypic.com/1tri2h.jpg

what do you think?

[hegemon]

what do you think?

Processor and hard drive look normal, the GPU temperatures however are very concerning, there is clearly something wrong with your graphics card cooling.

[scrivz69]

I will check mine in a bit.I dont think it runs that hot,especially the gpu.:OMG:

860


What Mine is running on 5 mins after boot up and a couple of browsers open.

Gpu is at 41.

Sorry about the pants pic,can someone please tell me how to sort it out.:(


Edit.I just ran COD4 for 20 mins on full settings and my gpu never went past 68,I as hegemon say's there is something wrong with the cooling,I am using a laptop cooler on mine.Give Novatech a call and see what they say.

[Tonytouch]

scrivz69 what GPU is in yours?

anyway I think its all sorted! I got some of that air dusting stuff from pc world (a tenner quite expensive I thought) and have used most of it up!! I blasted all the vents and then looked inside and it looked pretty clean but I brushed it anyway and got some chunks of dust out.

The normal GPU temp now never goes over 43 when just using it for normal use (usually stays on 39).

and I have just played Blood Money and Stalker both on full settings for well over an hour and this is the highest Ive seen it..

http://i31.tinypic.com/v6rn88.jpg

usually that would be 100c+ so blasting it and dusting must have fixed it (I hope anyway)

[scrivz69]

Hi Tony I have a T6400 in mine,Glad your making some headway.Your temps look alot better.:)

[hegemon]

scrivz69 what GPU is in yours?

anyway I think its all sorted! I got some of that air dusting stuff from pc world (a tenner quite expensive I thought) and have used most of it up!! I blasted all the vents and then looked inside and it looked pretty clean but I brushed it anyway and got some chunks of dust out.

The normal GPU temp now never goes over 43 when just using it for normal use (usually stays on 39).

and I have just played Blood Money and Stalker both on full settings for well over an hour and this is the highest Ive seen it..

Those temperatures look much more respectable, glad you got it sorted :)

[kpkpkp]

We wont void your warranty on any of our PCs and Notebooks unless you break it. There is nothing wrong with adding RAM, upgrading HDDs or cleaning it but if you do not know what you are doing ask and we will help.

The warranty support you get from Novatech means that we aim to sell fully platforms that you can upgrade. This is not always the case with the entry level laptops but on everything else you should be good.

Thanks

Kp


i wouldn't open it up, because if there is a problem this could void your warranty, and they legally have to fix it without sending you a bill aswell, compressed air is worth a try though

P.S dust build up seems to be a big problem with laptops, why don't they have air filters? too much air flow restriction?