Alienware m17x R4 - Shuts down immediately as fan gets loud

[gautamz]

My Alienware M17xR4 has started shutting down immediately after the fans start spinning loudly. This has happened even before the OS boots. I have Windows and Linux in dual boot using Refind. Sometimes even as it reaches the Refind menu the system freezes, fan noise gets loud and the unit immediately shuts down.

 

Once when I managed to get to the OS I ran the Dell CPU stress test, the test started properly and even the fan got very noisy. I left the system alone and after 15mins with the test still running thought to check the status and when I tried to move the cursor found the system was frozen and it immediately crashed. The fan ran loud the whole time.

 

How can I find out if the issue is the CPU or the GPU or the motherboard? It seems to behave properly when running on battery, compared to running off the charger. Could this be an issue?

 

The way I see it, with cpu, gpu, ram and hdd upgradeable, this as an awesome unit and I'd rather not see it go.

[naightmehr]

What fan is making the load noise, cpu or gpu?

[gautamz]

I am not sure but I think it’s CPU because I can here it get louder on the left side and that’s where the CPU fan is.

[naightmehr]

Maybe repaste the cpu and clean some dust, it might overheat considering the loud fan noise, it also explains why it runs fine on battery, because the cpu only uses 50% of it's full power 

[gautamz]

Thanks. I have looked into this and the kryonaut thermal paste seems a good option with 12.5W/mK of conductivity. I also found Fujipoly and Alphacool thermal pads that have thermal conductivity of 17W/mK. Wouldn’t these be better?

 

Everywhere it says to use thermal paste instead of pads because they are better conductors, but here it seems there are pads which have more conductivity and come with 0.5mm thickness.

 

Also I noticed that 2 RAM modules are running at 1.35v and 2 are at 1.5v. The 1.35v RAM was installed by me a few days back. Could this be a problem also?

 

thanks.

[naightmehr]

Never use thermal pads for the cpu, just thermal paste. I personally use Arctic silver mx-4.

 

"Also I noticed that 2 RAM modules are running at 1.35v and 2 are at 1.5v. The 1.35v RAM was installed by me a few days back. Could this be a problem also?"

 

I don't think this should cause any issues as long as they run at the same frequency.

 

 

[ll_r1d0_ll]

which gpu are you having in ur alienware m17xr4?

[gautamz]

It’s the GTX 680m with 2GB ram. I did repaste the CPU and GPU, and the temperatures appeared to go down. The system was whisper quiet for 25min and then the fans started getting louder and it crashed.

 

I have the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. I am going to try to see if this is a software issue by trying out a Linux install and seeing if that crashes or not. 

[naightmehr]

If windows 10 is the issue then you should get a blue screen and not a full shutdown.

 

Try to run a stresstest and monitor the temperatures, maybe the fans are broke or too much dust clogged in the heatsinks

[gautamz]

Ok, it crashes in both Linux and Windows.

 

I installed HWInfo, and saw the CPU temperatures started at approx 50C and with intermittent max of 75C. The CPU temperatures kept steadily increasing over time. Even the GPU temperatures started at 46C and kept going up. The HDD, case, RAM, temperatures stayed low.

 

The only thing is that the fans didn't appear to be spinning up as the temperatures rose. They kick in just before the system crashes.

 

I checked the heatsink and the fans. The heatsink was clear and the fans spinned fine and didn't look broken. Previously the fans would spin loudly but the computer wouldn't shut down.

[naightmehr]

Hmmmm this is getting more and more complicated. I suggest you power flush the entire system, by removing the battery and the cmos battery and then holding the power button for about 30 seconds so all the power will be drained from the motherboard. Then take out the cpu, gpu, and fans and replug everything. If that doesn't work then there might be a faulty part in your system.

[ll_r1d0_ll]

On 1/18/2018 at 3:14 PM, gautamz said:

It’s the GTX 680m with 2GB ram. I did repaste the CPU and GPU, and the temperatures appeared to go down. The system was whisper quiet for 25min and then the fans started getting louder and it crashed.

 

I have the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. I am going to try to see if this is a software issue by trying out a Linux install and seeing if that crashes or not. 

make sure you pasted your cpu and gpu properly ..more than enough or less than required paste might cause temperature issues which would result in random shut downs too but only during load ...try to keep your laptop in bios mode and see if it shut downs there too ..and if it does there too then i guess there is some hardware failure in your motherboard

[gautamz]

I ripped out the old HDD, installed Ubuntu on the mSata drive and that has not crashed! I got conky set up and GPU and CPU temperatures went up to 60C but the fan just spooled up and there was no crash. Previously it would crash within 30mins of login, now it stayed up for over an hour before I logged out.

 

I am thinking of taking it in to a professional laptop repair shop to have the heatsinks, fans checked out and just to be sure get the CPU and GPU repasted again.

[dleihstaem]

Might have been a power problem rather than a temp problem.

[Scruffy]

old post, but my pc did the same with a failing gpu.