Alienware M17x R4 - AIDA64 caused fan stop

[Thomas Zumbrunnen]

I'd like to share some experience I made with my M17xR4 and AIDA64, just in case someone else may face the same issue.

I reported the following issue in the AIDA64 Forum here.

After receiving my Alienware M17xR4, I experiencend two weeks later a strange behavior. After booting the system the CPU and GPU fan stopped turning. This caused a thermal shutdown as soon as the temperatures rised up to 105°C. Even in idle state, the temperature went from normal approx. 50°C up to 60°-70°C. This was a clear indication, that the fan did not worked anymore. I did loadtests with prime95 to force higher load and temperature.

I documented most of my tests, which could help DELL to solve the issue. The document is in German. nevertheless, you'll figure out the pictures and the youtube links within the following PDF file : https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3122471/M17xR4_FAN_Problem/M17xR4_FAN_Problem_public.pdf - (on request I translate the test document in english).

I send this to DELL and they send a technician which replaced the CPU cooling Fan and the Processor Heat Sink. without success. the system fan's stopped turning shortly after booting the system and the temperature went up again. Then they send the technician a second time. He replaced the Graphic card and the GPU Fan. And guess what, no success. still the same behavior.

I updated the test documentation and asked DELL for a solution. well, they will replace now the whole system with a new one within the next weeks. one day after they confirmed my replacement I found a single report in a german alienware forum (M17X R3 Problem mit AIDA64 2.30.1900). This guy reported the same problem as I had. He had the problem with Version 2.30.1900. After he went back to Version AIDA64 2.20.1800, the problem disapeard.

Well I immediately removed AIDA64 from my system and rebooted the system. Since then I dont have this problem anymore. this is realy strange ! In the meantime I booted the system serveral times, stressed the CPU with prime95 and did load test with the GPU. The problem I've had, disappeard completely. Is this a coincident ? I dont think so. I assume that AIDA64 block the sensors or is influencing the control modul for the fan. maybe an API issue ?

The solution from AIDA64 Support : disable Dell SMI sensor support in AIDA64 / main menu / File / Preferences / Stability, and restart AIDA64 to apply the changes.

Regards

tom

[svl7]

Or... use HWiNFO64