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[Sappho]

It's summer, and that means my stupid Dell laptop is running dangerously hot. I can't even play games for very long before everything starts to sputter.

This is not an outdated machine. I paid quite a lot for it, in fact, just a year ago. I bought it for the processor and the RAM, mostly, because I needed something fast to run my VJing software on. The build specs are here: http://www.cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps-15z/4507-3121_7-34714594.html

A quick glance at the user reviews on that page (which I didn't have the benefit of reading before the purchase since the computer was a new model when I bought it) will show you that I got ripped off. I've had nothing but problems with this machine, after spending $1500 on it. The wireless hardly functions (I have to plug in to use internet), the trackpad is garbage (and you can't even disable it), and the fake chrome-painted plastic around the edges is already wearing down to the white plastic layer (and starting to come away from the computer in several places). The 3 USB ports are all on the LEFT side (makes it fun to plug the mouse in) and the power cord sticks straight out the back so it takes up an extra few inches of space when plugged in (which is always, because the battery sucks). Worst of all is the heat; I can't even play a flash game without it getting so hot I burn my hand if I rest it to the left of the keyboard. Add to that the fact that I'm living in a different country than the computer was bought in (and there's no convenient customer service here that I've found), and I'm pretty much screwed.

I've got a decent cooling pad plugged in with the fan running, but it's not enough. I can't run any games that put any demand on the processor at all, or it gets too hot to run and everything starts freezing up. (And it was sold as a "gaming" build! HA!) Bearing in mind that I'm a teacher and I don't have a lot of extra cash to spend on hardware, can anyone offer any suggestions on how to keep the thing running properly during the summer? I'm on my holiday and I can't even relax and play video games. : (

[DJ]

Have you ever cleaned out the fans? They tend to get whole dust bunny ranches in them.

[jaass]

Does it shut down out random intervals? Where does it get hot? Do you hear fans running in your computer?
____

A couple of solutions;

-run a virus scan, sometimes viruses can take up huge amount of resources causing to heat up quickly.
-Keep it on a flat hard surface not on your lap.
-Blocked fan vents. example. Dust build up
-Clean dust of internally in your computer
-Defunct heat sink, might need replacing.

[Sappho]

So far I have avoided it shutting down on me. When I feel it getting too hot and it starts to freeze and stutter, I shut down any CPU-intense programs I have running, and it slowly cools back down. The resting temperature is higher than any computer I've used before, but within reasonable limits. It's only when I have games or VJ software running that it starts to get really hot.

I keep an eye on the CPU and RAM use. It almost never goes above 50% even when I'm running games. I don't think the problem is extra software running - I think it's just that the damn thing runs hot. I don't keep it on my lap. It's on a good cooling pad, about 1.5 inches thick, and usually on the wood table (only on my lap occasionally, but there is no heat on my lap through the cooling pad).

The heat is coming from the upper-left part of the keyboard/speaker (what's the technical term for the lower half of a laptop, actually?). I do hear fans going most of the time. This machine produces a staggering amount of heat and the fans very rarely turn off.

I haven't opened it to check for dust yet. I'm a bit nervous about opening a laptop. If it were a desktop it would be fine, but laptops tend to be very... particular. If you upset something, it's terrible trying to get it back together. At least, that used to be my experience - I haven't tried in years. I've only had the computer a year, though, and my apartment is not a dusty place (and I don't take the computer out of my apartment). Could there really be that much dust buildup already?

I am hopeless with hardware. Can anyone walk me through how to safely open and clean the laptop of dust? How do I know if a heatsink is defective? The machine has had heat problems since I got it, so it's nothing new (just particularly problematic and frustrating at the moment), but it wouldn't surprise me if Dell shipped the stupid thing with a(nother) defective part.

Thanks a lot for the advice, guys. Much appreciated.

[nenjin]

From the sounds of it, it's just horribly engineered.

Take a look at this image:

http://rehaw.com/images/H9FHV.JPG
If I'm reading the image right, those are your memory modules to the upper left. I don't know what the capabilities of your board monitor software are, but the temp on your memory would be a thing to check. Memory heat there isn't much you can do about, it's a chunk of material with the only cooling available being built into the chip itself.

I don't know what else you've google'd on this, but this suggestion seemed sort of reasonable to try:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19442104/20075251.aspx

[Sappho]

That link seems to be about the fan constantly switching on and off. Mine is pretty much constantly on full blast. As for the picture, I have absolutely no idea what I'm looking at there. All I know is, the far left side, especially top left, is where it gets hot, and nothing seems to cool it down. Thanks to the summer heat I can't seem to run any games anymore (except DF, which is running strangely well), and air conditioning is a complete impossibility for me in my current apartment.

How do you check the temperature of the memory?

In any case, the more I look into it, the more angry I am that I bought this piece of shit. I'm a teacher. I won't be able to afford a new computer for a very long time. I'm stuck with this fucking thing. I want to play my bought and paid-for video games. If only all these terrible reviews had been available before I bought the machine.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19438476/20060272.aspx

It was called a "gaming" computer when I bought it, but apparently not so. The fast processor must just be there to drive the price up, because it's certainly not capable of actually doing anything.

I wonder if my old computer will run any of my newer games. I had it for about 4 years before I bought this, and it was insanely cheap when I bought it ($400!), but I never had a problem with it. My good ol' Inspiron 1525... It never gave me any trouble, so I figured it would be safe to buy Dell again. (HA!) The only reason I even bought a new computer was because the old one wasn't fast enough to run Resolume for VJing.

[nenjin]

How do you check the temperature of the memory?

You can try the diagnostic tools that shipped with your computer. Or you can try google and see what's out there.

[kilakan]

your fan is litterally just jammed full of stuff.  It happens to my laptop very regularily, and is because yes it is poorly designed.  It's probably full of dust, or hair or something else that is not only preventing the air from moving through but also affects the heatsink so that the cooling system can not operate properly.

[Sappho]

Aaaahhhhhh... I'm on my old computer now. Windows Vista, everything looks all ancient and outdated. Keyboard is pretty dirty from when I never cleaned it for 4 years. But the keyboard! Oh my god, I forgot how wonderful this keyboard is! I'm typing like lightning! And I had forgotten that with the Fn key it even has a numpad! It's really a perfect keyboard. I wonder if there's a way to rip it out and glue it on to my shiny new piece of junk...

I was considering cleaning the games and other distractions out of this old machine and using it just for writing. The keyboard will certainly lend itself to that. But it's worth a try to see if I can get some games to run on it as well, at least until the weather cools down. I'm installing Steam now, will see if any of my games will run on here. I bet Dungeons of Dredmor should work fine, and some of the 2d games. Not sure about Under the Ocean... Fingers crossed.

I have shut down the new computer for now because it was making the whole apartment hot. (It's currently 29 C / 84.2 F, and the sun has been down for a while.) I'll look for diagnostic tools next time I turn it on. Unfortunately that might not be for a couple of days, since tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter than today.

Just as a comparison, ignoring the system specs and looking purely at the design of the two computers...

Inspiron 1525 ($400 in 2009)
-Wonderful keyboard including home/end/page up/down on the side and a numpad with Fn, very smooth and comfortable typing
-4 USB ports, 2 on each side for easy access
-VGA, HDMI, serial bus, and another port whose label I can't read but I believe is a mini USB?
-Power cable connects to the side, out of the way so I don't need extra space behind the computer
-Functional trackpad
-Runs very cool (partly, no doubt, because it doesn't have any powerful hardware)
-Solid DVD burner drive that never had a single problem - could move the computer around without interrupting a film
-Decent WiFi reception
-2 headphone/sound jacks (has come in handy many times)
Only downsides are that the hardware isn't great (though it was for the money), it can be a big sluggish sometimes (never even been reformatted in the 4 years I used it), and the fan is making a somewhat concerning rattling sound that I should probably have a look at, or ask someone who knows what they're looking at to look at.

System specs: http://www.cnet.com/laptops/dell-inspiron-1525/4507-3121_7-32814939.html

XPS 15z ($1500 in 2013)
-Shitty, un-ergonomic keyboard, not very comfortable, no numpad or other useful keys
-Only 3 USB ports, all on the left side (opposite the side most people would connect a mouse, like me, for example, since the trackpad doesn't work)
-No VGA or serial bus. Does have HDMI.
-Power cord sticks out the back so you need a few extra inches of room just to have the cord there.
-Trackpad doesn't work properly and software to disable it also doesn't work properly.
-Runs ridiculously hot.
-Slot DVD drive that doesn't work very well, is very noisy, skips terribly if you move the computer while it's reading
-WiFi doesn't work properly, doesn't pick up a signal even right next to the router, have to plug in to use internet
-Only one headphone/sound jack, which is in the front right of the machine, right where you want to put the external mouse since the fucking trackpad doesn't work

I don't know what the hell happened to Dell during those 4 years, but I propose a universal boycott on them and their shitty products. I don't suppose there's any way to gut the new computer and move all that fancy hardware to the old shell?

[Bdthemag]

Yeah, cracking open your laptop and cleaning out any dust is one of the best ways to improve the performance. My laptop was rather simple, where I just had to unscrew the heatsink (long copper thingy leading to the vent on the back) and clean out the dust and any junk that was stuck inside of it. You can also try putting on some new thermal paste if you want, because no doubt the thermal paste in your laptop is dried up to hell and back.

Don't be worried about at least opening it up, just taking the bottom of the case off isn't going to hurt anything and it'll let you see how bad it is inside. Although if the insides are anything like my laptop, you'll have to take the heatsink off to properly clean it out, which isn't as big as a deal as you'd think.

Another small thing, but ensuring your laptop is on a stable non-heat conducting space is a good way to ensure overheating doesn't happen. You'd be surprised how much having it on a counter, or a similar hard surface would help airflow.

[Sappho]

I think I'd better have someone who knows what they're doing clean it out for me. I've heard you can give a static shock to the motherboard and fry the whole thing... It has had overheating problems since I bought it, but I suppose it can't hurt to at least try cleaning it out. I have no idea what thermal paste is, so yeah, better ask a hardware-oriented friend to help me with that part.

And as I've mentioned several times, I have it on a cooling pad (plugged in with the fan running) at all times. Never on a soft, heat-conducting surface. It doesn't make much of a difference.

[Bdthemag]

I think I'd better have someone who knows what they're doing clean it out for me. I've heard you can give a static shock to the motherboard and fry the whole thing... It has had overheating problems since I bought it, but I suppose it can't hurt to at least try cleaning it out. I have no idea what thermal paste is, so yeah, better ask a hardware-oriented friend to help me with that part.

And as I've mentioned several times, I have it on a cooling pad (plugged in with the fan running) at all times. Never on a soft, heat-conducting surface. It doesn't make much of a difference.

Cleaning it out is EXTREMELY simple, like seriously. I'm a complete idiot, and even I figured out how to do it. If you absolutely don't feel like messing around with stuff, just at least open the case and get a look.

[10ebbor10]

If you want to risk damaging your fan, you can just try to hook up a vacuum cleaner to the exhaust fan, and turn it to max. Might get a decent amount of the dust out. Might break the fan.

[Kansa]

It's a better idea to buy a can of compressed air rather than use the vaccum

[kilakan]

I think I'd better have someone who knows what they're doing clean it out for me. I've heard you can give a static shock to the motherboard and fry the whole thing... It has had overheating problems since I bought it, but I suppose it can't hurt to at least try cleaning it out. I have no idea what thermal paste is, so yeah, better ask a hardware-oriented friend to help me with that part.

And as I've mentioned several times, I have it on a cooling pad (plugged in with the fan running) at all times. Never on a soft, heat-conducting surface. It doesn't make much of a difference.

Cleaning it out is EXTREMELY simple, like seriously. I'm a complete idiot, and even I figured out how to do it. If you absolutely don't feel like messing around with stuff, just at least open the case and get a look.

Except if Sappoh has any sort of warrenty on the computer, opening up the case will void any and alll warrenties you'd ever get for a laptop