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On March 12 2013 16:27 Cyro wrote: Please CPU-Z screenshot before making any changes to profiles or bios - want to see what its at now to cause the problems.
Updated OP with CPU-Z pics. I haven't changed anything.
Edit: but looking at the pics, I don't see any difference between them really =/
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
You're at stock (or close to) speeds, its just crazy voltage. That 1.4 figure should be around 1.2, maybe a bit lower.
You may still have a temperature issue on your hands - but you can cut it down massively by fixing that.
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On March 12 2013 16:35 Cyro wrote: You're at stock (or close to) speeds, its just crazy voltage. That 1.4 figure should be around 1.2, maybe a bit lower.
You may still have a temperature issue on your hands - but you can cut it down massively by fixing that.
By fixing do you mean taking it into a service technician? Or by trying to change something here at home in settings?
Also, HOTS just released tonight and I'm really wanting to play~ Do you think its safe enough to play for now? Or is this so serious that I need to get a professional to look at it before I play any games on it?
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On March 12 2013 16:24 Myrmidon wrote: For the record I think Dell / Alienware does onsite service, at least early in the warranty period. But that's probably not necessary, as it's probably just some bad setting somewhere.
It could be that some of the Alienware software or whatever has some setting to some overclocking profile, and it was turned on. I don't know anything about their software.
If not, reboot the computer and hit the key to go into BIOS, before Windows loads. Look for some kind of overclocking and voltage control and set them to default.
That should do it, if you cant set to default, try a value of 1.2v manual.
I think you have another problem somewhere - the temperature difference from being at 1.4v is large, but not that large. You will likely still be running too hot or have another issue, its really hard to say - though i have to add - im not sure about Sandy Bridge-E (which your CPU is) but 1.4v is dangerous to Sandy Bridge. If there's a chance you were running it long term, its not good for the CPU, degradation (a small to a large amount) or complete death is a possibility in time periods a lot smaller than a year - A lot of bad overclockers or manufacturers use unhealthy voltages all the time though - the people buying from them dont know any better.
Also, HOTS just released tonight and I'm really wanting to play~ Do you think its safe enough to play for now? Or is this so serious that I need to get a professional to look at it before I play any games on it?
My CPU is about 20-30c hotter under stress testing than sc2 gaming load - you have major thermal problems. If you could adress voltage (and go to default, or 1.2 or something) then it might be a better situation so you might be able to play some - but it might not improve enough, and there is the possibility of another problem (CPU temps dont just randomly go that high - especially under sc2 load - is alienwares closed loop cooler THAT BAD or is there a fatal problem somewhere?)
I wouldnt play unless you can get to default voltages and your temperatures are a lot lower - or you can have some solution like i would be able to do with a normal motherboard (i dont know if you can do with alienware..) like setting the CPU to 25x multi for 2.5ghz, undervolting it a ton, so that it consumes very little power and creates very little heat and would still run cool even with a major cooling problem - but you probably cant do that.
Regardless of what you do, i would still be cautious. You might have a leak in liquid cooling, pump might not be running properly or something like that, again i doubt your temperatures would be that high unless there was a major problem.
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Nevermind, it could just be a bum reading, which is rare for software reporting on VCore (CPU voltage). http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19444344/20088236.aspx
In that case it's as originally suspected, something wrong with the cooling setup.
Also, I'm not sure if they actually allow you to change the voltage in the BIOS.
Give Dell / Alienware a call, and I think under the limited warranty if it's clearly an issue like this then they'll send a tech to come. I think. I don't really know which of the products are covered under that support, but I would sure hope something as expensive as an Alienware should be.
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blah T.T;
Ok~ I'll find a shop to take it into then and/or give Dell/ALienware a call. This really really sucks, but I overpaid for a pc from a manufacturer because I felt to retarded to try and build my own. Definitely don't want $3,000 to get flushed because of whatever this problem is.
I wasn't sure if this super loud fan was simply an annoyance, or something potentially fatal to the system. Thanks guys <3 You are amazing for taking time to look at this. Its very much appreciated.
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That system is not worth anywhere near $3k, i can say that without even having a specs list.
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On March 12 2013 16:51 Cyro wrote: That system is not worth anywhere near $3k, i can say that without even having a specs list.
I overpaid for the name. I knew it when I did it, but it seemed like throwing money at it with the hopes of not having to worry about screwing it up on my own or getting ripped off by a shady local dealer it would be worth it.
At the very least, maybe I can get solid customer service out of it.
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Seems weird, given prices here: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-aurora-r4/pd
option is with 7800 series, so probably the 7870. They're overpriced but not over 2x cost of what it should be. Or you got lots of monitors or other accessories, etc.? If some of the extra cost is from service plans, maybe you should use that.
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On March 12 2013 16:55 Myrmidon wrote:Seems weird, given prices here: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-aurora-r4/pdoption is with 7800 series, so probably the 7870. They're overpriced but not over 2x cost of what it should be. Or you got lots of monitors or other accessories, etc.? If some of the extra cost is from service plans, maybe you should use that.
You're right. I just asked the wife and she said it was just over 2k before the monitor and keyboard.
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Im pretty sure you can get a better CPU+motherboard with a 7870 and ssd at half that price, with much better cooling and maybe a bit of luxury, id reccomend going to build resource thread or something similar for future systems and finding someone who knows their stuff to build for you, if you have to pay it shouldnt be nearly as much as the kind of price difference and you can get much better quality stuff and also have a lot more control - it is a bit more bother though. Be careful, Alienware and other shops are a lot more shady than most people realize with low quality parts, part selection or overclocking practices, pricing etc.
If you are interested you could probably learn to build yourself pretty fast, its worth getting into (:
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Interesting thread... others are experiencing exactly the same thing I am
Link
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kind of a strange development...
I did a restore back to factory settings on a whim, and reinstalled sc2. For now, it appears that this has fixed the problem. I'm playing the campaign while the download finishes, with my web browser open, and everything seems to be running normally. temps and fan speeds all appear to be normal.
Wth?
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Try looking at CPU-Z (or HWMonitor) again when the PC is under load. Perhaps the VCore setting wasn't a bad reading, but really was set to that high voltage and is now down again to a sane value (something like 1.1 V for 3.8 ghz?).
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
Another possibility, though remote, your vcore, temperature readings were all not actually real and just a bug, the fan and system were just reacting to false readings.
What are "normal" temps and as above said what does cpu-z/hwmonitor say about your vcore?
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just looking at hwmonitor, vcore is still showing the same 1.392 ~1.4V, but under the gaming load, tempartures are stable at 68-70 degrees C now (they were 100 C before the factory restore).
I haven't re-downloaded the cpu-z yet though.
All core temperatures are steady at 60~65 C (they were all in the 90's before the restore).
screenshot of current HWmonitor stuffs w/ live stream and sc2 campaign going
+ Show Spoiler +
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United Kingdom20322 Posts
Thats good.
Is your CPU at stock settings though?
Its senseless to use a closed loop liquid cooler for stock.. and even if it were done, i would expect temps to be a lot lower. Your temperatures are similar to the 92mm zalman cooler i got free with my 3770k (which is trash) - i would expect that thing to be beat by like 35-55c by a high end air cooler or a high end closed loop liquid cooler - even a low end one, i would not expect 65c under gaming load at stock. I dont really understand Alienware.
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Honestly Cyro, I don't know what stock is for my rig. When I selected the processor, it said overclocked "up to 4.1GHz." What I can tell you is that all the settings are exactly the same as it was when I took it out of the box. I haven't changed a single thing.
I don't understand Alienware either. I'm just a noob who didn't mind blowing a bit of money on a name because I didn't feel comfortable building my own or using a local. And I still prescribe to the idea that spending more money is supposed to mean better quality.
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Well i wouldnt be suprised if they just used 1.4v on the CPU or something as a shortcut instead of testing them all individually for a long time for stable settings, its hard to say. If you still dont want to build yourself, there's better sites out there that will build for you (:
good that temps are ok now
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On March 12 2013 21:29 Cyro wrote: Well i wouldnt be suprised if they just used 1.4v on the CPU or something as a shortcut instead of testing them all individually for a long time for stable settings, its hard to say. If you still dont want to build yourself, there's better sites out there that will build for you (:
good that temps are ok now
Yeah, in hindsight I wish I would have spent more time researching other brands. iBuyPower maybe? I'm sure there are others too~ Oh well, live and learn! As long as it keeps doing like it is now I'll be happy.
Ty again so much dood!! You really are a stud <3
Final(hopefully) Edit:
Fans and temps started getting high again =/ So, I called the alienware tech support and spent an hour on the phone with them. They updated the BIOS and hopefully that has the problem fixed. All Temps have lowered significantly (down to 45-50 C on the 1 pin that was running hot).
I guess I'll know by the time I finish the HOTS campaign if its fixed!
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