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Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen Temperature

Haseeb
Beginner
14,562 Views

I recently bought an M17, R3 Alienware laptop with 16G RAM, 512 SSD, NVIDIA GTX 2060 6B. 

Straight out of the box even when I am not gaming or even doing anything, just monitoring the CPU temperature I see it runs 50-60 Degrees C  it even runs up to 70 from time to time without being udn4er any stress test.  When running the stress test it runs at 100 Degrees C. 

 

Is this temperature fluctuation healthy for the laptop? I am new to gaming laptop and not sure if I should return the laptop and get a new one. Please help me understand this, I have tried reaching out to Dell with no help, I tried to reach out to the seller from BestBuy there is no help there, so before I start a return process I would like to confirm. 

 

Thanks! 

 

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
14,549 Views

The temperature fluctuations are perfectly normal. When the system is idle, Windows will run its maintenance tasks in the background and that is why you see those occasional spikes to 70c.

Now, that said, while it is normal when under load to see short-duration temperature spikes up into the 90's, IMHO it is NOT normal to see the temperature staying in the 90's nor is it normal to see the temperature rise all the way up to 100c. This is an indicator that the cooling solution in this laptop is either inadequate or poorly configured.

I would suggest that you talk to the laptop vendor regarding this finding. There are a lot of slimy vendors who give inadequate cooling solutions and rely on thermal throttling to protect the system; a very bad practice, but they do get to pocket the difference. They also implement power consumption-based limiting in order to improve their battery life scores. You paid for this high-end laptop, you should have a high-end cooling solution.

Off my soapbox now,

...S

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6 Replies
n_scott_pearson
Super User
14,550 Views

The temperature fluctuations are perfectly normal. When the system is idle, Windows will run its maintenance tasks in the background and that is why you see those occasional spikes to 70c.

Now, that said, while it is normal when under load to see short-duration temperature spikes up into the 90's, IMHO it is NOT normal to see the temperature staying in the 90's nor is it normal to see the temperature rise all the way up to 100c. This is an indicator that the cooling solution in this laptop is either inadequate or poorly configured.

I would suggest that you talk to the laptop vendor regarding this finding. There are a lot of slimy vendors who give inadequate cooling solutions and rely on thermal throttling to protect the system; a very bad practice, but they do get to pocket the difference. They also implement power consumption-based limiting in order to improve their battery life scores. You paid for this high-end laptop, you should have a high-end cooling solution.

Off my soapbox now,

...S

Haseeb
Beginner
14,540 Views
Thank you very much for your reply and yes it stays in 100c the whole stress duration which really scares me. I will have this laptop shipped back right away. Then buy it straight from Dell
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Jumpysnail
Beginner
5,986 Views

I too have an M17 R3 laptop. It runs hot always. Yes, I do understand that there are background tasks, however, as this is a "gaming" laptop, and is touted with enhanced heat handling capabilities, I get the run around from Dell. I also purchased premium support. They spent several hours and decided that the computer needed to be repaired and it was sent to the repair facility. 

What they did was just R&R the motherboard, fans, and sinks. Jack up the case and drive a new computer under it. 

It came back and now runs hotter than ever, fans going at warp, and it now locks up. 

Dell sent me this little troubleshooting thing and have constantly assured me that the processor is capable of running at 100 DegC + for extended periods.

While my work with semiconductor manufacturing is limited to cellular technologies, the device cannot run at these elevated temperatures without serious degradation to the chip.

Also, Dell uses thermal tape rather than a paste, could that also be part of the problem?

So, is it healthy to run hot constantly or does Dell have another issue?

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
5,966 Views

While it is ok for short periods of time ('spikes'), it is NOT normal nor acceptable for temperatures to be sitting near Tjmax for long periods of time. This will definitely shorten the lifetime of the processor. Of course, Dell doesn't care, so long as the processor lasts beyond the warranty period (you do understand that your processor warranty is from Dell, not Intel, right?)

...S

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Jumpysnail
Beginner
5,954 Views

First, thank you for the response. Yes, I know that the warranty is with Dell, That is why I am paying for their premium support. As this is a pricey laptop, I wanted the coverage.

I have had lengthy emails from Dell service and support that say essentially nothing. They have even gone as far as sending me a link to an FAQ page that highlights this issue. There assertion is that the processor is ok at extended hi temps, and that the processor will "self protect" during a hi temp event, and that is by reducing the processor speed.

I called shenanigans. 

My background is in industrial controls and electrical systems. Extended heat on the chip is not good but Dell throws Intel under the bus by saying Intel is supportive of the processor running at high temps for extended periods.

The heat is now so high the case is hot to the touch, and not just warm, but almost untouchable. I am now measuring case temp with a Fluke 289 and a thermocouple, which seems to cause them to be unhappy that the temperatures can be quantified. I am going to record the thermal rise and document. 

I would like to contact Intel directly with this issue and get their take. thoughts?

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
5,934 Views

Well, someone from ICS is *supposed* (???) to be monitoring this conversation. If you want, you can contact them directly (see Contact Intel link below), but I'm sure that all they will say is 'anything below Tjmax is ok' (I have heard it dozens of time). Fact is, shortening the processor's lifetime probably doesn't matter to them so long as it lasts the 3 years that it is warranted to last.

...S

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