Stop New Dell laptop CPU (processor) from jumping to 100% usage and overheating when watching video
In October of 2009 I purchased a Dell Latitude E6400. As a tech I did my homework checking the specs (CPU, FSB, HDD speed, etc…) and user reviews. Little did I know that underneath the hood was a heating issue that paralyzes the system for hours at a time. Imagine being close to finishing a project up and all your programs come to a grinding halt. This is problem I faced after spending cash money for a brand new laptop.
I isolated the problem to video usage. Any video intensive application (flash video, DVD playback, slingplayer, etc…) would increase my laptops CPU usage to 100% after about 20mins of viewing. The processor usage wouldn’t drop until the computer had been sitting for at least an hour. I tried updating drivers, updating bios, and also making the switch from vista to windows 7. After I updated my machine to windows 7 and still had the issue I thought for sure all my money went down the toilet, but in a last ditch effort I ran some more utilities and read some more forums and determined the root cause of the problem. The graphics chip (GPU) was over heating causing my CPU to down clock between 500MHz and 800MHz.
I read forums about all the failed attempts to fix the overheating issue that causes 100% CPU usage. Some replaced the heat sinks, some replaced internal fans, some tried to wait on dell to develop a bios update to fix heating tables. None of these fixed the issue. After deep thought it occurred to me we have an overheating issue why not add an external fan. I went and picked up a simple laptop fan and eliminated the overheating issues. I have two 20” monitors connected to my e-port docking station and this solved my all my problems. Now I love my laptop and it works great.
how did u did it? can u post some pics? thank you.
Mac’s have a very similar problem, when it comes to Flash based video. Playing any type of video causes the PC to start overheating.
As you do, I use a cooling plate to help out, not to mention keep the heat syncs clear…
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I have been wondering about this issue since i’m a Dell user too. Thanks for this informative post. it’s well written and useful. This is a nice blog and will be looking forward to read more from you. – Jaime
Please share your setup with pics. I´m experiencing the same problems with my M4400 and am basically really p*ssed at Dell for not coming up with a solution for more than a year now.
Sounds like you just put a band-aid on a serious problem. Why not call Dell and demand that they replace your defective unit with something that isnt faulty? I like Dell, don’t get me wrong, but you cant expect to use this computer with a fan all the time! Isn’t your company in the business of repairing computers? If this is the method you use to “repair” your customers systems, then I think i’ll shop elsewhere.
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It was a temporary band-aid to hold me over until DELL developed a permanent fix. It wouldn’t do any good sending it back to Dell due to the fact that they did not have a solution at the time. They finally released a bios and video driver update that has solved the issue. The laptop only overheated when on the dock connected to two 20″ monitors. When the computer is not docked (mobile) it does not overheat.
Our clients expect us to keep them running (Happy customer). Taking there computers and shipping them off for at minimum a week just for Dell to replace working parts didn’t make to much sense (Unhappy customer).
I have had tons of problems with small sized dells and over heating. Make sure all BIOS and drivers are up-to-date. Our computer repair can help you.