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GPU Temperature 103C on Latitude E6420
Hi, I recently run PassMark Burn-In Test ver. 7 on my Latitude E6420 i7-2630QM with Nvida NVS 4200M 512M video card. During the test I noticed that the GPU temperature is about 103C and the software reported "failed test" because of this high temperature.
The CPU temperature is also high, around 93C.
Is this normal? Should I return this laptop?
Thanks,
Core2DuoQuad
17 Posts
1
April 26th, 2012 23:00
This is a known problem with the E6420 14" laptop and Quad core CPU's. I have a E6420 and E6520. The E6520 handles the heat much better and tops out at 85C GPU and 95C CPU when running Diablo 3 for an hour on max resolution and max graphic settings. My laptop shipped with the single heatpipe heatsink, it would downclock CPU because of excessive heat and even shutdown. After I received the Dual pipe heatsink with a new thermal pad, my temps dropped to 100C max on CPU and GPU and laptop no longer shuts down due to overheating.
The problem is Dell packed a lot of power into a 14" laptop. When running at max load, the cooling system simply can't keep up. Dell should really fix this but you can do a few improvements on your end. FYI - Do not attempt if you are not comfortable doing this or are tech / mechanical savvy.
Here is what I recommend:
1. Ensure you have the latest BIOS installed. Dell has changed the thermal curves for the fan in recent bios updates.
2. Ensure you have the DUAL HEATPIPE heatsink DELL P/N - TYP01. My E6420 shipped with the wrong Single pipe heatsink pictured below.
Single pipe heatsink - ONLY FOR DUAL CORE i5, i7. NOT FOR i7 QM QUAD CORES.
forum.notebookreview.com/.../564579-e6420-owners-thread-83.html
There is a "gap" between the heatsink and the Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU. Dell uses a <ADMIN NOTE: Profanity removed as per TOU> thermal pad to transfer heat. a lot of users have done the following to reduce temps even lower by replacing the thermal pad with a copper shim sandwiched between two layers of thermal paste / compound. I'm sure Dell probably does not support this below mod even though users have reported lower temps after the mod which in turn stresses components less.
3. Order this copper shim kit. www.ebay.com/.../260718120394
4. Use a good thermal paste / compound such as Céramique 2: www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx
Lastly - search through the forums on this website as there is alot of information about your E6420.
forum.notebookreview.com/.../564579-e6420-owners-thread-95.html
E6420
i7-2760QM turbo up to 3.5ghz
16GB DDR3 @1600MHZ - yes the E6420 and E6520 will accept 16GB and run at 1600MHZ if you buy 1600Mhz Ram AND have a Quad core CPU that Supports 1600Mhz ram natively. search for your cpu here and look under "memory types" for supported speeds. "Max memory size" for max memory your CPU supports.
ark.intel.com/.../Intel-Core-i7-2760QM-Processor-(6M-Cache-2_40-GHz)
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
1600 x 900 HD Screen w webcam
Backlight Keyboard
Intel 6250 Wifi
Boris_yo
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66 Posts
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December 11th, 2013 10:00
Where in the world did you hear about Dell changing thermal curves in recent BIOS updates? The latest BIOS is A12 which was released before you posted this message and since I have checked A12 update log, there is no information indicating your above statement. Actually there is nothing close in all of BIOS updates for E6420 starting from A03. I have aggregated all update logs and here is what I have got:
BIOS A03:
1. Added support for Full Disk Encryption (FDE) Hard Drives.
BIOS A04:
2. Updated Intel ME Firmware to 7.1.13.1088.
BIOS A05:
1. Added support for Signed Firmware Updates.
2. Additional vPro support. Added DASH ‘PLDM for BIOS Control and Configuration?
3. Updated the Password Bypass feature.
4. Fixed issue where the system would not reboot the first time after disabling the Integrated NIC in Setup.
5. Addressed issues with the 'Auto-On Time' Setup field.
6. Fixed issue where a UEFI OS install would fail with greater than 8GB of memory.
7. Addressed intermittent boot issues in ATA mode.
8. Fixed issue in ATA mode where unaligned memory accesses would fail. 9. Fixed issue where the BIOS would reboot instead of flashing when the /S parameter
was used with the flash executable.
10. Fixed issue where the error log data from the previous POST would show up if you shut down the machine at the F1/F2 prompt.
11. Fixed issue where the IDT audio device would not appear in device manager when running a UEFI OS.
12. Updated to the MOB_P_08 version of the Intel microcode patch.
13. Updated to the 1.3.72 version of the Intel PXE OROM.
14. Updated to the 4208 version of ePSA diagnostics.
BIOS A06:
1. Addressed CD boot issues.
2. Addressed Hard Drives hang issue in AHCI mode.
3. Addressed Hard Drives encryption issue in ATA mode.
4. Fixed issue where the MAC address would be incorrect after disabling the Integrated NIC in Setup.
5. Added support for Signed Firmware Update Transition BIOS.
6. Updated to the MOB_P_11 version of the Intel microcode patch.
7. Updated to the 1.2.0 version of Intel System Agent reference code.
8. Updated to the 1.2 version of Intel PCH Reference Code.
9. Updated to the 1.2.1.1 version of Intel PPM Reference Code.
BIOS A08:
1. Fixed issue where Intel Turbo boost non-functional.
2. Fixed issue where TDM PBA SSO doesn't work when both FP and TDM PBA SSO are set for single user.
3. Addressed some keyboard with USB Hub not accessible during POST.
4. Updated to the 1.4.0 version of Intel PPM Reference Code.
5. Updated to the MOB_P_13 version of the Intel microcode patch.
6. Intel Trusted Execution Technology updates
7. Updated to the 1.05 version of Dell GPE.
8. Added new key for Signed Firmware Updates.
Note: 1. Please note that if the A04 or before A04 BIOS is currently installed on your system, you must first update to A05 BIOS and then flash to the latest A-rev BIOS.
BIOS A12:
1. Updated to the 1.3.81 version of the Intel PXE OROM.
2. Updated to the 7.1.31.1147 version of the Intel MEFW.
3. Updated the DellFlashUpdate feature.
4. Addressed boot order change issue.
BIOS A13:
1. Addressed LAN cable disable wireless LAN issue.
2. Addressed UEFI OS boot and hibernation issue.
3. Addressed F12 administrator boot options issue.
4. Fixed the issue where UEFI OS hang during installation when fastboot is minimal.
5. Fixed the issue where Dell Wireless Keyboard can't work in BIOS.
6. Updated to the 7.1.40.1161 version of the Intel MEFW.
BIOS A14:
1. Addressed some hard drives detection issue.
2. Added to support a new Bluetooth device.
3. Updated to the 7.1.52.1176 version of the Intel MEFW.
4. Updated to the MOB_P_21 version of the Intel microcode patch.
5. Address the serial device not recognized issue.
6. Updated to the 75.19.17.01.05 version of the nVidia VBIOS.
7. Added to support a new panel.
BIOS A15:
1. Addressed F12 administrator boot options issue.
2. Addressed no external video during POST when docked.
BIOS A16:
1. Addressed long delay before Pre-Windows Login with Full Disk Encryption (FDE) Hard Drives in AHCI mode
2. Addressed IDE-R issue in ATA and AHCI mode.
3. Addressed no external video during POST with some external monitors.
4. Fixed issue where touch panel would fail if you boot through F12 boot menu.
5. Updated to the 75.19.6A.01.01 version of the nVidia VBIOS.
BIOS A17:
Fixes
- Not Applicable
Enhancements
- Updated to the 4220.11 version of ePSA diagnostics.
- Updated to the 7.1.70.1198 version of the Intel MEFW.
BIOS A19:
1. Updated to the 1.5.33 version of the Intel PXE OROM.
2. Addressed Trusted Execution issue with CCTK on non-TPM configuration.
3. Addressed extenal USB keyboard LED abnormal issue.
4. Addressed UEFI OS fail boot with HDD password present issue.
Matsosg1
1 Message
1
June 2nd, 2016 07:00
Hello Friend,
I had a heat problem with my Dell E6420 and I followed your advice and I updated BIOS to latest version and put new fresh cream on CPU and now is working excellent!!
I had BIOS version E6420A06 and I upgraded to E6420A08 and after that to the latest that is E2420A021.
My previews temperatures was GPU 80-85 C and CPU 75-78 C.
Now after the upgrade of BIOS my temperatures are GPU 50-53 C and CPU 49-53 C.
Thanks a lot again!!
Zeppelin117
2 Posts
0
July 8th, 2016 15:00
hi. i have problem , my dell latitude e6420 105 c when i test furmark... i cant finde E2420A021 this driver can you linked download link please? i replace thermal pad but nothing change :( please help me someone
times_rajeev
5 Posts
1
September 2nd, 2016 00:00
I have been in the cpu throttle zone and high temp shutdowns on Latitude e6420 (nVidia/2720QM) since upgrading to 16GB 1600mhz ram and win 10. don't know what caused this could have been the upgrade, could have been dropping the laptop and changing geometry of copper dual pipe heatsink that it already had.
Tried different thermal compounds on nvs4200m. Arctic Silver, Ceramique 2, Tunix TX-4. Finally wanted to shim it after seeing it first hand that nvs4200m doesn't connect with heat-sink to be able to conduct heat away. Was going to order 20mm x 20mm x 1.2mm height copper shim until i came across an article where someone said pennies between 1962-1980 were almost pure copper 95%. Well guess what dug out a 1980's penny from the coin sack in garage, and went nuts with lapping it bare hands on metal sandpaper (black) until it was a plain smooth shiny piece of copper with no Lincoln image and no memorial "request to be pardoned Mr. AbLincoln" sandwiched between nvidia and heat sink with a dab of Arctic Silver 5.
Pre Fix Temps
idle - 72-75C
Load - 100C and it would shutdown. Typically while watching High Res movie or Youtube
Post Fix Temps
idle - 50-55C
Load - 68-72C
Furmark Burn in max temperature reached - 92C vs 100+ and shutdowns earlier.
Positive side effect is also on processor cores, all of those run 45-55C now compared to 55-78C earlier.
I can 100% confirm that a properly lapped penny from 1980's causes a 20 Degree difference in both idle and load temps. It also causes 10 Degrees drop on Furmark Burnin Test.
I confirm that using dell supplied drivers vs nVidia latest ones caused no change in temperatures. This was attempted because of a mention that dell drivers were tweaked to their hardware architecture and worked better. Finally with penny fix, use latest nVidia Drivers without fear of over heating.
Firmware change idea as logical it was did not help with temps. I changed quite a few firmware's including A21 and the latest A23, even went back all the way to A04 and had to jump through A08 to get back to A23.
I am almost certain that most of that ebay copper shims cannot have the same purity as a penny. I would trust a penny more than Chinese metal :-) and moreover when you are stuck with this problem you don't have 3 weeks for a Copper Shim to arrive from China or Hong Kong.
If you have dremel and vise to hold the coin please do use it for lapping penny, Saying this as I forgot to use mine and have a couple of blisters right now on fingers. The Lincoln Memorial side is a quick lap but the dips around Lincoln image buff out last. Very satisfied with this fix.
Try it out if you are handy or have a friend who is mechanically inclined.
~best