My problem is the CPU in my laptop is hitting 89c max temp when under near max load for a short time. This can't be good since the max temp Intel lists before this CPU throttles itself is 100c and summer is coming.
Laptop specs are i7-4710HQ, GTX 970m, 1tb HD, 8gb ram, 1920x1080 res screen, Win 7 OS, model Alienware 15 early 2015.
I got the new Alienware 15 about a week ago so it's not a issue of cleaning. I can feel with my hand the left side fan has good airflow but the right side appears to be much weaker. No strange noises from the fans, they in fact run almost too quiet. In the "Command Center" software under "Porcessor Power Management" the system cooling policy is set to Active. The laptop is resting on a cheap coolmaster laptop cooling pad which seems to have little effect aside from ensuring the laptop has room to get good airflow.
Aside from temperature the CPU appears to run normally when I view the task manager, only peaking in usage when there is something running to use it. I use HW Monitor & RealTemp to check the temperatures. I have run the diagnostic under the dell webpage support and it came back with no problems found.
Only thing of note I did was update the BIOS from the dell support page for the Alienware 15 early 2015 model and updated the GTX 970m from the Nvidia site.
The GTX 970m runs at a nice 75c under max load. If I am correct that the big chip on the mobo is the CPU and the smaller rectangle is the GPU then the weaker fan is on the side with the CPU (looked up the disassembly process online, haven't opened anything yet).
The only Ideas I have are:
A, I'm being hysterical and this is normal.
B, The thermal paste for the CPU was applied incorrectly. (Likely send in for repair to avoid voiding warranty and not enough nerve disassemble the entire laptop to do it myself)
C, The fan for the CPU is broken. (Send in for repair)
D, The fans are set too low and need to be increased (I have no idea how to do this).
E, Updating the BIOS was a very bad idea.
Any help would be appreciated.