Tom's Hardware > Forum > Laptops & Notebooks > General Discussion > [Solved] Alienware M15x not powering on.

[Solved] Alienware M15x not powering on.

Forum Laptops & Notebooks : General Discussion [Solved] Alienware M15x not powering on.

Hello,
I have a problem with my alienware m15x and hope someone can help me. my m15x was working fine last night but it usually gets really hot when I'm playing WoW (hitting around 90-100 degree celsius on my gpu) I turned off the computer and went to bed. this morning I woke up to find that my power adapter cord is turned off (usually it glows blue) and my laptop wouldn't turn on. I tried disconnecting everything and plugged in the ac adapter by itself to a power outlet and it lit up blue again - but the moment I plugged it into my laptop the blue light on the power adapter turns off and the laptop still won't start. now I'm wondering if the problem is with the ac adapter or the laptop itself - please help me because dell is asking for $355 to help me fix this problem and I don't wanna waste $120 to buy a new ac adapter if the problem is with the laptop and not the adapter. thanks!

Reply to uh_kenny

90-100 degree celsius? Were you playing in your oven or something? That is way too hot. I would definitely just let Dell sort it out regardless of the price, because buying a new adapter isn't gonna cut it - if your GPU is running at 100° while playing WoW there is something wrong with your hardware or your fans, and not letting Dell do the hardware work is most likely going to cost you a new laptop.

And even if the GPU is not the culprit (which it probably isn't but hey) and you manage to fix the power problem, please have a look at your fans or something after, your laptop is running too hot.

Reply to Bacterius

Thanks for the reply, Bacterius.

Yeah, I was starting to think that something was wrong with my laptop when the temp kept hovering around 90-100 degrees while playing WoW at medium settings. I even turned off all the aero graphics and the alienware lightings cause I thought those are causing my laptop to overheat. Would Dell extended warranty cover all the necessary components to get my laptop up and running smoothly? or do I have to pay for certain parts?

Reply to uh_kenny

Doesn't Dell provide a full warranty for the whole laptop for a couple of years? It's like that with my Inspiron.

Reply to Bacterius

Just a little update:

I spoke to a few Alienware rep and I was finally able to find out the cause of the problem. It seems that my GPU was the culprit. I decided to tinker with my M15x and removed the GPU since that's the part that's always overheating and voila! my system turned back on without it. I decided to order a new GTX 260M card from Dell but they said it cost about $400-450 for an open box. I later spoke to a very friendly Dell rep and asked whether or not I can just order the new GTX 460M instead since it's about the same price and he told me that it is possible to upgrade from GTX 260M to GTX 460M - I'm a little bit concerned as to my GPU overheating again. I guess I'll find out when I received the GTX 460M and install it.

Reply to uh_kenny

Best answer

The 460 might be the way to go. The nvidia 9xxx and 8xxx series were burning out in laptops but this is the first 2x0 series ive heard of burning out. Hopefully the problem will be solved in the 460.

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Reply to shiftstealth

What did you finally do with this situation? I now have a M15x with the Radeon Mobility 5850 and I haven't had any heat issues at all. Was just wondering if you resolved the problem and replaced the defective part.

Reply to COLGeek