Over the last few weeks I have noticed that my XPS M1530 is heating up a lot more than before.

 

Especially the vents at the back of the laptop gets very hot (blowing hot air). After awhile I find most of teh bottom is hot to the touch as well.

 

I can hear the fan running so I know that is working,.,.how well it is working ? I don't know.

 

I have been using HWMonitor for the last week or so to monitor temperatures....

 

When idle.. no programs or applications open...

 

Cores are between 45C and 55C

GPU.. is never below 55C or so.. actually I don't think I have seen it at 55C.. but lowest is about 57C

Hard Drive is between 40C and 50C.

 

Once I start using applications...  MS Office, Internet.. nothing heavy...

 

All temps go up by about 10C at least..

 

The GPU temp goes up the highest and runs at about 80C  and the Cores running at about 65C 

 

If playing games the GPU temp goes up to about 95C. Could be higher but the laptop shuts down and by the time I restart it and check, it shows 95C

 

When playing Age of Empires 3, after about 15 - 20 minutes of play the computer just shuts down. I believe this is because it is overheating

 

I am sure these are not healthy temperatures.

 

I have read up on the Nvidia issue but do not have any issues with graphics going bad or anything. So not sure if these high temps are related to that issue.

 

I have also cleaned all vents using canned air, not that they were clogged in any case. The laptop is also being used on a flat table surface and not in bed or on my lap.

 

And yes.. I have also flashed to the latest BIOS (A09).

 

So any suggestions on what could be causing this ? How to rectify ? My worry is that with these high temps something is going to break or 'melt'

 

I could be wrong but it seems the heat is being generated from the left bottom side of the laptop as this area is hottest when touched.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.