Experience odd sounds and overheating issues with the XPS 9360.
Experience odd sounds and overheating issues with the XPS 9360.
I recently acquired a used XPS 9360 for my son's school use. It was a good deal since it needed a new battery, which I also managed to get for a reasonable price. We observed it was getting quite hot, so I first checked the vents to confirm they weren't blocked by dust. However, when I lifted the laptop, it made a loud noise resembling something boiling in a frying pan. This issue seemed more pronounced when holding the device upright, with the ports facing down or outward. I suspect this could be related to the thermal paste drying out, so I opened the case, removed the heatsink, and confirmed the paste was dry. That didn't explain the noise, so I briefly held a lighter under the heatsink to warm it up and then tilted it. The same crackling sound persisted. Do you think this might indicate a damaged heat pipe? 328808546_CaseOff.mp4
I bought it used, actually own a Latitude E5470 and face similar issues. My fix was opening the fan, clearing debris, fixing loose screws—some were just a bit wiggly and I tightened them back. If you hear a crackling noise, it’s probably a fan problem. From my experience with Dell laptops, fans were known to have trouble. I’m new here but have been with Dell since childhood.
The heat pipe has sustained damage, likely with a crack that compromised its vacuum seal. This allows the liquid to remain more fluid, leading to quick boiling when it touches the hot CPU. Since it doesn’t behave like water, its boiling point is significantly lower than 100°C, resulting in rapid phase changes. Simply replacing the cooler should resolve the issue.
It seems the cooling system might be the issue, possibly not the heat pipe since it makes a crackling noise. It could be worth inspecting every nook and cranny of the cooling setup, or consider replacing it entirely as suggested by @OhYou_.
It seems the heat pipe was removed from the setup with a small amount of heat. I haven’t seen this before; I thought breaking it would cause the liquid to evaporate and reduce performance. Despite that, the replacement cost only £12, which is cheaper than buying a new heatsink and pipe. The thermal paste I ordered even cost more than that. 343842095_HeatPipe.mp4
Yeah its a used one, laptop prices are ridiculous at the moment so hes not getting a new one to take to school. Got a good deal on it because it has a dead battery (I have a replacement on order) but this overheating was an undisclosed issue - not worth bringing it up with the seller as they could just say it happened in shipping (Which it very well might have). Still £300 for the 9360 with 4k Touch Screen, 16GB of Ram and 1tb SSD is fairly decent. The new battery, heat pipe + thermal paste will take the total up to around £400 but thats still a third of the price of a decent new laptop with the same spec. The issue is definitely the heat pipe, Ive had it out and replicated the problem (See my reply to the thread) - Ive just never experienced a heat pipe failing in that way
This price is quite reasonable for the land you have, matching typical US rates. It's strange that the battery seems to be failing on such a modern computer. The internal cells appear to be handling heat poorly, possibly leading to premature battery degradation.
It's conceivable, the system logs in the BIOS don't record any heat-related issues, but a fan malfunction occurred shortly after buying it (it was replaced under warranty). The battery isn't completely drained, it's around 80% capacity which is normal for a 2018 laptop—my 9550 typically needs a replacement every couple of years. It probably comes down to usage; mine runs nonstop and stays plugged in all day, so I suspect Dell's power management or battery safeguards might not be ideal.
New heatpipe and sink were delivered, along with some noctua paste. The temps remain quite high, hovering near 50°C, but occasionally the CPU speed increases and the temperature spikes to about 95°C (reaching a peak of 100°C). It doesn’t seem like a clock has been applied, so I’ll check online for possible causes. I recall reading about this i7-8550U model in a 13-inch case running on XPS—definitely overheating is common. Would you like suggestions for diagnostics or software that can display a temperature trend over time? Currently, HWMonitor only shows minimum and maximum values.