Question AMD Radeon M7 265 crashes - Laptop (possible bottleneck?)

[DerpVed]

I have a Dell Inspiron 5547 i7 with AMD Radeon M7 265 installed.

• It works fine if I want to surf the Internet or play light games such as Plants vs zombies
• Whenever I attempt to play games like LoL or heavier (LoL is set on lowest possible setting and resolution), the laptop heats up then freeze.
• I installed MSI Afterburner to keep track and notice that the AMD gpu usage stays at 100% for a few seconds before the shutdown (usage drops to 0% right before laptop stops responding).

1. I know that it is near impossible to get a new GPU since laptop GPUs are mostly soldered into the motherboard.
2. I tried bottleneck calculator on PCBuilds and it told me that "your graphics processor is too weak"
3. I can disable AMD as a temporary solution for playing games but FPS is horrendous when I use Intel GPU (game -> gpu usage goes to 100% -> fps drop and delay -> gpu goes to normal -> game runs normally -> repeat)
4. I need a solution to improve the FPS. Visual quality is non-existent to me.

Here are my laptop specs: (UBM link just in case it might help: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/17124527)
Model: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4510U CPU @ 2.00GHz
8gb RAM
SSD: Intel 520 Series 240GB
GPU1: AMD Radeon R7 M265
GPU2: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family

 

[cdrkf]

I have a Dell Inspiron 5547 i7 with AMD Radeon M7 265 installed.

• It works fine if I want to surf the Internet or play light games such as Plants vs zombies
• Whenever I attempt to play games like LoL or heavier (LoL is set on lowest possible setting and resolution), the laptop heats up then freeze.
• I installed MSI Afterburner to keep track and notice that the AMD gpu usage stays at 100% for a few seconds before the shutdown (usage drops to 0% right before laptop stops responding).

1. I know that it is near impossible to get a new GPU since laptop GPUs are mostly soldered into the motherboard.
2. I tried bottleneck calculator on PCBuilds and it told me that "your graphics processor is too weak"
3. I can disable AMD as a temporary solution for playing games but FPS is horrendous when I use Intel GPU (game -> gpu usage goes to 100% -> fps drop and delay -> gpu goes to normal -> game runs normally -> repeat)
4. I need a solution to improve the FPS. Visual quality is non-existent to me.

Here are my laptop specs: (UBM link just in case it might help: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/17124527)
Model: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4510U CPU @ 2.00GHz
8gb RAM
SSD: Intel 520 Series 240GB
GPU1: AMD Radeon R7 M265
GPU2: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family

The issue is thermal throttling I'm almost certain- With laptops that are a few years old it's a common problem that dust gets in between the fan and the cooling fin assembly. Over time this builds up to the point that virtually no air can flow over the fins, when that happens the cpu and gpu will overheat and either thermal throttle or just crash as you are describing.

Dell laptops are a bit of a pain- as usually the way they are built means you have to remove the motherboard in order to access the cooling assembly, however once you get into all you need to do is remove the fan (note I'd recommend against taking the heat sink off the board initially- if you do you will have to replace the thermal paste before re-assembling). With the fan off use a toothbrush or similar to get all the dust out of the cooling fins- put it all back together and you should be good. I had to do this recently to my laptop and it dropped temps massively.

The R7 M265 isn't a bad GPU- plenty for light games such as LOL and much faster than the intel igpu- it should be good for light gaming on reduced settings.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

Try using a vacumm cleaner hose on all the air vents, bottom, side, etc. This MAY help with overheating without having to take it apart.

 

[DerpVed]

Try using a vacumm cleaner hose on all the air vents, bottom, side, etc. This MAY help with overheating without having to take it apart.

I don't have a vacumm so i use cooling pad and a fan to cool the laptop shell. It sometimes work but only if i can keep the laptop under 75C (near impossible especially since it's now summer)

 

[DerpVed]

The issue is thermal throttling I'm almost certain- With laptops that are a few years old it's a common problem that dust gets in between the fan and the cooling fin assembly. Over time this builds up to the point that virtually no air can flow over the fins, when that happens the cpu and gpu will overheat and either thermal throttle or just crash as you are describing.

Dell laptops are a bit of a pain- as usually the way they are built means you have to remove the motherboard in order to access the cooling assembly, however once you get into all you need to do is remove the fan (note I'd recommend against taking the heat sink off the board initially- if you do you will have to replace the thermal paste before re-assembling). With the fan off use a toothbrush or similar to get all the dust out of the cooling fins- put it all back together and you should be good. I had to do this recently to my laptop and it dropped temps massively.

The R7 M265 isn't a bad GPU- plenty for light games such as LOL and much faster than the intel igpu- it should be good for light gaming on reduced settings.

Yeah i brought it to a repair shop to clean up and reinstall windows a month ago. It worked until about a week ago. Thanks for the tip tho, I am not experienced with cleaning laptop but i'll try your way.