The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 23c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this. Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by running Furmark and Cinebench together.
The Core i7 3610QM remains well within the tolerance thresholds. AMD’s HD7970M runs quite hot under extended load, although the aggressive fan system ensures that it is perfectly stable at all times. Again, similar results to the Alienware M17X R4.
We also attached 5 diodes to the underside of the machine to measure the load temperatures of various parts of the chassis. These were measured after 1 hour of intensive work.
The PC Specialist Vortex III forces the warm air out of the rear of the machine, sucking in cool air from all the other vents. It is an intensive air flow system which generates a high level of noise when under full load. The upside is that the underside of the chassis is slightly cooler than the Alienware M17X R4.