[Alienware 17R4 / 15R3] - Disassembly + Repaste Guide + Results

On my AW15 R3 1070, I've found out you can take the headsink off without disassembling the motherboard. The 4 silver fan screws can remain. Instead, undo all the small 6 black screws on the fans and the 7 screws that mount the heatsink to the motherboard. The heatsink can now be safely unmounted. Pics shown below.

This method saved me a significant amount time and reduced the risk of breaking a ribbon. I don't know if this method is applicable to your model.

 

Sounds great. Those are great pads...

Thanks for sharing. I've posted on this before, but if you are wanting to fix the uneven core issue, removing the entire mobo is the way to go. There is a reason why I don't like removing just the top piece off as we've tested this already.

 

Ahh, I wasn't aware the method was tested before. I actually done a full tear down first time I had repasted. 2nd attempt, only the heatsink was taken off before a repad and repaste. I'm happy with the results so I'll just leave it as that. I'm time poor so I won't be disassembling anymore. Thanks for your contributions.

 

The heatsink have very tight tolerances, I don't prefer this method since it puts excess torque that can bend the heatsink even more...

 

I have an alienware 15 r3 with a 6820hk cpu and nvidia 1070, currently after undervolting and latest bios (1.06 i think) I'm getting around 91 C on core 0 and around 80 - 85 C on the other cores. Should I downgrade my bios? I feel like the previous bios was better but not sure. Does anyone offer any repasting services in gainsville, fl or in south florida (Hialeah, kendell, sweetwater to name a few places)? And what are these new heat sinks I'm hearing about? Should I ask dell to give me a new heat sink? I did pay for their 1 year repair service but don't know if they will go for it.

 

PM @DeeX.

::iunlock::

 

Thanks, btw has the heat sink issue been resolved with dell? what's this heat sink modification I'm hearing about?

 

Does anyone have a recommendation for the Mosfet 0.1mm pads on the updated HS design?
iunlock, were you able to verify this thickness or was this just an estimation?

I just bought a 17 R4 from the outlet and I'm not sure if it's going to be a post 12/06 build.

There's some BPC thermal Double sided Tape on Amazon but it has an abysmal 1w/m-k conductivity and, considering how hot these get I'm worried it's not going to be enough, it does have a very wide operating temperature range up to 220C though.

Although, in most system's they're left bare so, maybe I'm just overthinking it.

Thanks,

 

Would this be of any use to anyone here? http://kgs-ind.com/products/thermal-pads/silicone-free-thermal-pads/thermal-pad-cpvt/
They claim to have really thin thermal pads.

 

I did also see that but, my worry is that it's thermal operating range is only up to 100C. Mosfets can run well above this and still be in nominal operating range. I crossed it off the list of possible replacements for that reason.

It's also still only 2.0 w/m-k, not exactly an enormous difference either.

It would be *really* great if someone can get a clear Part number somewhere so we can figure out what their operating range is.

 

Anyone have specs for these pads? They're 0.25mm height, and if they're anything north of 5.0 w/mk they might be the golden ticket here.

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/thermal-pad-13-x-13-x-0-25mm-4-pcs.html

 

I have to wonder if the conductivity increase is worth using a thicker pad which was causing the problems in the first place though.

It looks like we'd have to contact Artic for an MSDS or spec sheet. Some of these thermal pads(usually the higher in w/MK you go) can be pretty dense and incompressible.

I went ahead and ordered the BCP stuff, guess I'll play gunniepig!

 

I wonder if simply spreading a little thermal paste would work better...

 

Or rather use K5

 

That's actually a swell idea -- I may just try that. Only 4.0 w/mk, but better than double sided thermal tape...

 

That thought has also occurred to me. When I have the system in my hands I'll know for sure but, generally in any application where there's not direct pressure force or large gaps ( .1mm is still pretty large) you'd want to use thermal epoxy. I'm just not willing to do that.

Oh, wow! I've never heard of this stuff but it seems perfect! It's crazy cheap too, thanks!

 

I just purchased the Fujipoly / ModRight Extreme Thermal Pad Blister Pack - Mosfet Block - 100 x 15 x 1.0 - Thermal Conductivity 11.0 W/mK from FrozenCPU.com yesterday. I am hoping they send it out and gets here my Tuesday. My cleaner and thermal paste comes in tomorrow.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...x_15_x_10_-_Thermal_Conductivity_110_WmK.html

 

Yeah those are good, but for the repaste + repad you need a mix of 1.0mm, 0.5mm, and 0.1mm pads.

 

Hello all. Since I have just joined the forum, I don't have the ability to PM iunlock directly, but I have read that he does repastes for people. What's the best way to contact him outside of PM?

 

Tag him @iunlock
And welcome to the forum

 

the thin thermal pad is placed over the chokes, not mosfet

the chokes do not need cooling or better themal pads, they can operate up to 150c+ just fine

 

Great, thanks! I've been out of the loop way too long; I can't even get my terminology right!

 

Those are the ones where the 0.1mm pads are needed? I tried it with thermalpaste but I am not 100% sure if it contacts perfectly.
But when I read this, it seems like it doesn't really matter... am I Right?

 

They're tough, most computers leave them naked. In fact, a lot of desktops still use coiled chokes which can't be cooled at all anyway . It's apart of the VRM for the CPU so, unless you're overclocking or reaching the TDP max of your processor often, they're not likely to need to be cooled. It's more likely that dell put a thermal pad on there because the heat pipe ran across them anyway. Even in overclocking situations you want to cool the mosfets down before the chokes, the Chokes don't get hot enough where cooling them provides significant benefit.

 

All depends on what quality the manufacturer use on the components

 

True but, anything is conjecture without knowing exact parts used. All I can say is that traditionally, even in high-end desktop main boards, Chokes don't get hot enough to worry about cooling. If AW was worried about the CPU VRM units running hot, they would have more likely made a mosfet cooling solution but, they didn't.

 

I'm planning on just taking the .5mm off of mine and adding some thermal paste their just in case. A little added cooling if it's needed with the paste and maybe I'll have a better core ratio after bending the arm a bit and having no pad there.

 

i guess i should double check them now... OC'd to 4GHz and hitting TDP (and over) quite often while gaming

 

I wonder is there just a pad there to keep the heat sink from adding heat to the chokes then?


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pad is doing close to nothing

 

If there weren't, we'd be complaining that there wasn't a pad there.

 

thank you Papusan.

Hi @iunlock! First of all thanks for all of you and your team's hard work in dealing with AW and making guides, videos, and the like. It's been extremely useful when shopping for a laptop and your belief that AW made an otherwise solid product despite the paste issue made up my mind.

Mobius replied to me so I now know where you guys are located and i'm equidistant from all of you in Saint Louis. I just ordered a AW 17r4 with gtx 1080 and i've seen your video regarding AW now doing real paste on CPU for newer shipped laptops but it seems like maybe a repaste is still necessary and if I wanted LM i would obviously have to do it. If some people worry about movement/vibration with the LM is it something you still do for people and ship back to them?

I am currently leaning towards doing myself even though i have almost no experience with pasting. However, I'm just a little confused in your guide as to where the extra thermal pads are needed in the 1080 version over the 1070 version. In the pictures you provide it's not clear to me where the extra pads would be used. Thanks in advance for your time.

 

has anyone re-pasted with NT-H1, or other thermal compounds that are not liquid metal?

 

NT-H1 is junk on laptop hardware. Drop it

 

why?

 

Because I have used the trash on my 4930mx. Pumped out after a few days with intense overclocking. Even on 920xm. Everyone knows that Hotwell is
A popular paste because it is easy to apply and work ok on desktop hardware. But I can't recomend this paste on laptop hardware. Especially on the processor.

 

Hello @ALL,

this is my first threat, but i read this forum at a long time. I´ve a 15r3 and the first mod is a repaste. Actually the temps under Prime95
Core 0 + 2 - 72°; Core 1 - 63°; Core 3 - 52° result the HS are uneven mounted. That sucks ;-)
My question is, has anyone done a Repad with a Alien 15r3?
Which pads schould i buy for these Mod? Thickness?

Thanks for your Help

Boronn

Ps: Sry for ma bad english i come from Germany

 

If you want non liquid metal pastes i recommend ic diamond 7 if the heatsink is not perfectly mounted because paste pump out is almost non existant with that paste. Grizzly cryonaut is the best non liquid metal paste. But less dense so pump out can hapoen if there is too much space open between the cpu and heatsink.

 

yes the heatsink seems to be mounted improperly, core 1/3 is an indication of that

 

I'm not able to remove the heatsink The screws is too soft, and i'm afraid to break the motherboard if press to hard.... I tried all kind of screw sizes... so much work for nothing '

 

Which laptop is this? The 15R3 or the 17R4?

You will need to use PH01/PH1 screwdriver.

 

I used a PH1/PH01.. :/ It was the 17r4, and the last screw i needed to remove was stuck and stripped


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After repaste with correct pads and conductonaut

 

I couldn't get ahold of the Fujipoly pads here in Alaska, so I just ordered up some
Alphacool Eisschicht pads 11 w/mk. Order should be here so I can do a repaste next week. I can't run under 80c playing Witcher3 with ultra settings (CPU). Typical to see it climb up to mid 90's during any physics/battles. This is all stock clocks, too.

 

Could you please post a screen disassembly guide？Sometime

 

you guys have a before and after pic of how to bend the arm?

 

So here are my pics of my stock paste job. (Nov 20 something build). Notice I am missing some pads on mine from the pics iunlock has posted.

I am doing tests OCCT tests now, but in the OC level 1 through the bios I went from a 17 degree core differential to an 11 degree differential. Before my PC was at -.145v and my core temps were high of 93, 76, 91, 70 after an hour of testing and now they were in in the 73,62, 72, 61 degrees after a few minutes of testing. I swapped to the highest OC level and not undervolted at all and I am seeing 89, 69, 89, 68 degrees after 30 minutes. I used Gelid extreme, replaced all of the pads with the Fujipoly pads and bent the one arm up a bit. @iunlock should I try and bend the arm more or ask Alienware/Dell for a new heatsink?I mean I am barely under 90 at max OC which I will probably hardly ever use when I am not bench testing it.

As for as the GPU it went from being 68 degrees during the Unigen tests down to a 61 degrees and I went from a 104 frame rate to a 112 from the base. The fans barely kicked in during the test.

 

Looks like it wasn't covering the other ram modules or the GPU mosfett's/choke's

as it shipped that's a defective heatsink. Those pads should be there.

interestingly, The other side of the ram models where yours are missing; I had TWO 1.0mm pads there. Which was clearly not correct (too much)

I wonder if these are machine applied or by person?

 

Awesome work buddy, this is what I'll be aiming for. Any hints or tips? Specifically around making sure the heatsink goes on evenly and tightly enough (obviously I'll screw opposite corners and only a little at a time)

 

So here is my before OCCT test




Here is my after results at stock OC level and undervolted at -.141v.






This is my after results on OC lvl 3 in Bios.