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

Alright, sounds good. I think I'll just get that then.
I think that answers everything...
Oh! For the PCH thing, I still want to do it. Though, I just don't know what glue would hold it to the electrical tape. Anyone know?

 

Which ones .5mm, 1.0mm or 1.5mm?

 

All. Says he has 1070 so he shouldn't need the 1.5mm


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.5 and 1.0

 

I have a 970m.
I have the olderish model

 

For 17 r3, I believe all are 0.5mm. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYTTLI4/ref=twister_B06X3WFR68?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

I was thinking that... but the one seems a little bit bigger.
Looks like there is to less of thermal pads tho.

 

I noticed that I don't have that black foam piece on the thunderbolt port shown here. Is this an issue?

 

No I didn't have it either.

 

What can I use to replace this pad of 0.1? Something like K5 PRO viscous thermal paste? Which is the best option? Is there anything better for this? Is there anything better for this? I also need to apply in other places where there is a space between the pad and some components.
Any suggestions?

 

See post #6 Where to buy .1 mm thermal pad

 

Thanks. I think I said it wrong. I do not want to replace with a other 0.1 mm pad. I need something a little thicker, because with 0.1mm it does not touch the component. That's why I thought about K5 Pro.

 

Hello, I'm really new to this so I'm sorry if my question is silly. I repasted my 15R3 7820HK with Kryonaut today (don't have access to good thermal pads at the moment so decided not to bother with them at all), and now the temps I am getting are very uneven.
Under stress test cores 1 and 3 are at an "acceptable" 75C while cores 0 and 2 go as far as 93C! Ambient is controlled at 21C.
Screenshot of temps http://imgur.com/a/1qcxC
What did I do wrong/didn't do/how can this be fixed? All advice would be greatly appreciated especially since this is my first repaste ever.

 

More likely stock fans takes too much time to respond, so try using HWINFO fan profile or CPU performance mode in BIOS and see the temps afterwards.

 

Fans are constantly running at max rpm, even before the test. Funny Im actually trying to figure out how to make them chill out a bit at idle/low loads without getting to use HWINFO custom profiles, but there probably isn't a way? They began working at max rpm pretty much right when I activated CPU performance mode in BIOS, even though fan performance is disabled. Any suggestions?

 

Remove the heatsink and paste, reapply a test layer and use a pressure paper to test evenness of the heatsink. If you have the tripod heatsink, you have to take extra care to make sure both sides of the screws end up with proper pressure and are not uneven. With a properly designed heatsink like MSI or Clevos, all you have to do is screw partway <50% per screw in a criss-cross pattern, then return and screw again most of the way, then a third pass for full tightness, and that's all there is to it. But with Alienware's tripod heatsinks, the uneven balance, combined with thermal pad thickness issues cuz one side to not have the same pressure as the other, and then huge temp deltas.

Please do your research and look at other threads, including the main one as well as the hardware upgrades one in the first section, about temp difference deltas on 6820 and 6700hq processors (applies to 7820 also, which may help a little).

After doing a pressure paper test for evenness of the mount (seeing how much or what pattern of thermal compound is left on the paper, then you will know what to adjust, whether it may be a slight careful bend of the heatsink or trimming or compression of a thermal pad that is blocking an even mount, etc.

Also for application of Kryonaut, just spread it out with the spreader. It's better to put a little too much on, than too little (especially on tripod crappy alienware heatsinks), but even and balanced heatsink pressure is essential.

 

Thanks for the tips! I'm making an assumption that I didn't use too little paste since the other two cores are actually running at decent temps (all four would spike to 100 and throttle heavily before the repaste) so I guess I didn't spread it evenly enough (I know I tried) or the heatsink is out of balance as you are suggesting. When you say bending it do you mean just one of the mounts or the actual thing?
In general from what you're saying I understand this isn't a major issue overall and should be somewhat easily fixable, right? I was kinda getting worried something's wrong with my chip when I saw those differences

edit: maybe adding a bit more paste to the side which is getting hot can also fix this?

 

You have to do your own research on this. This issue with the tripod heatsink has been discussed by many users already. I do not own an alienware so I can't exactly tell you what to do. I can only tell you what I saw in other threads, and it's best that you read them for yourself. Did you read this thread from the beginning right here? Because this issue has been discussed here as well. You can also read the 15r3 owner's lounge thread as well as the thread over here too:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ven-core-temps-due-to-uneven-heatsink.797477/

Start with this very thread you're posting in and go from the beginning and don't be turned off or lazy from all the reading, and then go to the others. Everyone has to work hard if they want results. The amount of help Clevo and MSI owners can give you is very limited if they don't own your hardware. You don't have to do it all in one day. How many grams of Kryonaut did you purchase? There's a reason I purchased an 11.1 gram tube (and i have a second now which should last me the rest of my life, or until it dries out), that way you can repaste without running out. With a little research you should find a quick fix you can do to get the temps <10C delta, and then after more research, you can get the temps closer like the 2-3C I have on mine.

 

Makes complete sense, I did read this thread but obviously haven't covered it all yet. I understand it's hard to help without having hands on the actual hardware, that's why I was originally posting here thinking since its an AW thread I could also get some advice from people who had to deal with these issues on their systems. Based on what I read here some issues may have been fixed by Dell in later production models so digging through some year-old info may be educational but not much more, therefore I asked a question in the first place and thankfully am getting very helpful answers.
I only got 1g of Kryonaut, thought it'd be more than enough for one job but I can easily get more though if need comes.
Thanks again, off to do some reading!

 

Dell's TRIPOD mess ain't a quick fix. Alienware has always had good quality heatsink and qc. Not anymore with the newer models. But good quality thermal paste and pads will make it better. And good application is Alpha Omega.

 

How are these for 45 minutes of gaming... Usually averaging in the mid 70s but max hit 88 once and 86 once which seemed high. But hell this is night and day compared to my other two rigs.

This is at 21C ambient. Heavy load in overwatched maxed out.

Thoughts?

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I do have a feeling I won't really be able to fix a 16 degree core temp difference with just new pads, especially considering the best ones I have access to in this corner of the world are Arctic. In case you've heard of them, should I even bother, regardless of the heatsink balancing issue? Or oem AW pads are "so" bad even Arctic can make a tangible difference? (they are 6w/mK).
Sadly I can't vouch for my application being good, it being my first one ever and all, but it seems at least decent with a ~20C drop (sadly on half the cores for now) and about 10-15C on the GPU. It seems all that is really left for me is some trial and error bending of the HS arm, unless I dig up some other solutions around here somewhere.

 

The pad quality is not the issue. It is the thickness or density that is causing the heatsink from contacting the die evenly. Artic pads are good because they are soft and compress easily.

 

So you're saying I actually should get some Arctic pads in oem thickness (based on iunlock's guide) and replace all around, and that might fix my uneven heatsink issue in theory?

 

Yes, i would replace only the pads that are different in thickness from OEM and iunlock's guide. For instance if iunlock says to replace a 1mm pad with 0.5mm, do that.


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Wow it never even occurred to me that pad thickness in those screenshots may be different from oem in some cases, I just assumed he gave those dimensions so people know what thickness pads they need to buy to replace oem. Thanks!

 

Put on pads and paste... Screw down. Open again and see how paste spreads and see how the pads was compressed.

 

OK so I can't quite figure out which screenshot should I be using to determine required pad thickness, some pads that are 1mm in the "1070" one are 1.5mm in the "7820 1080" one. I'm a bit confused since I have 1070 but also the 7820, really don't want to screw up HS balance even further with a random wrong thickness pad somewhere. Please help!

 

@iunlock Hey could you please help me out, I'm looking to do a repad (as part of an attempt to balance out uneven core temps) on 15R3 1070 7820, and I can't figure out which picture from your guide I should be using to determine correct pad thickness? Some pads from the "7820" photo are thicker than on the "1070" one, but the 7820 is also paired with a 1080 there, and that gets me really confused. I'm sorry if this is a silly question, I'm just really new to this. Thanks for the awesome guide, would have never been able to do my first ever repaste without it!

 

How are these temps?
2 hours of overwatched maxed out. Only 8" of space behind the laptop. Some what restricted.

 

With a repaste you can bring the temps down by 10-15C on idle and full loads.

 

Just a paste no pads needed?


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I dropped from ~90+/spikes to 100 on all cores to ~75 just by applying Kryonaut on a 15R3, no pad replacement, also judging by your current temps you won't have the core temp difference issue I'm having due to uneven HS. Good luck!

 

I repaded and repaste the other two 17r4 they sent with no results. I think the fujipoly 17m/wk were too stiff and didn't help even out the heatsink.

Did you apply kryonaut only to the die or to the copper as well?


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I recommend the 14/11 since they're softer.

With thermal pads, I recommend applying them and doing a "dry run" to see if pressure would leave any indents on the thermal pad. You want indents but not too deep, just enough for the thermal pad to make contact with the components.

 

Maybe I did something wrong with the first two. I couldn't get the 14/11 quick enough. I don't seem to be having uneven issues


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Used Kryonaut only on the die, just cleaned the copper from Dell's "paste".

 

They still use stamp on the GPU, while the CPU uses a cheapo paste.

Better than the stamp at least.

 

So try with just kryonaut on the dies without the pads since it doesn't seem like I have a heatsink balance issue


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3 or so weeks after LM repaste. (grizzly condo)
-145 undervolt
stock turbo boost
1hour OCCT

How am I looking here on temps? I thought I may have put to much LM but temps seem fine in OCCT. Running Dishonored 2 gets cpu temps near 80 which confuses the heck out of me because it the same as stock paste. Also I was hoping LM would lower my idle temps but it still seems to idle by 50c. I was told this is because the fan doesn't come on till it hits 50c but I can clearly hear the fan on a fresh boot while idle temps are at low 40s. CPU/Fan performance mode both off.

Is it possible I put to much or to little LM? I was considering trying standard thermal grease because I got some kyronaut on hand. Feel like LM should have better temps. OCCT looks good but games like h1z1, dishonored 2, and league all have load temps similar to the stock paste.

 

Try small data set instead of large and then check. Are your fans at 100%? If you're complaining about temps in games but you are not using 100% fan, you really can't do that with automatic fan. You need to eliminate the fan and heatsink out of the picture. Your cores look solid; 2C temp difference is excellent. If you used a wrong amount of paste you would not have temp differentials that low. Fan at 100% can reduce idle temps by more than 10C, depending on platform, never mind max load.

Try those 2 things.

 

Okay i'm going to test small data set now. I'm not complaining about the fans not cooling properly rather I am wondering why LM temps while gaming are similar to my stock paste. Like there is no difference and I understand that 100% fans will lower it but it would be the same case for stock paste. I'm glad to hear that the paste job is done well though so I won't need to retest a fresh set. I honestly wish we could set custom fan curves.

 

Unlocked 7820 but run fully locked down 7700hq clock speed. Expect higher core temp difference if you run the chips normal.

 

Just tried to download Throttle Stop says CPU not supported? Does anyone have a proper link for this software?

 

Try deleting the ini file and try again.

 

What temps are most alienware 17 r4 users getting stock out of the box?

is 90C to high on a desk after 45 minutes on gaming load?

I am getting pissed after my third replacement and still having high temps.

 

Set a manual fan speed via hwinfo64 at 2300rpm and I am very happy with temps now. Turns out the fan sound I was hearing was the HDD. Never have I heard a HDD be that loud but that's what it was, fans were actually off the whole time. At 2300rpm its barely audible yet keeps my idles at 40c which is great considering how hot it is over here. Once again though I wish AW would release a program or just give us control over the fan curves.

 

Is that with the back raised at least a 1"? My 15 r3 hasn't seen anything close to 90c on stock paste and considering the better cooling of the 17r4 you shouldn't be either.

 

Glad you sorted it out.

 

Raise the back 1" nothing over 78c.

But I shouldn't have to do that to get temps that should be stock on the desk.


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