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

@inulock or anyone else that can chime in. This may sound like a total noob question...and believe me, I am a noob..., but do you use thermal paste between the heatsink and the pch, and for that matter where you replace the thermal pads? I assume you would just use a thermal paste like TG Kryonaut or Arctic Silver 5 and not a LM like TG Conductonaut (only use that on cpu/gpu and their corresponding heatsinks)? I have done a couple of pc builds, but never worked on a laptop. My new AW 17 R4 just shipped and I am trying to get a parts list for repasting/re-padding...I assume that even on the newer models coming out they would still benefit from these simple mods. Also, is there a particular brand/size of HS that is recommended for the PCH mod?
Thank you guys for all of your efforts in creating these guides and tips. There is so much valuable information on here!

 

You only put thermal paste between HS and PCH chip, no need in pads. I've used Kryonaut, it performs very well. Just be sure to glue it well as in iunlock's photo. Don't forget to put some tape around the chip, so you'll be able to glue HS to it. I've used this aluminium HS: http://amzn.to/2uwYv1e, but cut its height from 6mm to ~3.8mm with a file.

 

That's what I thought in regards to the thermal pads, but I was watching a youtube video and the guy was putting Arctic 5 in between every thermal pad, but he also stated that he did not have the better replacement pads (such as the Fujipoly pads that Iunlock is recommending). I've got the Scotch Super 33+ tape that I will be using, do you just use any type of super glue the secure the HS or is there a special type of glue for electronic components....I assume that it probably does not matter since it is just securing a piece of aluminum to the electric tape.
Thanks again for the feedback Niarus!

 

He also recommends putting a copper shim between the CPU/GPU and heat sink with a layer of LM between ....not sure what to think about adding another layer. Seems like it would increase the gap between the thermal pads and heatsink and cause you to need thicker pads all around...

 

Concerning thermal pads - yes, I would go with Fujipoly as iunlock recommended or with Alphacool pads. They're pretty much the same.

You can use any type of super glue, for instance Loctite Gel Super Glue will do the job perfectly: http://amzn.to/2HBtZJI. Or you can go with some silicon-based adhesive as http://amzn.to/2HBJa5u, but it will be drying for a longer period of time.

Don't add a copper shim, with AW17R4 HS it will only increase unevenness, as well as you mentioned the gaps between HS and thermal pads. Check your CPU temperatures using OCCT before doing the re-paste, if you don't have core differentials more than 4C, don't do anything except changing the paste and pads. Otherwise depending on the badness of the situation it might require some additional measures, such as bending the upper arm of the CPU's HS, or even the HS itself, though the later is very intrusive and things may go wrong. So be careful.

 

Thanks for the advice! Do you know if a repaste/repad will void Dell's warranty? I paid for the premium 5 year warranty, so it would be a shame to blow it off right out of the gate.
I am compiling a saved shopping cart from amazon with all the parts I will need to do the job, but I plan on using it stock for a while and testing temps.
I also ordered a Cooler Master NotePal U3 Plus to help ease the temps a little before I decide if I need to do the re-paste. It does seem absurd that it even needs to be considered for such an expensive product. It may very well be my first and last Alienware, but I am very excited to give it a try.....sometimes I just insist on learning things the hard way...builds character, right!

 

It won't void the warranty. If you end up damaging components during repaste, the warranty won't cover that specific part, but it won't void your entire warranty.

Yeah, I also bought NotePal U3 Plus week ago and modded it with three NF-F12 fans. Now it's stable in heavy games at 4.6Ghz CPU OC (40% fans: 80C CPU, 62C GPU and 60C PCH). Without additional fans PCH can reach 80C+ even without overclock, despite additional heat sink on it.
Great thanks to @Mr. Fox, @Falkentyne, @Papusan and @XiCynx for shared information on this!

 

Any recommendations on which benchmarks to use to test my system before and after repaste/pad/PCH mods?
I gather from previous posts that I should download HWINFFO, cpu-z/gpu-z, Prime95, firestrike, heaven?
I do not know a whole lot about overclocking, so I will probably just do stock tests before and after, and then start playing around with overclocking once I have had time to read up on it some more.
Unless, anyone could give me some basic pointers on what parameters I would need to change to do a modest OC. I don't plan on trying to break any benchmark records, I just want to wind up with a nice stable (hopefully cool temp) system. I would be okay with a modest overclock if it did not drive up temps too bad or make the system too unstable.

 

I am considering bending the arms a bit to get more (hopefully around 0.25 mm) mounting pressure... is this a bad idea?

 

For monitoring temperatures, frequencies, power limits etc. HWiNFO is great. Also it'll allow you to control speed of fans of AW 17R4 from the OS.
GPU-Z is good for monitoring GPU, it's especially useful if you have stuttering problem. More about it in this video and thread.

For CPU only stress test - OCCT and Prime95.
Combined stress test (CPU + GPU):
- 3dmark firestrike combined in looped mode
- Aida64 FPU+GPU stress test
- heavy games as GTA5, Witcher 3 etc.

Better test your system without OC and if everything is good you'll be able to proceed further.

 

I bended all CPU's arms slightly as well, lower arms less than the upper one. Though I did it by sight, without measuring.

 

Thanks for the info!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

I want to do it to gpu and cpu. Not for uneven cpu temps (my cpu temps are only 2c apart from each other)... just want to stop getting 85c and throttling.

 

Then better not to, you can really worsen the situation. Did you apply LM or any other decent thermal paste (Kryonaut, Gelid gc extreme etc.)?

 

I repasted with LM and temps were awesome, but still got the 800 MHz throttling. Turns out it was the pch going above 85 °C. I stacked a couple of leftover grizzly thermal pads on it, and enabled speedshift in throttlestop (not sure if it's related or just coincidence), and temps went down 10°C for the pch. Previously battlefield 1 would start throttling at 15 mins whereas now I have played for hours without an issue

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Yeah i'm LM too. The only way to not exceed 90cCPU/80cGPU for me is to be on a laptop cooler in a fairly cold room (I have to bundle up in blankets). This is playing stuff like Battlefield 1 at max 80% scale 4K and Forza Hoirizon 3 4K for a couple hours.

I feel like my temps should barely hit 80c for CPU and 70 for GPU under these colder conditions.

Without the cooler and just lifting the back with a riser I easily hit temps of 93-94c on CPU and 85c+ on GPU after a couple hours.

I put a heatsink on PCH so that doesn't really exceed 60c.

 

I think the reason of these temperatures is that you applied not enough of LM. I had the same problem after my first attempt of using LM on AW17R4.
With the lifted back (~5 cm), temperatures of well repasted AW17R4 (7820HK+GTX1080) should be 70C CPU and 65C GPU after hours in GTA5\BF1 etc. This is max temps without OC.

 

Be sure stock clocked processor manage same Cinebench R15 score as tested on Cpu-Monkey

 

Man guess I'm just going to suck it up and open this mofo up again.

 

Guys, I have the same problem. I have Alienware R4 with gtx 1070. In some games temperature of my gpu goes above 80C. Here is my result. Should I think about thermal paste replacement?

 

Unfortunately, It sounds like it would be a good idea no matter what.
I ordered a new AW 17 R4, and i ordered the materials needed fot the repaste/repad and pch mod at the same time.
I plan on running some test on it stock first, but i figure even if temps start out low, the better paste/pads ect... will be beneficial to the life of the laptop anyway. There are a lot of steps, but with all of the info on here, it seems pretty doable for anyone. Just take your time and follow the thread below:


https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...share_tid=801900&share_fid=33462&share_type=t

Aw 17 r4 total setup - repaste, ssd heatsink, windows clean install etc.


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Hi to all,

Guys, just as a thing:

Repasting will VOID the warranty if not done by Dell - was the answer I got from Dell when I asked about it.

I have repasted my A17 R4 with LM and the temps ware great but the keyboard wasn't working properly so I wanted it replaced under warranty. They sent someone to replace it and after the "engineer/technician" was done with the replacement, put the laptop back together, he somehow managed to burn/short-circuit it as smoke came out when he tried to start it up. I had to send the laptop back to Dell in Germany and have it repaired but I removed any evidence of repasting (cleared the tape around the chips and the LM and repasted the dead laptop with and old thermal paste a had laying around) because the Dell representative I spoke with on the phone said if I repaste myself, I will lose the warranty.
They repaired the laptop and sent it back to me. I'm hoping to have the laptop by the end of next week.

I know some of you know different but that's the response I got from Dell here in UK.
Basically if you have problems with the laptop and still want to get the warranty, remove any evidence of repasting before sending it back to Dell and you should be safe. It worked for me.

I hope this helps.

Thanks

 

It's been stated many times, it WILL NOT void the warranty.

I'm in the UK and I talked to 2 Dell techs myself and told them that I repasted my laptop, and they warned me that this voids the warranty but they will keep this information from disclosure, so my warranty will be fine (and also asked me not to talk about it any more, haha, though the calls are usually recorded..). They clearly don't know, but still insisting that it will void it. Also Dell field technician was absolutely fine when I was doing re-paste in front of him using LM paste during mobo replacement a year ago.

Most Dell support technicians aren't comfortable with technically competent customers, this is the source of their concern. You need to escalate this question to someone at a higher level if you want to get the right answer, what has been done by a dozen other people - and the answer was that the re-paste will not void the warranty.

 

That's good to know and strange, probably that's why I got a definitive asnwer like that. But yeah, I will repaste the laptop again even if that's how things are. I'm curious though what would've happened if I would've sent the laptop pasted with LM.... or maybe not
The main thing is that there is a walkaround all of this and still getting warranty on the laptops.
Cheers

 

Dell has to cover themselves here.
If you use TRADITIONAL paste, your warranty is not voided, because there is no danger in using regular paste for repaste, as long as you don't break something or static shock something when opening. Hell you can get paste all over the place and the laptop would still work.

But if you blow something up with conductive balls of doom running over the PCB, do you really think your warranty will still work?
Liquid metal works well but is NOT a 'safe' paste. Most common users are not competent enough to know when or how to use liquid metal. (notice I said common here, not educated nor experienced). That stuff can destroy a system, which HAS happened to people here. Dell may be many things, but one thing they are not, is stupid (that doesn't include their outsourced "techs.")

 

Yeah the ****ty thing is that the AW representatives state you can repaste and warranty will not be void unless you damage the system in the progress. But Dell in the EU says otherwise.

 

Why send it to Dell depot to get it repaired? You have paid a lot cash for the Premium tech support services to get it fixed home the next day.

 

So, I used the guide posted here to repaste my 15 R3, and I have some items that should be added as disclaimers. First off, I noted that this guide is rather dated and Dell has made some changes to the internals (that may or may not have been mentioned here already). For the sake of those that may be interested in repasting their laptop, especially the 15s purchased in late 2017 and early 2018, please note the following:

• The heatsink/fan assembly is not the same as what was mentioned in the guide
• Mine was a CCI unit and the fans were integral to the heatsink assembly - I could not remove just the heatsinks, I had to lift the motherboard, unplug the fans, and remove them as a single unit
• The thermal pads used on the CPU are not .5mm, they were much thinner - @iunlock mentions this in his video on the newer 17 R4, I believe they may have been .1mm - extremely thin and very fragile

I had difficulty repasting this laptop and making sure the heatsink sat evenly on the CPU die. The GPU was more forgiving likely due to the four screw arrangement. I repasted it a total of three times:

• First attempt I did not replace the thermal pads - saw a significant reduction in temps on cores 1 thru 3, core 0 must have been in a low spot and ended up 10 to 15 degrees hotter
• Second attempt I replaced the thermal pads - totally botched job - thermal throttling ensued
• Third attempt I had a thought - if Dell is using a .1mm pad for the CPU, could I use a thermal paste like Kryonaut instead of a pad? The answer is yes! Fujipoly Ultra Extreme has a conductivity rating of 17 W/mk, Kryonaut is rated for 12.5 W/mk, which is decent enough for me and way easier to work with - Super cool thermals, no throttling, AIDA64 tested for CPU/GPU - idle temps are in the mid thirties, load maxes at low seventies

Hope this helps anyone interested.

 

Meh, just opened and tried redoing the LM paste with a bit more and still getting the same temps with 1.2.4 bios. GPU hits 83c+ after 30 min or so and CPU is around 88-89 still.

If it remains the same the next month I guess I'm going to have to get a new mobo/heatsink or something. I just don't understand how things changed so drastically in the last 2 months.

Actually getting pissed now... wasting all this time with this nonsense. Can I just get my 75c CPU and 65 GPU that I had back in December?? ****.

 

Did you try to open the fans and clean them and vents?

 

If you have the 1070GTX version you can remove the 3 top screws on each fan shroud and take it off like that.

 

Does anybody know from where the foam for those dams around the cpu/gpu can be purchased?
I want to make sure on next repaste that the LM stays in place.

 

Double posts, slow internet connection, sorry

 

It's regular packing foam but for fragile items. Has to be very light and compressible.
You can buy it at a regular crafts and hobby shop rather easily, or at least ask them for some, as they may use it for fragile padding material). A hardware store should also have it.

Here is what a BGA chip cutout would look like. Pay atention to the fabric. Because it's important to look like this or be less dense (more fabricy I guess is the word) but not MORE dense:



The second one should be a bit more durable than the first one, obviously, but since it's a little more dense (still can be compressed to a micrometer with your hands, which is the key), should have it thinner than the first one (which is more fluffy).

ANY foam which looks "solid" is HORRIBLE and will prevent any GPU/CPU contact completely!

 

Alright, got a new heatsink... temps are back down! 76c on 42x cpu after 3 hours of max load... gpu 71c.

So I guess the heatsink somehow degraded in the past 7 months. Not sure how or what exactly made it worse. I noticed the copper turned silver/grey where the LM once was. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I also noticed the heatsink is a different model number.

I can say Dell's response is always extremely quick though... I don't know how people could have problems with their service, no other notebook manufacturer would give you response within 24 hrs and have someone at your house within 1-3 days. Though I wish they had an option where they would just send you the part you needed and you send it back.

 

It's because LM paste still reacts with copper heat sink, but veery slowly and in most cases it won't be noticed. Cleaning and then very light sanding might help to even the 'silver' gallium+copper alloy surface of the HS.
Great information about it here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-compatibility-with-copper-heat-sinks.800890/

 

That silvery-grey is only on the very outside surface of the copper, doesn't penetrate far at all, and can be fully and completely cleaned by 2000-3000 grit wet sandpaper, without much effort.

it's possible to clean it with paper towels and 91%+ alcohol but it would take over 30 minutes of wiping and too much effort. But it does not degrade the copper at all. It only penetrates the very tip of the surface of the copper.

 

I am scared on doing this on my laptop because of this my laptop is EVGA one

 

what's the part number for your new heatsink?

 

Old: AT1QB009ZC0

Current: AT1QB00BZS0

 

the part number for the heatsink is the little square sticker on the cpu side which starts with DP/N. it looks like you have a Sunon made heatsink

 

Those getting new 17r4 with the newer heatsinks are you finding a repad repaste does the trick or needing to bend and balance still?

I have a replacement HSF and MOBO coming today, but my current HSF is balanced / Bent to be level on the cpu. (One of my Fans burnt up). I should probably request they let me keep the one HSF that was modded.

 

I didn't do any mods to the heatsink I got.

I did use my own pads however. I think half the of pads were incorrect thickness still.

 

You where able to get decent temps and core differentials?

 

Half of your own pads where incorrect thickness? Or the Stock Pads?

 

Anywhere to know which heatsink you got other then brand CCI or Sunon? Mine is CCI Rev 00? sounds right?

 

Stock pads. I think they're just always wrong. This is probably the 3rd heatsink I've encountered.

Temps are back to what I had last year... 75ish max for CPU (at 42x) and 70ish max for gpu. I never had CPU cores being uneven issues... they've always been only 2-3C apart at most.

Interestingly, I occasionally see "PROCHOT" in hwinfo being hit even at these temps, but I don't experience any FPS drops.

 

@Papusan I ran the Cinebench R15 benchmark and was hitting around 775-780 on the CPU test and 97 fps - 105.3 fps on the OpenGL test with everything stock.
I think that there may have been some applications running in the background using some of the CPUs resources. Does that seem within range, or should I be getting closer to the 784 score by CPU-Monkey? I also posted my hwinfo64 screens (taken after 4.5 hours gaming) on another thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...4-owners-lounge.797457/page-786#post-10688897

 

To tag someone, don't put a space between the @ and their name. This way @Papusan

 

Thanks for catching that. I did not mean to do that!