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

I mean I could order from Dell and then buy paste plus tape and let the technician do it I guess?

 

Dell technician would never use anything other than Dell factory approved semen to repaste.

Ask godlike if he lives in your area and can do a repaste.

 

Will do but seems it's just better to order from HID honestly.. Who knows what I will have to go through to get a proper repaste and stable system and from them it will just come all done.

I already wrote to godlike though and will see how it goes thanks for the help guys! Really great community

cheers

 

HID charge extra as you can get extra discount from Dell. And if you buy directly no one is opening your notebook between dell and you.
And there's absolutely no reason why you can't repaste your laptop yourself, if you are new to this use thermal paste.

 

Well that's not true, because they will.

 

I specifically asked if they could use my own thermal paste and they said it was perfectly ok.

 

They won't approve liquid metal.

 

Any tips on how much we need to buy? I'm looking at Amazon for example, you have 60x50x1 (or 0.5) pads, 100x1.5x1 (or 0.5) pads, etc. How much of each (x1 and x0.5) would you say was needed? Thanks a lot!

I'm 99.9% sure that it is all made in China, Alienware is not made in the US anymore. In fact I believe Compal is the ODM specifically - when reading through fan control stuff, I remember a thread that talked about Compal model IDs being found.

 

I too am from Australia, and you actually can still order the 6820HK in the 15" laptop. Use the third column, choose the GTX 1070, and then you'll be able to choose the 6820HK. Here's a link with it already configured: http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-15-laptop/pd#overrides=z5195a3au:6~GTX1070;146~7D6J8K

Yes.

No.

No, it doesn't reduce performance.

 

One sheet of the 60x50 is the correct size for the entire application.

 

According to your pics, there were 0.5mm thickness pads and 1mm thickness pads - did you only use 0.5mm and double up where 1mm was needed?

 

If you read my previous comment I said I wouldn't get that anyway.

 

So it would be wise to replace the thermal pads as well? I didnt make it out from the guide on page one :/, i guess i will have to reorder again. Is there anything else i would need that i havent thought about, so far i have only bought some grizzly kryonaut and arcticlean.

 

Did some narration to that Alienware Cassini teardown video to go with the repaste guide.

I made sure to link to this forum thread in the video for anyone who finds it.

 

I would kill for something like this for the 15r3!!!

 

Coming soon...hope to have some 15R3 content up shortly.

 

Thanks for the tip! Do you think the 6820HK is worth it? I've never over clocked and don't really have plans on doing it.

 

I'm surprised their designers and engineers haven't decided to add a proper compound (such as Liquid Metal) to their laptops considering the length at which one need go to disassemble and re-paste.

What a tedious process! The old Alienware's took all of 10 minutes to re-paste.

 

Hello guys,

So i've arranged for a Dell Technician to come and repaste my laptop this week as well as to replace the display as it has significant bleeding.

They said they are happy to use thermal paste that I will provide so I've ordered the liquid metal proposed by iunlock as it seems the best one available.

Will I need to order thermal pads as well? And if so what thickness?

Any thing else worth mentioning?

Thank you

 

You might need to do some convincing for the tech to use the liquid metal....If you are going to order thermal pads, I would just do 1.0mm all around. That will work just fine. Size: 60x50 pads.

 

Any advice on the 'convincing' side?

As an alternative i've orderd the Arctic MX4

Thanks again

 

So i orderede some Grizzly Kryonaut, but its not going to arrive in time and the only thermal pastes my local pc store sells is Noctua NT-H1 or all the artic mx, artic silver, coolermaster ones. Which one to get? im completely lost

 

so.. I have just run prime95 for 30 min ish on the 6700HQ AW15 R3 gtx 1070
and these temps is not that bad.. but they are almost the same under light gaming and idle.. ( maybe 10c lowe on idle and internet usage) is this bad?
( couls not for the life of me figure how to post a image here.. so I just write it down instead )

Core 1: 79-85 max 97 c
2: 60-67 Max 76 c
3: 80-85 Max 98c
4: 65-70 Max 77c

What do you guys think? repaste, return it, or are they ok ?

 

Delayed gratification is very important for repasting.

 

Im not sure what that exactly means sorry?

 

Do not post images here, some of the image cache servers are awake only at specific times.
Give links to other websites which hosts images.
Try repasting with Gelid Extreme, if the temp differential does not go down, Return it.
Alienware has confirmed if no damage is incurred in the machine while repasting, the warranty is still valid.

 

I meant you have to wait for the better paste like Gelid Extreme/ Grizzly Kryonaut etc.

 

How much thermal paste like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut should be used for the CPU and GPU

 

I'm sure others will be curious too but what's the difference in these two?

https://www.amazon.com/Fujipoly-mod...id=1477940715&sr=8-3&keywords=fujipoly+17+1.0

https://www.amazon.com/Fujipoly-Ext...id=1477940715&sr=8-2&keywords=fujipoly+17+1.0

One says XR-m. Obviously one has prime shipping and the other not (price is the same after shipping).
Edit: maybe its just a naming error, since that's not a Fujipoly listing

 

If you're not getting the 120Hz panel then yeah, I think the 6820HK is worth it, although it'll probably need repasting to keep the temps under control.

What CPU speed is it maintaining with those temps? For me I found it clocks back to 2.6GHz because it runs too hot at 3.1GHz.

 

Ok my CPU and GPU repasted with Gelic extreme. Played Witcher 3 and it improved (from 88 to 96 degrees to 76 degrees in to 88 degrees and most of the time it's 79 degrees)

Question though, it went to 91 or 96 for just one second (few times only) and it goes again to 79 to 85 but mostly 77 or 79. Is there that normal?

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

Its not that normal. You should have had better temperatures.
It seems like a CPU fault and/or a heatsink mount problem (both hardware). And i think you should return the laptop.

 

Unfortunately it's consistent with what we're finding recently. It seems to me like there's a bad batch of either CPUs or cooling systems that have come out, because repasting just isn't enough to solve the thermal issues with this lot.

If the replacement AW15 I receive isn't a significant improvement then I think I'm just going to get a full refund and wait for Kaby Lake to come out. Hopefully they'll have sorted everything out by then, and they might even have the unlocked CPU with the 120Hz screen available too.

 

wPRIME v1.5 RUN IT AS ADMIN. Select 8 threads. Then run 1024M stress test. Run Hwinfo or Hwmonitor in the background and monitor max temp. Post the result in the thread.

 

I'm sure this would be great but honestly I'm to much of a pussy to try it, it will one expensive screw up if I do something wrong.

 

If your processor does not handle wPRIME v1.5 ... Then it's time to buy something else. Or there is something wrong with your hardware. It is impossible to make mistakes in a simple benchmark

 

I meant I'm afraid to try a repaste not to run wPRIME .

 

But it happens only with the 6820HK right? I think the MSI/ASUS systems experience similar difference in core temps. 6700HQ seems to be stable even in 15r3.

 

the R3 is stable with 6700 only after undervolting, even then thats not consistent.

 

No, it seems almost everyone who has received a 120Hz panel 15R3 (which means 6700HQ) is experiencing overheating with significant differences in core temps.

 

Is it only with the 120Hz panel or in general the 15'' AW is just positively **** at cooling CPUs?

 

Hi. I get my Alienware 15 with the 6820HK and the 1070 on 12th of Nov. So I was searching for a thermal paste. I live in Austria
and have to pay 16€ for the thermal grizzly kyronout 1g and 24€ for 3,9g thats a lot. I have found a few and don't know witch one is good. Could someone please help me out? That would be great.

I took the link from Amazon.com.

https://www.amazon.com/MasterGel-Ma...&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=cooler+master+mstergel

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NT-H1...78034452&sr=8-1&keywords=noctua+thermal+paste

and the Thermal Grizzly Hydronout

 

Noctua NT-H1 is decent, although Grizzly Hydronaut is better. I'd go with that if the Kryonaut is too expensive.

FYI: This is a decent list of thermal compound performance: http://overclocking.guide/thermal-p...d-with-air-cooling-and-liquid-nitrogen-ln2/6/

There's some debate on the specifics (eg: a lot of people prefer Gelid Extreme to Grizzly Kryonaut), but in general you can trust that the higher up the list it is the better performing the paste is.

 

It seems predominantly the 120Hz panel. When the first AW15 laptops were received, it seemed that some people with the 6820HK had thermal issues, mostly sorted with repasting (same as the AW17), whereas I believe most 6700HQ users were doing fine. It seems to be the second batch that have come with the 120Hz panel that have all been having problems. Having said that, there's also this thread of people with the 6820HK having a lot of thermal problems (with different core temps; same as the 120Hz users are finding): http://forum.notebookreview.com/posts/10377191/. I don't think it's an issue with the AW15's cooling system, I think there's more to it. If it was just the cooling system then I'd expect the core temps to be similar, just high, not to mention that the GPU would be overheating too, but everyone's finding the GPU is fine at sub-70 most of the time, and even under extreme stress (OCCT + Furmark) it doesn't go above 80C. And this is with a 120W GPU compared to 45W CPU.

At this point I'm thinking there's either a fault with the batch of CPUs they received from Intel, or something to do with how they've soldered the CPU, or the mounting system they've used which is causing issues with the CPU contacting the heat pipes.

 

Sooo a little update.

I was talking to dell to get them to repaste or do something about my heat problems and shutdowns..
He told me to run the diagnose test under F12.. all OK.

After the boot it did not start and a pip code *( 3 2 1 ) came.
So now they are coming to change the motherboard ( with cpu / gpu) heatsink and fans (for the heatproblem) and the 1080p screen for light bleed.

I am going to tell the technican that he should use my nocthua paste on the cpu and gpu instead

So this is fun! ......... all new computer in 5 days of reciving it ..

 

Hi. @CarbonTwelve thanks for your help. I saw today a Review about the Coller Master MasteGel and there it performed better then the
Gelid and the Thermal Grizzly. So I orderet it. And it is 5 € cheaper with Prime... I will defenitly post my experince.

When i change the thermal pads, is it critical if they are thicker then they should be? How can i see or find out how thick i should buy them?
Do they spread like a thermal paste?
Sorry for all the questions I never changed thermal pads...

 

Thermal pads any use for this laptop?

 

If you're not using the 17w/mk fujipoly thermal paste then don't worry about changing it.

 

Hello !
Thank you for the tips, i will try it soon. The aw15r3 repaste is identical to the aw17r4 ?
I will receive my aw15r3 i7 6700hq 1080p ips 1070gtx, next monday. I thinking to buy new paste in case of thermal problem in avance. Should i do ?
I want to repast each years, what is the most durable paste : grizzly kryonaut or gelid extrem ? I want to have the most durable laptop, but i don't want to use liquid metal, i am too beginner for that.

Another question : should i replace thermal pad or the stock one is ok ?

 

Much credit to @iunlock for this detailed and thoughtful thread. I've been lurking around the forums as an anon for the past week or so, researching and such.

I'm going to be purchasing a 17R4 around Black Friday, and definitely plan to repaste with the liquid metal and then see what I can do with it! I'm hoping it will be a laptop that will safely last me the next 5 years, so while I would love to wait around for Kaby Lake as it will be a longer-lifetime chip, I'm going to have to get it around this time of year otherwise I won't be able to afford it. Planning on putting my own memory and a 960 pro into it, and then whatever the latest and greatest graphics card is three years from now will go into an AGA to keep it shredding. Really crossing my fingers that I'll get a silicon lottery-winning chip and bypass some of the cooling and manufacturing defect issues that people have been having, but I do plan on getting the 4-year warranty plus accidental damage so hopefully I'll be insured well into the future.

Any timeframe on which you think you'll be posting the review for the 17R4 @iunlock? I really liked your P775 review, it was very well crafted. Excited for what you'll have to say about this machine!