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

I will very happily run modern stuff for you if you buy the games for me.
I'm on SSI and disability. I am absolutely NOT buying stuff for the sake of running them for you with money I do not have. The only modern thing I have is 3dmark firestrike. If you want Battlefield 1 or 5 or Assassin's Creed or any of those strange Tomb Raider games you'll have to get them for me.

You never even asked me what games I had before you made that absurd comment.

 

I just mentioned those games because they are popular, pretty much the games where people buy gaming laptops for and that it is fairly easy to see that older CPU's dont do quite as well as more modern CPU's. Thats why next to that I said you can check Digital foundry videos (they have multiple) but you disregarded them as non credible....so yeah thats why i stated you are cherrypicking data and you call my post absurd, maybe evaluate the value of these laptops as actual gaming machines. In the ens the gpu is 70% the factor that decides how good it is for that purpose if the thermals are right.

 

Have checked up. The 3DM FS Physics score dropped with 315 points with screwed up UI Version 2.1.2852 or about 2% for my oc'd 6700K. Not the big change. But it was enough to bring it over to Futuremark. FYI. i7-6700Hq was already out a year before this happened. Aka the physics scores I posted in my previous post is valid

 

Hi all, I recently purchased a 17 R4 with a i7-7820HK CPU and GTX 1070. I have never owned a gaming laptop before nor do I have indepth background knowledge about hardware, so hopefully some of you in here will be able to answer my questions.
Software Questions:
Should I clean install Windows to remove all the alienware software, is it needed?
What software is required to test the temps before the repaste?

Hardware Questions:
What size screwdriver do I need for the screws(sorry if I missed this)?
Is LM appropriate if the laptop will be moved regularly?(I think I will use non LM paste anyway)
What does it mean by a dry run, how do I do this and can I do this if I opt for non LM?
On the topic of thermal pads I noticed some people recommending gellids as it helps account for different tolerances, is this more noob friendly for optimizing?
Is the revised PCH Mod appropriate if the laptop will be moved a lot, is it sturdy?
Do the above changes effect my warranty?

Again I apologize if these questions are basic to you guys I just don't want to do anything until I fully understand what I'm doing. Thanks a lot.

 

Welcome to forum. Start by reading the first post. It will give you all the info needed to succeed in deciding if you want LM or thermal paste. That’s how I learned.

 

Hey guys me again, wanted to ask a quick question. If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it!
So I've overclocked my I7 7820HK to about 4.2 GHz for the hell of it, using intel Extreme Tuning utility, it shows that my CPU is experiencing "power throttling" at these speeds.
I'm looking at the temperature of the cpu while running the stress test, and it's not even hitting 70 C.
What else can be causing my CPU to be "throttled"?
Anyone got a stable 4.0 GHz+ with a 7820HK?

 

All screw sizes are mentioned per part in the service manual. You can find it if you google alienware "model number" service manual.

 

I dont think it is the same issue then, because it was almost a 1000 points difference between versions and it spanned multiple versions.

 

So, after many weeks of fiddling around with my 15 R3, I think finally found a solution that works for me. I used Arctic Thermal Pads and NanoGrease Paste. This is with a GTX 1070 SUNON heatsink (I've gone through two CCI heatsinks, and both have caused problems).
I followed rinneh's image from page 345 with one modification. Now, from what I read in the thread, Arctic's Pads can be a bit too thick. So, instead of using 1.0 mm pads for the area between the GPU and CPU, I used a 0.5 mm pad. And after running FireStrike's combined test for 30 minutes, here are the results (fans were at full blast, not sure what the ambient temperature is, but it's not warm or cold).

These are the "best" results I have gotten with the laptop. I've undervolted the CPU by -125mv, and the GTX 1070 by -175 mv (granted, it was more like -113 mv). Now, the only problem I'm facing is those Performance Limits on the GPU. I had my motherboard swapped because the laptop didn't want to power on before, so I have differently binned CPU and GPU. My previous GPU wasn't like this (only had Power Limit as it usually consumed up to 135 W), so instead of reaching 1,911 MHz (1,936 MHz on my previous mobo), it now reaches 1,898 MHz.
EDIT: Overclocking the GPU removed the Performance Limits in GPU-Z test, but it performs as if it wasn't overclocked at all in FireStrike, enabling the Limits again.
EDIT 2: So now it's acting as if it's in Idle (IE: not turboing past 1620 MHz). And even then it hits a Power Limit. That might be influencing the temperatures to be low.

 

Your temperatures are very much in line as my results. I think this is the best you can get out of it with normal traditional paste.

 

You did a awesome job! Cores looks even throughout. I had similar results with traditional paste but if your still looking for even better you will have to LM the unit for best results.

 

So if you guys say Kryonaut isn't the best thermal paste for this laptop, then what other options could I look into that work best with it?

Again, I'm NOT gonna use liquid metal. I use my laptop for work and if it gets damaged, well, I can't allow it.

 

Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme Thermal Compound

 

Ok, before I waste money on more thermal paste...

* How can I undervolt my GPU? I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by the MSI afterburner utility.
* How can I stress test my laptop to make sure the temps are working within acceptable ranges?

 

@Iceprincess92

*MSI afterburner and with ctrl+f manual edit (Google for your card re. voltage/frequency)
**AIDA64 extreme (free download). Go to tools/system stability test and check fpu and GPU(s) only. This stresses system to max. (safe) possible.

 

Two Opolar LC06 tested and it works.




GPU and CPU temps are incredible


“Shadow of the Tomb Raider”



“The Division” (group play)

 

You dont need those to get good temps if you sort out the thermal pads and heatsink contact. I have temps of the high 70s, low 80s depending on the ambient temperature without all that.

 

@rinneh is right.. Also it looks UGLY.. hahahahha

 

Best way I've found is using the loctite super glue and gluing a drill bit very carefully into the hole. Leaving it 20 mins and then very slowly undoing it. May have to be done 2-3 times depending on how tight the screw is (there's never any need to do them that tight)

Where are you based? US or EU?

 

My temps are exactly like yours without the Opolar cooler. My heatsink has perfect contact. I wanted best temps possible and this is my solution. It may not be a solution for you but maybe for others looking to cool their laptops. I am just showing to people that this product works. If you don’t like it move on but don’t rip on it.


These are my Max temps before which are similar to your temps you stated.

 

Oh yeah I am sure you look over the laptop while gaming to see how ugly it looks. It is all about cooler temps period. I care more about the inside than what it looks on the outside. You picking up women with laptop while gaming ? Your a perfect example of form over function.

 

I am not ripping on it, I just think and feel the laptops should be cooled well without any outside peripherals. I dont want to steer people into solutions like this if they have issues with their laptops.

 

Yes I agree with your statement. This is not a solution if the heatsink and paste is bad. When I posted this I had stated I want to further improve my temps after I did everything on the thread to fix my temp issues but I felt it was still rather high for me but very acceptable to many. I have repasted with LM, pch mods, change some thermal pads undervolted GPU and CPU and my temps were fine. I wanted them to be the best. For those looking to squeeze every ounce of cooler temps this is the solution. If I didn’t make clear then I will.

 

hmm yeah to be honest. if your temps are aruond the low 80s. that would be considered good in terms of engineering point of view. If you want lower, no one would stop you ofcourse. But I would consider that the benchmark point of good cooling. Not ripping on the fact you use external peripherals ofcourse to go lower.

 

LOL i didn't mean to be offensive.. As Rinneh stated it is preferable to have a laptop without depending on other peripherals..The ugly comment is by preference.. if that works for you then thats great.. But from my perspective.. Your setup looks like a desktop as you cannot use it when going to starbucks without those add ons that you need to have to have better cooling.. Anyways for the main topic.. when you have time and money.. Redo your thermal pads and thermal paste.. Try to do it perfectly so that you wont have to need to bring those peripherals when you go to a starbucks.. just a example.. ^_^

Edit: All the guide that you need to make you heatsink balance is here in the forum.. You just need to waste loads of your time and money to get the machine running properly.. That is the sad thing of the current alienware line up.. this tripod heatsink and poor QC on the thermal pads is causing this problems..

 

I would never lug this to Starbucks for gaming! It would be ridiculous for sure. With light Tasks or web surfing with iunlocks mods and fix it runs like a dream. Fans never turn on. I understand temps of high 70s and low 80s is acceptable. Adding external peripherals to a laptop to help the dispersment of heat from the heatsink which you can see works is not a bad thing. Only reason I even entertained this was “Mr Fox” said to me that my temps most likely will not get better as the heatsink has reached it thermal efficiency as the fans can only push so much volume of hot air out.

I am done with this topic. No worries. I wasn’t offended simply stating that this product works.

 

Firstly, massive thanks for the guide, seriously good stuff.
I was looking for a little advice please, when I did my repasting the clip that holds the cable in place highlighted by a green circle below pinged off and disappeared forever
Could anyone tell me what I'd search for to get a replacement? I wouldn't know what those clips are called to even make a start.
Any and all help very welcome!

 

Its called a ZIF connector, but I doubt you can fine a replacement clip.

 

How did it "ping" off?
the clip is not spring loaded. Did you rip it off with herculean force or something?
All you do with those is simply move the lever (usually black or tan) up (towards the connector) and off it comes. It should never go flying. You must have ripped it off completely.

 

Added noise is always a concern. Quietness is almost as important as the temps are, to me.

 

Agreed if you play with laptop speakers then it can be quite loud but at the same token most people game with headphones like I do so it’s not audible. If I don’t game these fans are never on. I guess it comes down to noise versus trying to preserve the longevity of the components for me at least

 

After following the repasting guide the laptop is dead after pressing the power button. I have tried to reassembly all the cables without any result. Any suggestions please?

 

Did you use liquid metal? you might have fried your motherboard..

 

Is it doing anything like 3 red blips and then 4 blue blips of the alien head? If so you could have forgotten something like accidentally plugging the battery cable back in first or failing to pull it first... That could fry the MB... I hope you're able to fix it! Good luck.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

If the power button light is turning on, you can check the code from service manual for error.

If there is no light turning on, then it may be the blue and white color power ribbon at the back of laptop. It's a thin ribbon visible after removing the back panel of laptop. If the gold contacts on it are not visually damaged, then you can try to reseat the cable. You may have inserted it in the wrong orientation.

 

check power cables

 

Yikes! If no lights turn on then you I think you might have fried your motherboard or your power cable might be loose. If there are blinking lights, check the light pattern and compare with this to see what kind of error you have https://www.dell.com/support/manual...341b78-b63d-499c-89d4-d341c006e437&lang=en-us .
If you did fry your motherboard and the laptop is still in warranty, I suggest that you clean up all the liquid metal, reapply with regular thermal paste and then call their tech support, just say that you have no idea why it happened, they might believe you and help you replace your motherboard.
Also, I just want to say that even though Liquid Metal improve the temperature significantly compare to traditional paste, the risks are really high, basically you're risking your device. It's also a pain to use Liquid Metal because you have to repaste every 6-9 months because its performance seem to degrade overtime. I think it's best to repaste laptops with IC Diamond cause you don't have to worry about it drying out or degrade over time, completely safe and since IC Diamond is quite a viscous, you don't have to worry about poor contact between heatsink and cpu/cpu die.

 

Have to re-paste every 6-9 months if you use Liquid metal due performance degradation? Maybe you have this problem but I haven’t seen this problem. I used Liquid metal near 4 years on my older AW17 with decent temps. And I’m sure HIDevolution with @Donald@HIDevolution would stop use it if they had to re-paste all machines they sell with LM within a few months if they saw same problem as you. Please don’t post wrong info. Maybe bro @Mr. Fox can post his experience with use of Liquid metal as well.

 

I think it heavily depends the heatsink fit. If you have less than ideal heatsink pressure it might become impure.

 

Quite often another reason is clogged with the dust vents and fans, and it may seem that thermal paste degraded, but actually it's just blocked air flow..

 

This can happen. Copper heatsink (not delids) on BGA garbage + weak fitting heatsink. If the pressure is not perfectly even, this can cause oxidation and degradation.
Saw this in two weeks on my r9 290X. Temps degraded 15C in 2 weeks.
When I removed the heatsink, there was absolutely no LM on the GPU. Just a very light hardened 'film'. It was all on the heatsink, hardened up and oxidized.

Seen 1 core get hotter on my BGA garbage too. Had to do multiple repastes even on a sanded heatsink. Finally I switched from nail polish to Super 33+ tape and managed to get a perfect heatsink balance. Now after 2 and a half months since my last repaste, temps are still the same. Last core (core 3) is consistently 0-1C higher than the rest at 4.5 ghz (1.178v) and 4.7 ghz (1.276v) with AVX disabled Prime95 small FFT.

Complete sealing and proper perfect pressure is important. I suggest IC Innovations contact pressure paper test. This will help.
(this is resold "Fuji Fillm Ultra Low" Prescale).

Note: you can get Fuji Film Ultra Low (28-85 PSI) prescale samples for free if you request it. But you have to do a little persuasion to get the company to send you one.
http://www.sensorprod.com/index.php

 

I agree. When done properly, LM will last for years. Certainly longer than most pastes.

Regarding your concerns about the safety of liquid metal thermal interface material, yes applying anything metal conductive to a piece of electronic equipment has its risks, but we have a proprietary means of application to prevent leakage. Also, you can rest assured that any upgrades that we perform will be covered under warranty. Regarding its long term effects, we have been offering liquid metal thermal compound for over two years with no ill effects or reports of issues from users. On the contrary, we found liquid metal thermal material to be more effective than traditional thermal interface material over the long term.

 

It's not wrong Info if many other users have experience the same problem. Even Linux confirm this in his Video . Liquid Metal will degrade over time unless, like some of you have claimed, the pressure between the heatsink and the cpu/gpu die is perfect, which is quite difficult to achieve on laptops. Also, I move my laptop around everyday quite roughly while liquid metal is supposed to be used on desktops that sit still in one place. Again, Linux made a video when he liquid metal Razer Phone and gain quite amazing peformance but he does not recommend doing it because your phone moves around alot.

 

You should add in info like the bolded text. If people out there search/read info like the one you posted in previous post (see pict)... It will be all wrong. Hence I posted on your quote. And the heatsink fits have to be worse than the average if Liquid metal degrade within 6 months as you claimed. But all good, sir

 

@Donald@HIDevolution and @Papusan Does impurities in air such as micro-iron particles and such cause differences in liquid metal paste's properties? Because I smell iron in the air we breathe. Its not too much, just a little.

 

Even though I enjoy a lot of LInus his videos, he isnt really an expert and makes content purely to make money off and kinda sensationalize it always?

In general if you got good heatsink contact LM works like a charm, if you dont have perfect contact, it can oxidize fairly quickly.

 

What would you consider perfect contact? Core temps being 1-2
Degrees deviation of each other?

 

Thats pretty good contact yes.

 

Perfect is 0-1C without AVX, 1-2C with AVX.
Excellent is 1-2C.

 

Don’t mean to be sarcastic or anything but for us less knowledgeable members like myself! What is AVX? I looked it up but wanted to know how it matters in this particular situation of temperature core deviation.