Alienware 17 R5 (Heatsink)

I redid all my pads following this layout more or less, except I just used 1mm pads on all the DRAM vs one .5 and one 1.5, and so far it's a definite improvement, but I'm still cautiously optimistic for some extended testing. I'm topping out at 78-80 on the GPU now and about the same on the CPU, which, while not amazing, is much better and avoids any throttling that I was experiencing. Fingers crossed it's the last time I'll have to take it apart and redo it. I think the biggest difference was only using the .5mm pads on the power delivery for the CPU/GPU.

 

Easiest way is appying all your pad and don’t remove the plastic from the mobo side and then apply thermal paste(thin as possible) after that screw the heatsink if the pas stay on mobo its because you don’t have a proper contact. If the thermal paste is equal on the heatsink the contact should be good! But again I use liquid metal!

 

that's an interesting way to check fit. I hadn't tried that way, just mostly looked for impressions and gone from there. Good to know for if I have to do this in the future again (hopefully not).

 

If you are really focused on accuracy, use puddy clay, small ball on each component, press the heatsink down. Wait for about 30 minutes, come back, remove the heatsink and measure the thickness of each puddy piece

 

Best post. Period.

 

Hi guys, sorry for the delay, but just a few days before the heatsink installation, my motherboard decided to die (shorted) and I was forced to replace it (obviously out of warranty).
For this reason I could not do extensive tests, but I can tell you some things (same specs as before, so 6820HK+gtx1080):

1) the heatsink is perfect in terms of construction, but the thermal pads, especially in the gpu area, were not well aligned and were too thin, even if of the right softness; the gap on the vram is about 1mm, but the most important thing is the softness of the thermal pads because in some points the pressure is greater than in others.
2) as I said, I could not do accurate tests and in my case there are too many variables to consider (new gpu, new cpu, new motherboard, I went from IC Diamond to Phobya, cleaner fans and, probably, previous repasting less effective), but from what I've seen my temperatures have dropped a lot, between 10 and 15 degrees less on the hottest sensor of the CPU; I remember an old benchmark, without undervolt, where the CPU temperature was 86° on the hottest sensor while now it is 71°; I remember that playing Fallout 4 (with undervolt of -151) I arrived at about 72°/75°, now I am at 62°.

I apologize again if I can't be more precise, but the money spent on the motherboard dried up all my enthusiasm.
Bye!

ps. Is it possible that the bigger dimensions of this heatsink modified the airflow inside the chassis? Because, probably (I can't remember very well), I'm getting higher temperatures on my two m2 ssd

 

Cicichen message:

hi
I found a way. Use the original screws. Don't use the screws I gave away. The spring screws are not applying enough pressure to the CPU.
please change the CPU screws,, use the origianl screws

 

Please someone confirm this is OK and how much presure should be applied without damage the die.

 

I Dont think this message was for me cause i never asked something about that lol

 

I plan on getting this heatsink to test out on an i9 8950hk hope all goes well. What temperatures are you guys seeing now that you have your heatsink balanced? also where might i find putty that is safe to leave on my cpu or gpu?

 

Hi, I think we could have a problem with the spring screws. About two weeks after mounting the heatsink, I noticed that the temperatures (cpu side) rose to the point of being more or less the ones that I had with the original heatsink. Today I checked and found that some screws, which I had previously tightened to the maximum, had come loose. I tried to use the original screws, but they have the head too small compared to the heatsink holes and, also, when I tightened it to the maximum the notebook did not boot giving an error (alien head blinking red two times and blue one time). I put back the spring screws tightening them to the maximum, but the temperatures have not changed. Basically those fantastic temperatures obtained at the beginning have disappeared.

In my opinion we should find some screws, possibly with washers, without a spring, similar to the original ones but with a wider head. And then find the right level of pressure. Tips on where to find screws that could fit? Something similar to the spring screws, but without spring and shorter.

Thanks, bye!

 

I had some other screws from previous graphics card disassemblies that fit. But for me the original screws work flawlessly too.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

Ok, I tried with different screws and washers, but the results are always the same: it doesn't boot because of too much pressure or it boots but it gives me the same higher temperatures than the first installation. At this point I'll try to be patient and I'll check everything again, thermal paste and thermal pads. Bye.

Edit 11/12/2019
Ok, solved. I hope once and for all. New thermal pads and new thermal paste and the very low temperatures obtained with the first heatsink installation have returned.
As for the screws, the ones that turned out to be perfect for me were the M2x4, with two washers (one M2 and one slightly larger, M3). With these screws you get a good compromise between strong pressure (the screws can be tightened to the maximum and cannot be tightened more with this measurement) and the torsion of the motherboard, without boot problems. That being said, even the original spring-loaded screws are fine, just make sure they don't come loose over time.

 

Would you be willing to share your temperature results as well as CPU clock rate? Did you experience any Throttling? What were you able to overclock to? I'm assuming you have the i9-8950hk I know some people have the i7.

P.S. Would you be willing to show/share a diagram or picture of your thermal pad layout and the sizing you used, as well as the brand (since some are softer than others)

I just really want to see what this i9 can really handle without thermal throttling and the stock vapor chamber heatsink doesn't really cut it. My clock speeds are basically at stock and i'm running an undervolt of -.100 but under load i thermal throttle like crazy, and this is after repasting with thermal grizzly kyro and thermal pads from arctic.

 

Sorry mate, I can't share anything because I didn't take any photos. It was a complicated period, I had to change the motherboard by spending a lot of money and I had to disassemble and reassemble the notebook several times for various reasons. Therefore I have never been in the mood to take photos. By the way, I don't have the i9 CPU, but the i7-6820hk. Mine is a 17 r4. So I can't help you. But I can tell you that now the hottest sensor reaches a maximum of 62° after hours of playing with undervolt -151v. I then did an overclock test by adding x4 to each multiplier (so maximum 4.0ghz) without undervolt and I reached 82 °. With the undervolt (I don't remember how much though) I went down to 78° (always on the hottest sensor). As for the thermal pads, I used all sizes, from 1mm to 3mm. Sorry but I can't be more precise than that.

 

No worries, you've provided more than enough information and I really appreciate it. Ill be sure to get thermal pads in various thicknesses and work on getting the balancing just right. If you would be willing to provide any tips in thermal pad sizing/placement please feel free to share. Also what thermal paste did you use? I originally planned on using Thermal Grizzly Kryo on my system but I may end up using Conductonaut on the CPU side and Kryo on the GPU side since the CPU temps are significantly higher than my GPU temps.

 

As for the thermal paste I used Phobya Nanogrease Extreme, which is a thick paste, similar to the IC Diamond 7 that I have always used and which now I can no longer find in Europe. As for the thermal pads, softness is more important than the measurements, make sure you buy soft ones.

 

You can see my Fire Strike temps...

I'm super satisfy with the result.

 

Wow amazing temps, if you don't mind me asking what thermal pads and paste did you use? Also what clock rate are you getting for the i9-8950hk on all cores? Are you using an undervolt?

 

Ok just bought one it since my temps are a mess

I repasted and ducked the pads layout. The gpu temps are ok at least.
Update 18/01/2020
O boys 64 cpu


Curse words

 

hello Gyus, Who are using this heatsink now? Good heatsink or bad? I have 17R5 with i7 8750H and GTX 1070.

 

just bought one !! 17 r4 - keep you posted.

 

It's fine. I've got one for my R5 (i9, 1080) and i can OC the CPU and GPU without worrying that my chips fry. Just make sure all your VRM's are covered good, and you don't have massive core differentials

 

Did you have to mess with the factory pads dude?

 

K5-PRO. i never mess with pads. Just put a small glob of K5-PRO and tighten the screws in a cross manner.

 

Ahh i will just go straight in with the K5 then too - used it before =)

 

I used k5 too, it is my first experience, will see ))

 

It's been great for me. Pasted all my VRM's with it and haven't had any problems with my memory chips or voltage regulators overheating anymore.

 

Guys ,Who are using Liquid metal with this heatsink?

 

I is

 

Me too.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

Are you using? Tell me please about your temperatures? And you model laptop.

Tell me please your temperatures too, and model laptop. Do You use liquid metal on processor or video and processor too?

I am using thermal paste with new heatsink, but i would like use Liquid metal, because my processor sometimes has big temperatures.

 

I'm using lm on both gpu and cpu. I got an aw17 i9 8950hk paired with gtx 1080. I don't think my results help a lot cause i'm using modded vbios with power target of 250 watts and cpu overclocked to 4,4ghz.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

I have only i7 8750h and gtx 1070, my processor with paste some hot, i would like use metal. And i think use metal on processor, paste on GPU, my GPU has same temperatures with metal and paste.

 

My average temps of the cpu are mid 80s with 4.4ghz with some rare spikes to beginning 90s. Max temps for my gtx 1080 are mid to high 70s.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

good, is it new heatsink and liquid metal?

 

Exactly. But definitely keep in mind that this is with oc and 250watts 1080. So these temps might me huge amount lower without it.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

yes, I understand. Good results, i need change my paste and use LM. Did you use original bolts for new heatsink?

 

No i didn't use the original ones cause to be honest first i got problems with the fit of the heatsink results in overheating. I got some screws laying around that got a better fit.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

iam using original screws, why original not good?

 

8950HK/1080.

@4.3Ghz running against the 110W thermal limit, my temps stay below 85c.

GPU usually stays around 67C @220W.

Combined i can pull 80W for CPU and 220W for GPU easily now. My keyboard only gets hot, but that's due to the heat radiating.

 

Good,i see to much guys has i9 and gtx 1080...you use original screws with new heatsink or not?

 

Yes. tightened down fully

 

Yo bro, all setup with LM temps are epic.

I am not the best with OC but have tried to OC the processor in the bios to 40 against all clocks and power set to 100000 same as Iunlocks guide, but my clocks are fluctuating when in windows ?

Why is this, how do i lock them @ 4.1 all the time?

Cheers,

 

Try to set the clocks with throttlestop und a low speedshift.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

is there anything else i should enable / disable with throttlestop ?

I just ran a 3dmark and my clocks dropped to 800Mhz at one point, is this related to the thermal contact or using the BIOS to OC the CPU?

 

Okay guys all sorted.

Have to say extremely pleased with this heatsink.

I run the OC GPU bios and boosting to 2088 on the GPU and stable , max temps are 58 degrees with LM
CPU clocked @ 4.2 locked across all cores - max temp is 65 under load.

No cooler underneath - nothing.

PCH now maximum 55 from 80-90 before !!

Well worth it.

 

@Rei Fukai @DESENTER guys when I run Aida64 and select CPU/FPU my clocks drop to 3Ghz, why is this?
I unticked BDproc on Throttlestop - not sure what else to do?

 

Completely normal if you have not undervolted your cpu. Your notebook will likely run into power limit without an undervolt or in thermal limitation. I don't know your thermals.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G973F mit Tapatalk

 

It was the damn short power limit - all disabled etc now ! =D