My ultimate cooling pad build :)

Started with a HD3 cooling pad and it worked great, just the fans were not moveable and I had to offset the computer and set one side of it on a couple dvd cases to get the fans over the right spots which was very annoying and got in the way all the time.....

Ordered a U3 cooling pad since it had movable fans and Ive heard good things about it. Came in today and while it was much quieter the fans moved what seemed like ZERO air compared to the HD3 so I was a little disappointed in that.... I also got temps up to 9-14 degrees hotter in GPU and CPU using the U3 while gaming and even at idle!!!!

Took a closer look at both units and the fans looked to be the same size so I started to mess with things a bit



Inside of the HD3. I had to break the whole unit to get to the guts. There aren't any screws or anything on the outside. The metal on top is just a thin sheet that is stuck on with plastic on the bottom... Meh. Everything on the inside will come out intact though after removing a few small screws.



AWESOME! The fans from the HD3 just snap right into place in the U3 fan holders!!! Sweet deal here!



Be careful when removing the fans though as you can see i broke a clip but lucky that the fans still sits in there really firmly!



Even the grills fit right back on!



Now I was able to put the awesome fans from the HD3 in the optimal places on my new cooling pad!! Temps went down to where it was with the HD3 in the crappy offset messy position I had to put it in the get the fans right. The HD3 was flat while the U3 elevates the rear of the computer quite a bit but I actually like it better that way. This isn't very cheap but works amazingly well for me and I'm happy in the end. If cool master would only put better fans in their U3 they'd have a winner!

Any questions about either cooler or my frankenstien cooler Ill be more than happy to answer to help someone decide what they want without spending on both!

 

Nice mod, +rep, I m looking for a cooler, just cba with the modifications at the moment.

 

Is there anywhere to buy those fans all pre-connected to a usb port, similar to the fans that came with coolermaster? I personally think the fans are ok for now, but i would like to have a backup set of better fans to try and use.

Assuming what i want doesnt exist, how did you hook up the 3 wires from the individual fans from the HD3 together?

 

Sweet! After seeing this I wanted to try it as well, and it worked! Took me about 30 minutes. I'll post a pic once my pc arrives. Thanks for sharing this, I hope it works out well...

The chip that the HD3 pad had is just hanging there by a cord, not sure if I like that. Oh well.

 

I used some really good thick elecrical tape to wrap it up nice and mounr it to the u3 base. Works out well for me.

Im sure you can also attest to how whimpy the u3 fans are compared to the hd3 fans!

 

Yeah, the U3 is weak, literally. I think this was a good idea. I'll be able to test it out when my system arrives.

Bad thing is that we spent about $80 to get this "upgrade/rigged" U3, so is it worth it? I have yet to find out.

 

I'd say it's worth it. That's a more functional piece than my Coolermaster Storm at slightly cheaper, and probably works better since it's a more "open-to-the-air" type of system.

 

I think it is worth it. If they made this pad already it would 100% be the best cooling pad on the market without a doubt and i would have gladly paid $80 for it.

 

So basically, all you did was get the U3 & replace the stock fans to a better one? I like, I was thinking of this while back when I saw the some post his U3 with 6 fans I believe. While I'm not McGyer as he is, I could buy two U3 & replace the fans & then use them on one U3.

 

The whole point of us taking apart the HD3 cooling pad and the U3 cooling pad is because the fan speed on the U3 cooling pad, is by far a lot slower than that of the HD3. So if you take the HD3 fans and the controller, and install them to the U3, you will have faster and better cooling on the U3 overall. Taking two U3's and combining them defeats the purpose.

 

I understand why you did what you did & sorry, I should of been more clearer, I would replace the stock U3 fans with something better like you did. Only reason I was thinking of getting two U3 is for the fan holders to be able to have six fans (if 3 didn't do a good job) on one U3. I saw a video or thread on someone using 6 fans on his U3. Another reason is if I don't end up using 6 fans, I could always leave an U3 at my GF's place when I'm there so I don't have to lug mine around when I want to do extended gaming sessions.

 

An, okay. Six seems a bit overkill though, haha.

 

It probably will be overkill for the 9150 but worth taking a look. My backup plan is to leave one at my GF's place if I don't end up using 6 fans.

Here's the thread from a NBR member that did the 6 fan mod. The difference is he has the 9170 & I plan to get the 9150.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/676551-effects-cooler-master-notepal-u3-w-6-fans.html

 

Really anything more than 2 fans or 3 if you have sli is a waste. All your doing then is cooling the plastic on the bottom. It might even be worse because your creating more turbulance on the bottom as opposed to shooting more airflow though the intake port and through your heat sink which is the whole purpose of a cooler.

Heat transfer. Cfm airflow DIRECTED THROUGH YOUR HEATSINIK. And cooler air us what makes cooling more effiecient.

 

Here's what I'm seeing with this mod on the U3:



Average temperature for my CPU: 40~ with this mod.
Average temperature for my GPU's: 30-33 with this mod.

Imagine the U3, but with faster fans pushing more air into the M18x. It brings temperatures down at least 10 degrees. I've seen up to a 20 degree difference.

 

Are there any other fans out there which one can buy without breaking apart a brand new cooling mat? I'm sure that since both the fans in the U3 and HD3 are the same size, the size might be a standard one and easily found.

Edit - read the thread referred to by RMXO, and it seems that these aftermarket fans worked pretty well:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-M...e=UTF8&qid=1344948621&sr=8-5&keywords=usb+fan

Does anyone else know of any other fans which are high-performing and USB-powered? I don't mind the noise, cooling's the first priority

 

I've never found any notebook cooler (including my U3, which I think is the best cooler available) improved temperatures all that much with my M18x. I also modded mine with a higher volume fan and found that it made maybe a 2°C to 3°C difference in overclocked load temps. Admittedly, I've never bothered to check idle temps or moderate use temps only because the M18x already runs cool enough without any kind of extra help. My CPU fan is precisely placed and I got rid of the GPU fans simply because they are not needed as cool as my GPUs run. The stock U3 fans are almost worthless because they move so little air.

The problem with most coolers is the fans are not placed exactly where they need to be. In the case of the U3, they can be placed optimally, but the perforated aluminum platform blocks at least 50% of the airflow from passing through the base. It diffuses air and creates turbulence instead of blasting it in a focal manner. It also does not help a lot to increase the velocity of warm air. What is most useful is cold air, and it does not need to be moving at increased velocity to be effective.

Here is what I used to have...

But now...

This is what works best. It also helps keep the 330W PSU nice and chilly for those extended benching sessions.

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Zn-v6ma9Jo?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

 

I notice you're still using the U3's controller, which doesn't allow the fans to speed up to 3000 RPM as the HD3's does. This may be why you don't notice much of a change.

My temps are also affected by the weather. I'm sure in the summer I won't see much of a change. But right now, it can get as cold as 60 degrees Fahrenheit in my entertainment room, so the air pushed up into the laptop is cold. (Yes, I have to wear a sweatshirt or hoody while gaming, ha.) That's my guess.

 

No, it's hard-wired, no controller any more. You must have replied before I added the second part (with one fan). Having the GPU fans is just an extra power draw on the USB with no benefits great enough for me to want to bother with. Of course, using an AC to USB adapter would eliminate USB power draw, but it would make using the cooler too inconvenient to mess with.

One other thing I found is that having all of the fans increased the rate of dirt and lint build-up in my GPU fans and heat sinks. It was forcing more junk in than the fans pulled in on their own, or so it seemed.

I have found that simply elevating the rear of the laptop and manually increasing their internal fan speed is about as effective as using a cooler since the cooler itself, without the assistance of fans, impedes air flow the same as sitting on a desk. See example below... free and simple, works about the same as my U3. It's just not as fancy.

Those two round things are rubber automotive shock-absorber bushings that I had sitting in my shop junk drawer.

These little USB adapters make for a much neater use of the USB ports. You can get them in pairs of left and right angle (1 of each) on eBay. I ordered two sets of them (2 left and two right angle adapters) for like $7 including shipping. USB 2.0 90 degree Right + Left angle type A male to Female extension cable

This is way better than an ugly straight-ended USB connections sticking out of the USB ports. With left and right angle adapters, they can both be plugged into USB ports that are side-by-side.

 

Here's an update from today: Normal use, not gaming.



While gaming, I see my GPU's get up to about 65C with the pad ON, and then cooling back down to 35C after about 5-7 minutes after quitting the game. My room's temperature is about 66 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Thanks for sharing your mod and the numbers to illustrate how well it works, J.Dre!

 

Sure, no problem. Just an FYI: The ambient temperature in my room was about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, so the air pushed into the system is quite cool. But this setup does substantially increase the airflow with the 3,000 RPM controller from the HD3 cooling pad.

Glad you liked it.

 

Thank you for a very nice thread J.Dre!

I'm new to power laptops and the physics of cooling, but I'm into design and building stuff! I recently built my own laptop table with an integrated fan and a real mouse pad. But as I stated before I'm a newbie at this kind of stuff so I set the fan to blow air away from the "hatch", thinking it would lead the heat away from the components. Is this a valid assumption? Or is it ineffective?

I'm still waiting for my AW17 to be delivered so I have plenty of time to rebuild!

 

Nice Job J.Dre.