M17x R2 with custom AMD heatsink

For those who are interested, I managed to modify an M18x AMD 100w heatsink into my R2. This heatsink is used on the 6990/7970/8970 cards. Would have loved to used the triple pipe that was on it originally, but there's just too much pipe to try and get good contact on the aluminum fin assembly and the M18x fin assembly is too big to fit in our R2's. That being said, I heated both up and resoldered the R2 tube assembly to the new 100w heatsink. Temps are close to 10c cooler. And side by side, copper die contact on the new heatsink is about 50% larger than the stock 5780 heatsink. All done with a little butane pencil torch! Total cost... $8 shipped from eBay for the heatsink! Well worth it! Most affordable upgrade ever!

 

You have soldered the tube to plate? Does the liquid, that is inside the tube isn`t destroyed due to high temps of soldering? Or maybe I misunderstood something?

 

Well it was soldered originally on both cards. I didn't go crazy with the heat either. Jus enought to wet the solder up and bond. No swelling, distortion, or discoloration so it's safe to say there wasn't too much heat. And with testing and lower temps being the outcome, im assuming there was no damage.

 

Great work! How did you manage to solder it properly, so it would fit back in? I had similar idea. The difference - I would keep the radiator and cut part of it. I would reduce the size in order to fit, but it would still be larger than what it is now. Anyway -10ºC is more than impressive!

 

That was possible, but I figured I'd butcher the radiator tryin to cut it down. It's a pretty big difference in all sided. It's as wide as 3 pipes instead of 2, 1/4in or more in height. The only thing that might of Ben close in size was the overall length. But the curved shape on one side was different as well so you would probably end up with the same shape as the original being the physical space in the laptop unless u hacked that up too. The shell of the R2 is what's limiting the radiator size. And I just resoldered it aligning the pipes where it needed to be on the heatsink while elevated on a wood block, and put pressure on the pipes as I heated it back up. It will drop down a hair when u feel the solder melt. Presto... Modified heatsink. Didn't really even take much heat to melt the solder!

 

Last time I checked my brother's R2 it seemed like there was space to be used. We are talking about a few millimeters, but still, enough to fit the three pipes. Yes, the radiator would be closer to the 17's one, than its original shape, but still bigger. Also you can remove the mesh between the radiator and the grill a-la M18x. Every little helps Thanks for the pipe soldering info! I use preheat oven for the desoldering - pretty straight forward. The soldering part is what always gets me nervous.

 

Don't be nervous about the soldering part. It's really not that big a deal. Just get it hot enough to wet the solder and be sure it's pressed down to keep the pipes where u need um. And continue to hold down while it cools.

 

Next test is modifying the 18x radiator to fit the m17x R2 and allow the triple pipe to work. Mass cooling m17x R2.......

 

Congrats man! That's great news that it was a success

 

Way to go! That's the spirit

 

So since I work at an e recycler, i come across all kinds of pc parts( I got my m17x r2 for $60 ). I found a triple pipe from a msi laptop that I think might just work. I'll let you know how it goes @npsk8ter if it works out I'll send you one.

 

Nice work OP.
The he 5870m heatsinks had bad companions towards newer cards , where the pwn controllers were not covered.

Also right after you removed the 3 pipes from m18x heatsinks , did you clean the heatsinks before installing the 2 pipe from m17x r2 ?
Also did you clean the heat pipes before attaching to the m18x heatsink?

@RianChil23 : wow man , it's hell of a price.

 

No I didnt. I wanted to avoid adding any solder as from my experience, mixing different solder doesn't usually give good results. And actually, the solder still left on both, made it look like it was just pre tinned. If it didn't stick well the first time reheating it, I def would of cleaned everything off and reapplied new solder.

 

And yes, dang good price! Let me know if u ever find anything else like that!!! And def let me know about the triple pipe! I've always Ben that guy who wants to make things better!

 

Lol, I like your work as well, keep going What card are you running under it?

 

T

the beastly 8970m! This card rocks my R2. Solid gaming now!!! Dying light on 60fps all settings maxed!

 

Of course paired with the 940xm

 

Any special vbios revision to look for when looking for a 8970m? Does this card suffer the 85c shut down that the 7970m dell card does?

 

I really couldn't tell ya what revision to look for. Mine is 015.041.000.000.044966 (BR44966.006). And I did modify the voltage using winflash. Stock was 1.075 with 950/1250 clocks. I dropped the voltage to 1.025. And yes I was having that same shutdown issue once it hit 88c. This was before I used the new heatsink. Fan control seems to work unless playing games. I just turn fans on full before starting any game now. Seems to help.

 

Boom @npsk8ter. Did you get around to doing this yet? M17x R2 7970m with triple pipe setup

 

@npsk8ter What games do you play? I'd love to compare some max temps of games with me using the triple pipe setup and you running the double pipe setup on the 7970m heatsink

 

Right now I'm getting 65c max on dying light maxed out. I'm really interested now in getting a 8970m like you. Can they crossfire? Maybe that will be my next project along with a modded 330 and upping my cpu to a 940xm (currently running the 820qm )

 

Never did try the triple pipe yet. Did you do it??? If so, what radiator did u use? The original, or the 18x one?

 

Yeah I did it. I modified the 18x r2 radiator

 

Cheers on both you guys! another successful m17x R2 mod !