Alienware M11x-R2 i7 Internals with pictures

Back story?

 

Thank you! I saved all those pictures.

How long would you say it took to get the motherboard off the case? I like to clean the fan and its grill every 3-6 months on my laptops, so I'm curious how big the job will be.

Also, did you try taking the heatsinks off? I am considering replacing all of the thermal compound, since PC makers usually use that cheap tan stuff.

 

Hey Corn, check this vid out:
Thermal Compound Mod

 

That's perfect, thanks! I guess I found a project for today

 

I think I might give that a go this weekend.

 

If you do, let us know what you think of the compound they used. Guy in the video commented that they over did it.

 

A good mod if you're not scared of the disassembly. It dropped the temps on my 1730 quite a bit (sorry I forgot numbers, and I wish he would have posted them) after I did that to the CPU and GPU. Good HS compound is quite a bit better at heat conductivity than the crappy thermal "pads" that most manufacturers use.

One thing he didn't show in the video is after you do that it's really a good idea to heat cycle the parts (in this case GFX and CPU) 3-4 times.

 

Hey, I know this is random.

But I love how you put the
nails in the little styrofoam. LOL it looks so cute. XD!

 

Nice, I'll have to do this after I'm confident the machines reliability.

+1 on the Styrofoam for the screws.

 

Couldnt really tell cause it was so fast and kinda far...but did he lap the processor?

 

Looked to me like her merely cleaned it.

 

It looked like he went and got a scotch-brite pad (or something like that) after he cleans them with a kleenex

 

Looks to me that he scotch-brighted the heatsink, but I didn't see him do it to the processor. It was pretty quick though.

I wouldn't do the processor, not sure I'd do the heatsink either. Clean thoroughly then wipe with alcohol, then clean using AS5 once or twice them apply and spread.

 

Will do. I also have a good idea of what temperatures it runs out now, so I should be able to say if and if so how much it drops in temperature.

Starting it now, so be back in a bit (hopefully )

 

Also what your current stable OC is.

 

I think the best compound is the IC Diamond 7 compound on both the GPU and CPU.

 

Could you explain how to get the keyboard cables back in place? Is there some trick to it? I would've had the whole thing apart and together in an hour total except that I've worked on just getting the wide cable in for about an hour now . I had no problem with the keyboard lights, fan and touchpad; it's just this wider one.

 

Make sure the little flap is up that allows you to insert it in, then you clamp it down.

 

That worked, thanks! I kept trying to slide it in between the cable and the top pins.

Ok, let's see.

--Yeah, they put too much compound on, particularly on the CPU. Once the heatsink is screwed down, a lot of it was squished to the side. It looked much worse on the CPU than GPU. They put on that gray patch type (don't know why I said 'tan' earlier) rather than something more liquid, so it doesn't actually get all over or hurt anything.
--So far , I haven't seen much of a difference in temperature. I cleaned the heatsinks and put on Arctic Silver brand thermal compound, FWIW. It might differ at higher temps like when gaming, but for general use, there's no difference.
--No change in overclocking. 158 is the highest I can go with it stable, and that's what it was before. I did not try it long enough to know what it was getting for a temperature before replacing the compound while OCed, but right now the CPU is at 45C.
--I didn't OC the GPU before replacing it, so I can't compare those.
--I don't really know what to make of this, but before, my best SuperPi 1m score was 23 seconds and 2m was 55 seconds, but now it's 21 and 48 (resp.), which are pretty significant changes. That's also despite the first scores being on a fresh boot, while the second is with Chrome, Word, and other programs open (I didn't expect it to change so didn't take it seriously). That's with OC on @158 with an I5. Perhaps it handles higher heat better, allowing Turbo Boost to kick in more often and longer?

Thanks anand00x for posting those pics to lessen the fear of the unknown when it came to taking it apart.

 

Arctic silver is considered somewhat thick as far as TIMs go, and as a rule the thicker it is the longer it will take to cure and reach an optimal thermal transfer state. So, it's perhaps /possible/ that over the next day or two you'll see temps drop a teensy bit. In any case good job. I'll be doing this on Saturday.

 

Any pictures of the CPU under the heatsink? Thank you!

 

It is like a puzzle. But if you mess it up its an expensive mistake.

 

I've done it before to my R1, but I've never got around to slapping new tim in it. The motherboard is not very big, but it is heavy for its size. I'll post a pic later...I'm posting this from my phone.

 

Thanks for the pictures, I love the interior of laptops... It's a pity of course, that they were shot on iPhone...

 

Am I just blind? I cannot see the HD in the pics. I am thinking of upgrading my HD and I am wondering how deep to I have to dig in the laptop to get at the drive? I am not really comfortable taking all those layers apart, but I would do it if I had to.

Thanks

 

The HD isn't pictured. You'd see it if he'd taken a shot immediately after the bottom plate was removed.

 

Oh damn, I just spent about 45 minutes trying to figure out the small keyboard cable. Then I remembered there was something corwinicre ran into. Same thing!

 

These are very nice pictures. I wish I had the nerve to do that with my new r2.

 

Hello,

Firstly thanks for taking it apart, I Just ordered mine and am looking forward to getting it . Any idea what make and model the internal 500 GIG Hard Drive is with this ? , and also have you had any issues with it ?

Not sure if I am a fan of the stock drive and may go for a 7200 RPM 16 MB Seagate or Western Digital etc. However if the included one has the same specs maybe I should just stick to it.

 

it should be a 7200rpm my m11x came with a seagate 160gb and my m15x came with a seagate 320gb 7.2k.

I replaced the m11x with a momentus xt since it is hybrid ssd, 32mb cache, and 7.2k rpm.

I would stick with the stock drive unless you want the momentus xt or a SSD any other 7.2k rpm will be the same specs

 

I was thinking about the momentus XT actually, but does it have any issues, lots of forums keep stating issues with watching movies and it being jerky etc. Have you had any of those issues ?

 

I use my M11x as a media center front end (MPC-HC or Boxee) and I never have problems with video playback stuttering. Bluray, extremely high variable bitrate HP rips, whatever. The IGP and the drive have no problems with any of it.

 

I ordered it yesterday hopefully here by today

Seagate Momentus XT 500 GIG

 

i don't know why but the pics felt like im witnessing an autopsy ahahaha.. thanks for the info but i think ill never do that to my m11x.

 

Nails??? Sorry but just had to pickup on that one!

To all future M11x buyers: Your new laptop will not come held together with nails! It's screws all the way baby