M15x Cooling Mod! KoI Style :)

This has definitely only started happening recently but even at 92/82 and only x22 I'm still not getting 100 Chip all the time or C0% at 100%.
Any suggestions?

 

Well, i am already here pals.
In my case, i don´t get go over 56 on the C0% XD. Even with 100 TDP/TDC i mean (and C1E ticked as you told me)
Perhaps because my Prime95 conf.?
I use to set 1792 for Min. FFT and Max.FFT box, in Prime95.
Would you mind tell me your conf., as if this matter could be the issue?

Thanks in advance ( i am a complete noob, and you are being very helpful! )

Edit:

Well, i found the issue
I chose "4" , at "number of torture test threads to run", instead of "8", in Prime95 ...
When i say i am a complete noob, trust on me hahah.
I am going to increase the TDP...

 

Ok I discovered what the issue was. When using the 210w adapter I get slight power-based throttling on the Chip values.
C0% also isn't ever at 100% regardless of what tdp/tdc I use.

Switching back to 150W adapter I easily got x25 multiplier (C0% = 100% and Chip = 100) on 100/100 with temps hovering around 85 degrees, cooling mod on full whack.
This CPU throttling problem doesn't appear to affect gaming as even new games still run smooth.

King you had any of these problems with your 210w adapter? I'm going to remove centre pin later today.

 

No I can't say I have. I can't run Prime 95 at 25x though without 1 core throwing up an error and stopping. My load is always at 100%. Max temp 80C with cooling mod active on full in ambient 20C (heated) at 24x.

85C looks impressive. How are your ambient temps? Less than 20C I assume?

This weekend I hope to pick up a cheap multimeter and measure my CPU vcore at max load. Then I can properly work out the correct mod to increase it. I will then leave 25x in the dust

This is first step in list of upgrades. Next is the 2TB Samsung drive just released then 16GB of faster ram and finally a new GPU. Then my M15x will be kicking it with the new gen not to mention the 330W adaptor waiting for me in the UK!

 

Lol! You will eventually hit some kind of bottleneck with this old beast, no idea what it'll be though. 16GB of CL7 RAM will cost £100+? I really hope either AMD or Nvidia make a power-efficient mobile gpu in the next generation (like gtx 680m was) that is significantly better than 7970m. I won't upgrade for 20-25% increase in performance.

My 210w is still problematic sometimes (450Mhz gpu clocks), and I can only think that the centre pin is still communicating in some way to the board and causing slight CPU chip-throttling. Will remove centre pin and hope for the best.
King will you attempt the switch mod for data line on your 330w? It'll be pretty simple, only skill required will be cutting the cord without touching either power lines or data lines.

 

I will simply rip it out I am afraid to cut into a power cable. I have my 150W for charging when I dock it for movie theatre nights.

I assume you still flick stealth on and off again before you game? This NEVER fails to get 3D clocks for me.

If the 330W adaptor works I could somehow send my 210W to you. Might be costly though as it is 2KG! I have no complaints except that is overheated when gaming at 24x plus my GPU OC. I think power draw was a little too much.

Then again now that ambient temp is down I might not have a problem. Less so for you in chilly England.

I am pretty sure they will release a new decent card. The 8970M and 780M are still same gen as 7970M and 680M.

Anyways with faster CPU, faster and double the RAM, new gen GPU and 4x the internal backup I think it can go someway yet! The only thing I am leaving is the 470. I am not convinced the current best is worth upgrading to yet! I want something that is no question much faster than the 470. The 470 is a great little SATA II performer.

 

Removing centre pin fixed CPU Chip throttling issue and I've had no problems getting 3D clocks so far.
Definitely pull out that troublesome centre pin!

Thanks again King!

 

How do you remove the center pin?
I have a dell PA-7E 210w.

 

A small thin pair of pliers. Grab ahold of it and yank it out. Make sure the PSU isn:t plugged before doing so of course. Also drain it by plugging it into laptop while not attached to wall to make sure no residual charge.

Glad it fixed your issues. I didn:t realise the effects the centre pin had even on the 210W! I didn:t leave it in long enough lol. Makes me hopeful about the 330W though!

 

King any ideas on how to increase cooling further? After a particularly long gaming session my GPU reached 68 degrees! Terrifying stuff. Usually about 61-62 after a few hours of AC IV.
Thinking more about trying to get higher clocks on CPU. I haven't attempted x26 multiplier yet because I have no idea what to set TDP/TDC at?
Temps to still get quite high on x25 100/100 after awhile on prime95.

More mini heatsinks all along the heat pipes and a large 200mm fan attached to a now huge hole in the bottom cover?

 

With my mod I get 68C max after hours of FC3 at the clocks and voltage in my sig! A step above yours. Also my ambient is 20C heated. Perhaps your ambient is a bit lower than mine.

I spilt orange juice on my keyboard. Going to get a replacement and at the same time the power ribbon cable for the instrument panel broke. I am now using the trackpad cable which is the same but longer.

I have been incredibly busy lately and will be again when I return from the UK (leaving tomorrow). I will return however with keyboard and 330W PSU.

Once I have time I will brush up and clean the laptop and re-do the 100mv cpu voltmod as my wire isn't contacting properly. I will then begin testing in earnest. Sorry for being slow, winter is always a busy time for me!

 

No worries! I've found myself with an extended chrismas holiday so I have lots of time!

Just as a summary of a few months with the mod, I always smile when I check max GPU temp in gpu-z after gaming. Like I said in last post, after 2 hours of AC:IV BF my max temperature was 62 degrees!
I remember the days of having to quit games because gpu was exceeding 82 degrees and close to thermal shutdown limit. Now I'm running more voltage and more speed and still never get past 70 degrees!

You're a genius for coming up with this mod King, and the throttle fix mod
What would M15x community do without you.

 

What did you guys use to glue the heatsinks? Or were they already adhesive?

 

The low profile heatsinks from moddiy.com are self adhesive and pretty darn strong. Definitely worth getting them from this site (based in Hong Kong) who ship internationally.
3M 8810 Thermally Conductive Adhesive 2mm Ultra-Thin Heatsink (6 Pack) - modDIY.com

 

330W PSU seems to work fine with pin pulled out. I have tried Crysis 2 so far. I get bluescreen after 5 mins but I think the gpu struggles at 950/1450 at stock voltage in this game. FC3 can run no problem. I had bluescreen before with 210W as well.

People say this brick is electronically limited to 240W unless you do some extensive modding. I doubt it. the 7970M at 1.05V at 950/1450 with cpu at 24x across all cores should pull past 240W.

I will game in FC3 in a moment to test. I think this game stresses the cpu more but gpu less than crysis 2

 

Any update on 330w? I managed to push x26 multiplier 100/100 with only very occasional drop in multiplier when running prime95 (unrealistic load). Gaming was fine. Pretty sure my 210w PSU is more than capable of running x26 and 1v on GPU.

If 330w is limited to 240w then at least it should have additional cut out protection and should run cooler than 240w PSU.

Sent from my One S running 4.4.2

 

Man the 940xm is a better OCer then! I intend to do a full teardown when I have time. I hope to redo the 100mv voltmod so I can run 27x stable in prime 95, clean the laptop and sort out my cooling mod (the fans need to be sorted out as the velcro came off. Too heavy lol) once that is done I hope to do much more extensive testing. I might try out Crysis 3 as the ultimate PSU test as it should use more power than either Cry 2 or FC3.

 

I found a replacement bottom cover for M15x for only £9! It might be interesting to just glue the fans directly to the bottom case then use a brand new bottom case when travelling. Just an idea as I'm also having velcro/fan issues.

Maybe benching isn't your thing but I'm pretty happy with my CPU mark score of 6145! Very close to desktop AMD FX-8100 and i5 3350P. Close to i7 2720QM.

i7 2920xm @ stock is only 10% faster in this benchmark programme.

I have a large smile on my face

Sent from my One S running 4.4.2

 

Ey!, hello everybody, and happy new belated year hehe

Fatboy, do you have 6145 points at 3dMark´s physics score, are you meaning? or what is the program, you are testing?.
And, at what multiplier on your 940xm?

I wonder this, because, i seem to remember i reach about 6500 on Physics, and 6000 on Combined. (at 24x4 on my 920xm, with the new psu and removed pin)
Maybe i´m doing something wrong (again) ^^U

Btw Koi, i have been playing a lot with Crysis 3, this Xmas, and the ammeter used to show me around 210w at max (i have the 680m in my case)

Cheers

 

Moreja check the link in my signature - P6833. Physics score is 6974 on x25 multiplier. I'm talking about Passmark CPU Mark PassMark PerformanceTest - PC benchmark software
My CPU Mark score of 6145 was on x26 multiplier I think.

 

Ahh, that makes more sense, of course.
Well, now with your x26 stable, you´ll get much more points on 3dmark i suppose.

i´ll test a Passmark test later, at x24, to know my mark

 

I'm thinking to spend some time on a cooling mod for my m15x. How did you actually cut the plastic? Where did you get those little heat sinks to put on top of your actual heatsink?

 

I bought them here 3M 8810 Thermally Conductive Adhesive 2mm Ultra-Thin Heatsink (6 Pack) - modDIY.com
If you're in the UK I have some spare I can send you.

I used a small junior hacksaw (with a thin and removable blade) to cut a rectangle out. Made initial starting holes just with a sharp point then put blade through the hole and started sawing.

Just a note, even with the cooling mod I was getting CPU temps of 80+ whilst playing State of Decay (very cpu intensive). I opened up case and removed CPU heatsink to find a carpet of dust.
Repaste and clean and now temps are 60 degrees! Don't forget to de-dust and re-paste

 

Thanks for the offer. I live in Ireland but I'll get them myself. They are cheap.

I repasted using MX4 and temps lowered 10 degrees to around 70 when gaming. Pretty happy with that for a 6970m that consumes quite a lot of power.

 

Ok, I made a KoI cooling mod too. Here are some pics:



I used this type of heatsink: FISCHER ELEKTRONIK - ICK SMD B 19 SA - HEAT SINK, FOR SMD, 22°C/W | Protehno
They did not have glue on it, so I used some 3M Thermal Adhesive Tape to stick them to the heatpipes.
The fans are from a cheap cooler pad I had in the house, they are slim, 60x60x10mm.

The heatsinks are 4.8mm high, so they come out of the case for almost 1mm(maybe less). But, the dust filter you see in the pictures underneath the fans is a little elevated by a rectangular piece of rubber so it does not touch the heatsinks. I figured the bigger the heatsinks, the better the cooling. On the width of the heatpipe, I placed two heatsinks, each of them has a half that is glued on the heatpipe, and the half that is just loose or with a thermal pad underneath.
My plan would be to arange the heatsinks in some way that the air is pushed through them, then somehow get out of the case...but I have yet to found a proper exhaust system.

I saw that you guys glued the heatsinks horizontally. I tried both ways, there was no visible difference. Right now the cooler above the gpu pushes air inside the case, and the one from the cpu outside. the air seems pretty hot, but there is not a lot of it (Probably because the fans are small and weak and because there is little space for the air to flow).

In the end the cooling mod only shaved off a few degrees, about...5C. I think this is an airflow problem, gotta get some bigger and powerful fans and maybe make the hole in the case a bit bigger.

Oh yea, I wanted to attach the dust filters and fans with some kind of screws, but in the end it was too much trouble so I just glued them on some rubbers that easily comes of when I'll want to change something.

Any suggestions?

Edit: Maybe the adhesive thermaltape is just a bad heat conductor, I plan to buy a cheap heatsink from ebay, shave all the round things on it(can anyone please tell me what they are called? haha) and glue heatsinks on all of it's surface with a good thermal conductive epoxy.

 

That looks very impressive but it should give a much bigger drop in temps. Try having both fans blowing into case. I'd definitely try to get some more powerful fans otherwise.

My cooling mod shaves well over 10 degrees off both GPU and CPU side but its hard to compare. I'm running pretty high overclocks on both sides yet my temps are lower than they were at stock (with GPU undervolted).

More cooling performance to come I suspect.

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I tried having both fans blow into the case, but it's the same. I think they are just too weak, gonna get powerful ones asap. I hoped to find some good 10mm thick ones so that the laptop could stand on its own if needed(with some tucano ergogel laptop feet too). But the 10mm ones are hard to find and not so powerful.


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I used the usb-powered fans from a cooler master U3 cooling pad. They do the job perfectly. I happened to find this on Ebay in the UK
USB Fans for Coolermaster Notepad U3 Laptop Cooler | eBay
Maybe something similar on your Ebay?

 

How big are they? Lenght, width, hight?


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92mm x 92mm x 10mm. Not exact measurements but not far off.

Sent from my One S running 4.4.2

 

Nice job chopsy, pity that is not cooling as expected. Do the fans have enough room to suck air from the bottom? Also, what thermal paste are you using?

 

Migualo is exactly right, I managed massive 20 degree drop in CPU temps after de-dusting and re-pasting even with the cooling mod. ICD7 is my weapon of choice.

Sent from my One S running 4.4.2

 

I dedusted everything, used ICD7(love it). I really think the fans are the problem. I'll try tomorrow to put a big fan to blow on the heatsinks and see the difference.


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It's been awhile. BUT

Next week I have holiday YAY!! I will be able to find time at last to devote to this laptop. I have done noting to it for months lol. I will be cleaning it, fix up my fan mod (the Velcro fell off the fans lol and then finally finish figuring out the cpu volt mod for good.

Looking good I think. I have looked carefully at my voltages and the VID table and believe I need to both connect VID 0 to Vcc (to lower voltage by 0.0125V as well as the 100mv boost given by connecting VID 3 to Vss.

At the moment I have VID 3 connected only and at =100mv from my current full load voltage (1.11) the VID sits back at 0. Basically anything above 1.2V until 1,3V is 0 under VID 3 meaning I get nothing. By connecting VID 0 to Vcc I hope to pull my load voltage to under 1.2V and thus enable my +100mv.

Failing that I will connect Vid 4 to Vss (which I know works) and then connect Vid 3 to Vcc; +100mv. I hope to be successful.

If I am then next step is to get my hands on heatspring. The stuff seems to make a difference. Who knows if 100mv is fully stable. With heatspring we might even be able to try +150mv. 200mv will never happen though. I tried that and you need desktop grade heatsinks.

 

What is heatspring? All that volt mod stuff is scary. Please don't make your laptop explode!

Sent from my One S running Kitkat

 

Thermal compound metal. Molds to fit your heatsink then you don't need to paste ever again. Even if you open up the CPU The heatspring should still be effective.

Don't worry I won't. After hearing your ability to run 26x stable and even 27x in benchmarks I need to close the gap now

 

It would be amazing if you can push the clock speeds svl7 did although I suspect he worked some other form of magic to get near 4ghz (I think).

At that speed you might be on par with an i5 4440 in single threaded performance! It's only 100 points more than my 6407 passmark score across all cores though he he!

Good luck!

Sent from my One S running Kitkat

 

He did +200mv which is only stable for 32m wprime


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Cleaning complete. Tomorrow night will get the cooling mod back into shape. Then either this weekend or next I will have another go at the cpu voltmod.

Watch this space. Success is coming

 

Would you mind getting the trial version of performancetest aka passmark and benchmarking just CPU alongside any other tests you run. I usually only pay interest to CPU mark and single thread score.

Sent from my One S running Kitkat

 

If Iam successful sure! If not can't be bothered haha. If successful I will never oc the 7970m again. There would not be enough power. With maxwell efficiency however our next cards should be 50w to 75w max though. I hope this will negate the need to modify our psu's to be able to draw more power. Still who knows by then I might get bored and do it anyway (150w psu id chip transplant)


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Update: I have got my cooling mod back into working order. Tomorrow night or Friday night I am set to get the cpu voltmodded once again!

 

Its ridiculous that my gf's laptop with i5 4200U (ultra low voltage CPU) has better single thread performance at 1.6ghz as my i7 940xm at 3.3ghz. I wish to beat it but if I try 28/28/25/23 and try to fire up the benchmark it immediately crashes my laptop.

Sent from my One S running Kitkat

 

I had a frustrating volt modding session this afternoon. Using the same wire that I used before I tried to connect VID 2 to VSS but couldn't make room for the cpu pin.

Eventually I managed to get the cpu back in it's socket but upon boot I got the flashing caps and black screen. Opened up and took out the wire mod and just to be safe the volt meter as well. I am typing on the M15x right now so luckily all is well phew!

It seems I was simply lucky with my VID 4 mod attempt. It worked first time. I have tried VID 3 several times with no luck and now VID 2. My conclusion is that the wire I am using is too thick. Either the pin pushes the wire out of the way and it doesn't connect thus no voltage change or as in the last case the wire stops the pin getting contact with it's socket meaning no boot up. Also this means the pin get's damaged.

I will try again later with even finer wire. This is gonna be REALLY hard as I was already using strands of speaker cable wire that were already super thin. I have finer wire but wonder how I am going to insert it with my shaky hands haha.

Will report back soon

 

Use your wife's tweezers (unless you are a well groomed individual)?

I'd be mighty careful with those CPU pins. Please don't break your extreme processor!

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Yeah I will have to. Maybe have a drink to steady my fingers too


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Ok I have bad news. I tried again and this time I made absolutely sure the wire was perfectly inside each socket while allowing room for the cpu pins. I tried VID 3 again. Still no luck at all.

Apart from VID 4 it seems no useful VID functions to boost voltage when grounded to VSS. I hope someone proves me wrong but I have wasted enough time and effort on this. It is a shame. Maybe if I have the energy I might have a FINAL go with VID's 0,1,2 just to be totally sure however unless at least VID 2 works there isn't much extra voltage to play with.

Looks like I will never catch your 940xm mate.

 

I'll swap you! He he he. If you get that CL7 kit off svl7 you might be able to beat me in benchmarks at x25!

Sent from my One S running Kitkat

 

You serious!? I would happily swap CPUs !! I am also a about to purchase a 2 tb 9.5 mm hdd to upgrade the old 500 gig hitachi onboard. I will then finally be able to store all my movie collection on the laptop and then add more!

As for ram the man himself said it is only worth it for benchmarks. Even there the improvement is small. Not for me I guess. All yours

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I should do this for my M17X R2.

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