K53ta-bbr6 Cooling Mods

Video link below

COOLING MOD VIDEO

Here's some cooling modifications I recently made to my Asus K53TA-BBR6 Laptop.

LOWERED CORE TEMPS 10-15C

HELPFUL LINKS
- ASUS DRIVER DOWNLOAD PAGE
- CAP3 ATI Drivers
- DRIVER SWEEPER - BEST FOR CLEAN VIDEO DRIVER INSTALLS
- K10STAT OVERCLOCKING SOFTWARE
- CPU-Z SPEED MONITORING SOFTWARE
- HWMONITOR - CORE TEMP MONITOR
- FRAPS - FRAMES PER SECOND DISPLAY

STATS:
- AMD A6-3400M - OC'd 3.0 GHz
- ATi 6720G2 1GB DDR3
- 8GB DDR3 1333 MHz
- 1366x768 Native

MOD LIST: TOTAL: $50 give or take
- Arctic MX4 Thermal Paste - $8
- Enzotech Copper Heatsinks - 2 Sets @ $10-15 each
- Aluminum Heatsink - $5
- Thermal Tape - $6

FINAL PRODUCT



Main reason I wanted to modify this computer was that it was running hot from the get-go.
80-85C during gameplay on Moderate Settings. Deus Ex just came out and I wanted to push this thing to its limits, so naturally I wanted to make some upgrades.

First thing I noticed when I inspected the heatsinks was a heavy dose of paste on both the CPU and GPU, this isn't good and probably partially to blame for my higher temps. You only need a thin layer to fill in the gaps for heat transfer, this is obviously too much...

CPU/GPU Factory Paste


Next I cleaned up the processors using some standard Rubbing Ethyl Alcohol, and applied Arctic MX4 Thermal Paste. I use the finger spread method, you guys do whatever you thinks the best...



After cleaning processors from the factory paste I decided to make a slight modification to the the cooling fan. The idea here is to open airflow to pass over the newly installed heatsinks and heat pipe. There are vents located on the front of the case that will allow for exhaust ventilation.








NEXT up was installing the Heatsinks... I applied 16 Enzotech Copper Heatsinks on top of the CPU's heat shield and only 4 on the GPU's. To compensate for this difference, I installed an additional aluminum heatsink using thermal tape ontop of the GPU. I oriented its fins toward the cooling fan to maximize cooling efficiency.



Couldn't stop there, next up was another mod for the fan, and maybe one of the main cooling contributors.
I simply cut a hole in the bottom of the computer's casing and installed some metal mesh so fresh air could be drawn into the system.





Last modification was to add some copper sticker sheets on the casing to even better assist in the heat distribution.




RESULTS:

Using Deus Ex HR as my benchmark, now with near Ultra High Settings, and pushing my processors to their max, add in some undervolting for additional cooling control, and overclocking to 3Ghz, results showed...

Max CPU/GPU Temps ran 77C, almost a 15C difference...

K10Stat OC Settings and HWMonitor Temps, have since lowered to 77C Max

 

Looks like great moding and great results got there!
tell me are the heatsinks original ones or u have got new? and did this copper "needles" come stock or did u install them separately ?

 

not sure whether the "thick" paste does any harm.
when the heatsink is clamped down, that paste should thin out, no ?

Was the contact area of the heatsink smooth ?

perhaps the air hole from the bottom gave the most benefit.
Normally, the air gets sucked in from the front vents, over the hot heatpipes, so by the time the air reaches the fan, it's already warm.
The hole gives it direct access to cool air from underneath.

 

@gumba213 - Good job! +1

I did something similar on my DV6z: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...xxx-series-owners-lounge-252.html#post7882578

and here's stock heatsink/fan: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...xxx-series-owners-lounge-227.html#post7861083

Curious about the copper sheeting on the casing though. Wondering how much of an effect that has.

I was hesitant to cut a hole by the fan, but I may go ahead and do that. It seems it should only help.

How did you secure the metal mesh? Some kind of adhesive?

edit: I just updated mine: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...xxx-series-owners-lounge-253.html#post7883598

I cut the hole out for the fan, that helps quite a bit. I also cut out a slot on the fan shroud to let air in the main compartment over the CPU and GPU but that made the palmrest extremely warm. It basically was pushing the hot air from the fan and heatsinks into the main compartment. It helped with cooling, but just made the rest of the computer unbearably warm. Of course this was before I cut a hole on the bottom for the fan.

 

You want the thinnest layer of paste, anything more and it will cause the reverse effects. The purpose is only to fill any microscopic gaps between the two surfaces. As far as the contact area on the heatsink, it appeared to be pretty smooth to me. I am not sure what one modification made the biggest difference, but the hole on the bottom is huge, you obviously get fresh cold air coming in. I put my hand on the bottom of my PC and it actually feels cool now.

High Fans did not kick in once during Deux Ex play last night, very impressed. Also a sidenote on DX, removed the horizontal tearing we were experiencing in the game...

Everyday web browsing went from 55-65C now to 42-53C, more than a 10C drop

The copper sheeting was about a mm thick and was stripped from my old Toshiba qosmio, looks like some nice stuff. I'm sure it works to some degree - no pun intended, duh

 

Like HT mentioned...does the palm rest / case get hot now with the fan blowing inside?

 

No the computer actually feels amazingly cool. Sitting here, just web browsing it nearly feels like it's off, seriously there is no heat being generated and the fan is in the lowest setting. 41C as I'm typing here with Chrome open and a few additional windows , Adobe CS5 and CPU monitoring software.

Also wanted to point out the air vents on the front of the computer, the air than now flows over the gpu and cpu, will naturally channel its way out these exhaust vents.

 

did you ever test your max OC temps during intelburntest or prime95 ?

if so, can you run the test again post-mod and see what temps you get ?

I may drill holes under the fan after my warranty expires. The way I did it on my old laptop was to use a soldering iron with a small tip, and melt evenly spaced holes into the plastic. I noticed my fan wasn't spinning up as often anymore.
The down side was that there was more dust. Luckily there was an access panel underneath to allow me to vacuum the fan.

To clean out this asus fan, we need to remove the keyboard and vacuum from the top.

 

Yeah here's my DV6z thread dedicated to cooling.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...z-cooling-mod-thread-warning-lots-photos.html

Your slot in your fan looks clean. It was harder than hell to get a good clean cut on mine.

 

I wouldn't recommend cutting a hole in the fan housing.

one concern I have about cutting a hole in the side of the fan housing is that it reduces air pressure directed towards the fins, which is the most important part of cooling. You want the air blown out the side of the laptop as fast as possible. Air pressure and wind speed are related.

I don't think you want to blow air in random directions inside the case. You're just mixing hot air inside the case, and those dinky vents in front of the case don't look ideal for dissipating heat.

Ideally, you want the heat to travel along the copper, and blown out the side of the case, not blow off part of the heat before it gets to the fins.

 

Great stuff here OP, definitely saving it to bookmarks. My warranty ends in a couple of months and my hands are itchin' to try something like this myself .

 

I dunno. Not sure about the K53 but in the case of the DV6z there was literally NO AIRFLOW over the CPU or GPU. I put a small piece of tissue paper over the vent over the CPU and it didn't even stick due to the vacuum that should have been there to hold it in place.

 

What I picture is the air that would have gotten blown past the fins and out the side vent, some of it, it is going into the case over the mini heatsinks (as intended) but link thinks it would be better if all that air went past the fins, and none inside the case...

It makes sense as the air is channeled 100% through those fins, and only some of the escaping air passes over those mini heatsinks.

 

Did you cut those enzotech heatsink? I was measuring my GX640 a while back and concluded that those heatsink were too tall for my case.

 

2 questions: did you mold these heatsinks and glue those copper sheets?

 

The point is that the chamber with the CPU and GPU has little to no airflow, and slowly it heats up as very little is exhausted as it should be, and what is exhausted is going into the fan and across the fins, which means hotter and hotter air goes across the fins making it virtually ineffective. I have noticed 5-8C at load temperature drop by opening the vent on my machine, but it's just the palmrest the becomes hot because it's more or less right above the fan outlet. The results from the M11x that did a similar mod dropped temps to the point where it rarely exceeds 55C during gaming.

 

What if you just cut the hole in the bottom to intake cooler air, but didn't cut the side of the shroud? That way you'd get as cold and as much air as possible over the fins?

 

Now to clarify why I did what I did to the fan, AGAIN...and in MORE detail to quiet the skeptics, despite my RESULTS, cough -15C vs stock, which I'd say are pretty damn good....

You get an increase in air density through the fan after you've cut a hole on the bottom to draw in cold air.
Like on a windy day, you can have one window open, but if you open another window on the other side of the house you get a very noticeable draft. Same idea going on here.

As far as cutting the side slot on the fan for additional cooling on the cpu and gpu, I can't say it enough, the proof is in the pudding. The additional airflow over the processors will allow for better use of my newly installed heatsinks. Passing cool air over them is aiding in the cooling. And just fyi, I may have removed at most 25% of the sidewall, which I feel is justified based on my above thinking. But hey lets see what your results show...

Yes you need to cut the enzotech heatsinks with a pair of wire cutters. I had cut the ones on the CPU at one length and the ones on the GPU a longer length since there was more of a clearance in that area. simply attached them using the thermal tape provided with the aftermarket heatsinks

 

I guess my remaining skepticism is:

Is more airflow over the fins or more airflow over the chips, sacrificing one for the other, a better option? Since the fan only puts out a certain CFM no matter what.

 

I think the airflow over the heatsinks and chips makes a positive difference and it shows in the results.

 

thanks, all you need a dremel and a diamond blade. crosshatch, horizontal and vertical cuts but not going outside your border. punch out the plastic in the middle and edge your way to the border using a sanding bit.

also saw your final product on your HP, nice work, looks like some of us got the mod bug in full effect

I may add some additional copper shims here in the coming days. I still have a butt load of thermal tape, shims, and additional heat sinks I may try mounting. But so far I am pleased with the initial results.

diamond bit

 

Well I cut the slot in the fan shroud first before the hole in the bottom. It DID cool the CPU and GPU cooler, only all the hot air was filtering into the compartment so it was physically too hot to bear. The effect of the airflow into the compartment was helping with all the heatsinks though. I then put electrical tape over that slot I cut in the shroud because palmrest was just too darn hot.

Now that I have the hole for cool air to come in, I will probably take that electrical tape off next time I open the machine up and see what the result is.

Congrats on your 28C temps! Mine is only about 33C, but then again, different systems, and my ambient is about 25C, so 8C over ambient is damn good. With web use and basic tasks usually 38-40C, still pretty good.

I was just using the Dremel tool and bits I had on hand. No diamond bits just the basic cutting wheels. But it worked with a little tender care. I have no sanding bits. May pick some up next time I'm at the hardware store and open it up a bit more. I wanted to make it wider, but the heatpipes are in the way and no real easy way to remove them or get around them, maybe can sand my way over a little bit more. That fan is only about 12mm thick, too.

 

may i know where did you get those small Enzotech Copper Heatsinks?

 

gumba, can you do this one test and report back your results-

block the big hole at the bottom of the case with cardboard or paper, and do whatever hour-long cpu torture test, and record temps.

then the same with the big hole unplugged.

I'd like to see how much improvement the bottom hole alone is providing.

that is exactly my concern. too much warm air trapped inside the case = not ideal airflow.
If this were a desktop case, hot air trapped in the case is alarming, even if there is some airflow over the cpu and gpu areas.

 

Here are some:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...emory+++Chipset+Cooling-_-Enzotech-_-35708011

Ever think of lapping the stock heatsinks, btw?

 

From the OPs observations, it seems the stock setup also has stagnant air - at least on the intake side.

 

Any airflow that is cooler than the surface it touches (heatsinks) is better than no airflow at all which is what it was, at least in the HP. The Asus seems to be designed a little better though, although very limited with intake vents underneath the laptop.

The CPU *DID* run cooler even with hot air flowing over it, only it was physically apparent in the palmrest, which was uncomfortable with gaming. If the palmrest wasn't hot I would have left the fan slot open because of its additional cooling benefits.

 

question now is..... is there massive suction over the new holes you cut ?

I don't think you'd feel suction on any laptop from intake vents placed that far away.
directly beneath the fan, there's enough suction to hold a tissue.

there had to be some airflow before you cut out those holes. Where else would it pull in air ?

Have you tried measuring temps while leaving the whole bottom panel off ?



anyway, I did a test on my old laptop to see how effective a fan hole directly underneath is.
my suspicions/guesses were right. Only 2c improvement.

prime95 test, 30 minutes, flat on desk-
fan hole open- 41c idle, 66c load
fan hole plugged- 43c, 68c.

prime95 test, 30 mins, rear elevated- gave an additional 2c improvement over the above numbers.
fan hole open- 64c load.

 

You can't take the whole bottom panel off the DV6z and have the computer operate, not without everything hanging off like an abomination. Not sure about the K53TA.

Also, with the amount of air moving out of the fan slots, you should have some noticeable effect of air movement through those tiny slots.

Plus your test isn't apples to apples, every laptop is different, plus considering I was going from 90C+ to 70-72C in Bad Company 2, that's a noticeable improvement I'd say.

And I just tested by running 15 mins Prime95 large fft's 65C, closed the hole, it ran to 72C. Opened the hole back and it slowly crept back down to 66C. Add a laptop cooler under there, and it drops another 5C. I'll take 5-7C any day, and another 5C from a laptop cooler that would have otherwise been ineffective because of no hole.

 

played TF2 for over an hour at maxed out settings and max temps reached 82C

Next up is seeing if I can undervolt this some more...

 

The fan modifications prove to be effective despite what gains you may have gotten on an older machine...

 

heres some nice screen shots from dx, have most settings maxed out

runnin 35 fps on average and 82C max cpu core temps

 

What settings are turned down?

 

The EnzoTech heat sinks are now OOS at Newegg. I wonder how many were sold to K53TA owners? lol

I plan to paste today and will feedback results. I'm going to avoid any extra modification so I can see what effect this has. If I can stay < 80deg I will probably not do anything more.

 

Okay I got like 8ft of heat tape in the mail today, I don't think I'll use even 1/100 of it. Anyone need some thermal tape, let me know. I will send it out via mail.

 

you can find enzoheatsinks on ebay

 

Deus Ex Settings.

 

Nice nice nice, great modding you're doing here.

 

Where did you find that heatsink for the GPU? Looks like it fits perfectly!

 

took it off my old toshiba laptop... LOL

 

thanks for the info

 

removed the heatsinks on top of the heat pipe, they were causing more heat. also removed the copper heat sinks off the gpu heat pipe, and placed them on the aluminum plating like before. also kept the aluminum heatsink on the gpu but turned it 90 degrees so the fan could blow on the coils more effectively. there was too much going on and it was causing more heat, removed a little and we are back down to 77C max cpu temps while playing dues ex

it appears dx has a stutter bug issue and I'm noticing it pretty bad in my gameplay very annoying

 

Hmm, interesting that it was raising temperatures by putting the heatsinks on the heatpipes. Maybe the heat was dissipating along the pipe but didn't have the fan to cool it off effectively.

 

the additional heatsinks on the heat pipe basically acted like an air damn and wasn't letting air past it. The computer felt warmer to the touch, and air wasn't escaping properly. this should prove that the front air vents are actually very functional. It should be noted that the pc now feels considerably cool again.

 

Final Product updated on OP, I will add to it as necessary.Let me know if you do any modding of your own, I would like to see the results. Thanks - Steve

 

If you drop Anisotropic Filtering down to 4x, you'll get about 5 FPS gain with almost no loss in image quality. Also, if you have an external monitor, you can get better performance @ higher resolution with antialiasing off than at lower resolution with AA on.

 

Aniso gives you clarity at a distance but not sure if it's really all that necessary in Deus Ex.

 

This looks pretty cool. Are any of the visual distortions corrected or improved with better cooling as well? I still can't get over the grainy, compression-type of look that this laptop gives on certain colours (and poor lcd... I can see the "matrix" of pixels in the monitor, reminiscent of old VGA monitors; which further contribute to graininess) I may return it for a laptop with just the plain 6520g.

 

Have you by chance tried forcing the fans to max speed? This works for the g7 and g5 models.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-access-allmost-all-hardware.html#post7758780

 

Have you updated your BIOS?