UX32VD Extreme Performance Guide

MODS: If you see this, please move this thread to the general Asus section.

This is a compilation of information I have gathered on modifying my Asus Zenbook UX32VD for maximum performance. I am updating and editing it as I find out new information. I take no responsibility for any damage caused to your computer by following this guide!

1. Increasing TDP limit on the CPU
The dual core Ivy Bridge i7-3517U runs at anywhere from 0.8-3.0GHz. It is technically a 1.9GHz processor but will clock up temporarily (aka turbo boost) to 3.0GHz when running on a single core and up to 2.79GHz when both cores are in use. This boost is temporary and will eventually clock itself down to 2.6GHz under a sustained load. This is due to this processor's long term Thermal Design Power (TDP) limit of 17W. Think of TDP as the amount of power/heat the CPU is using/generating. It has a short term TDP limit of 21W, which is why you see it able to sustain higher clocks for a period of time. This can be increased through software (or possibly in an unlocked BIOS, to be explored) and allow the processor to run at full speed under sustained load. If it reaches 90c, only then will it start to thermal throttle.

INSTRUCTIONS
Install Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU).
Open XTU and click on the Advanced Tuning tab.
Disable the Turbo Boost Short Power Max.
Increase the Turbo Boost Power Max to 45W.
Click Apply.
These settings will remain even through a reboot as XTU runs a service. However if the computer crashes for whatever reason it will revert to default settings.
Install Notebook Fan Control (NBFC) and set it to the UX32VD profile and modify the temperature thresholds to your preference. For whatever reason I noticed that without NBFC running and enabled, the CPU will still throttle under sustained load. I suspect this is because NBFC writes to some special EC registers. This is indeed pretty weird and I am investigating further.

2. Setting the power plan to High Performance
Windows has different power plans. Each power plan consists of many different options you can configure as well. I used to think the only difference between these plans was the way those options are configured. However, I noticed that even configured the same, the balanced and high performance plans would run the CPU at different frequencies. For example, with minimum processor state set to 5%, the balanced profile will allow the idle CPU to ramp down to 0.8GHz while on the high performance plan it will only ramp down to 2.5GHz.

A more notable difference is throttling on the balanced power plan when the integrated GPU is also active. On the balanced power plan, the CPU will actually down clock as far as 2.4GHz if both the CPU and the integrated graphics processor are stressed. For example, run Google Earth in a browser and rotate the camera around continuously. On the balanced power plan, ThrottleStop reports a TDP limit being hit even though we've already raised it to 45W in Intel XTU. On the high performance plan, no throttling occurs, and the CPU is able to stay at 2.79GHz, with the package power going up as high as 27W. Stressing the CPU alone (Prime95) just barely hits 20W. Update: I've noticed this effect doesn't last. After a few minutes you would need to toggle the "Turbo Boost Short Power Max" XTU settings for this effect to hold.

INSTRUCTIONS
Go to Power Options.
Select High performance (you may have to click "show additional plans").
Click Change plan settings.
Click Change advanced power settings.
Under processor power management, set minimum processor state to 100%.
Configure other options to your taste, especially the on battery options.

3. Overclocking the Nvidia GT 620m dedicated GPU
The stock clocks on the card are 625MHz core and 900MHz memory. The core will boost itself to 716MHz under load. The card can actually easily go much higher and improve graphics/gaming performance substantially. Just for reference, I was able to reach 871MHz/1090MHz (122%/121%).

INSTRUCTIONS
Install the newest drivers from nVidia.
Install nVidia Inspector.
Write the following line in a notepad file and save it as forcep0.bat: nvidiaInspector.exe -forcepstate:0,0
Run the bat file you just created. This will force the card into the P0 state which is its top performance state. It otherwise dynamically toggles between P8 (lower clocks, lower voltage) and P0 which would be fine but I noticed on the newest drivers the core clock won't actually overclock unless it is forced into this mode.
Slowly up the core/memory clocks while running a graphics intensive game until the computer freezes or you start seeing artifacts.

4. Disabling BD-PROCHOT
BD PROCHOT stands for bi-directional prochot. PROCHOT stands for processor hot which is a signal that is sent out by the CPU when it gets too hot. This causes thermal throttling so the CPU can slow down before overheating. Intel included a bi-directional feature so if something else like a GPU is running too hot, it would be able to send a PROCHOT signal directly to the CPU and force it to cool down so the entire laptop cools down. The UX32VD uses this type of throttling. I noticed that even though the CPU wasn't very hot, when the nVidia GPU starts to get warm it'll start throttling the CPU through this method.

INSTRUCTIONS
Method 1: ThrottleStop
Install and open ThrottleStop.
Untick BD-PROCHOT and click Turn On.
You can close ThrottleStop and it will still have an effect but you'll need to run it again after a reboot or sleep.

Method 2: Unlock the BIOS
To be explored.

5. Improve cooling
The CPU and GPU share a heatpipe that leads to a finned heatsink and fan on either end. Unfortunately because of this the CPU and GPU heat each other up. Even with Notebook Fan Control running the fans at full speed, temperatures quickly rise with the CPU and GPU unleashed. While playing a graphics intensive game with stock cooling, the CPU will reach 90c and start throttling, and the video card will reach upwards of 85c. Under a test of Prime95 and the nVidia GPU on (stock clocks, not active), with the laptop raised so as to have more air from the bottom, I was seeing temps of ambient +65c/+45c CPU/GPU. The CPU would reach 89c and start throttling.

The way the stock cooling system works is that the middle grate and part of the side grates on the bottom lid, and the middle grate on the rear surface act as intakes. The side grates on the bottom lid and the rear surface act as exhausts. The fans don't have direct intake openings so instead they just push internal case air out, drawing air indirectly through the aforementioned intakes and through the case to the fan blades. I took the bottom lid off while it was steaming along and was shocked to see temps drop about 10c. I then decided to mod the case by cutting holes directly underneath the fans so they would have a better way of getting air. This may have increased internal case/keyboard temperatures a little bit since now the fans don't pull air from inside of the case as much as they used to. They are now directly fed from outside, then push the air through the heatsink and out of the exhaust grates. However the CPU/GPU are much much better cooled. With the new holes open I saw a reduction of about 8c and with mesh covering them a reduction of about 7c.

Something else I noticed is that there is a gap between the fan and the exhaust heatsink that sits in front of the rear grates. I tried covering this gap so that more air would push straight through the heatsink, but this actually made things worse, as the grate on the bottom lid was essentially no longer used as an exhaust. So it looks like the gap was designed this way, with the fan pushing air both through the heatsink and out the back, but also around and in front of it and out of the bottom grate. This whole exhaust compartment is actually insulated with strips of foam so that this air coming out of the fan goes out through the grates rather than back into the laptop. Because I slightly damaged the foam pads peeling them off trying to cover the "gap" I mentioned above, I decided to reisolate the exhaust area with sticky tack.

INSTRUCTIONS
Method 1: Use a laptop cooler
Placing the laptop on a well designed laptop cooler will reduce temperatures by blowing air over the bottom of the laptop. Depending on the cooler design it will also allow better flow into the stock bottom intake grates because they won't be directly above a desk surface.
I picked up a SilverStone NB04 laptop cooler and it brought down peak temperatures by about 5c.
I placed the cooler on 4 little wooden blocks about an inch and a half tall in each corner because I noticed the fan was just too close to the table and airflow was greatly reduced otherwise.

Method 2: Repaste the CPU/GPU heatpipe with good thermal paste.
Mine had way too much paste stock.
I used MX-2 paste.
Use a tiny little glob in the middle of each die, and gently place and re-tighten the heatpipe to let it spread out the paste across the CPU/GPU.
I did this years ago (and a few times since) and I saw a 2c reduction in peak temps.

Method 3: Cut holes for new fan intakes
Measure out where fans are with bottom lid off. I measured out distances to the center and to all sides of each fan.
Measure out the same dimensions on the bottom lid and mark with a pencil on the outer surface.
Using a round drilling bit for making holes, carefully drill out the 2 new holes from the outer surface in. I think I used a 1 and a quarter inch drill bit because the openings on the fan for the fan blades are about 3cm.
Use sand paper to smooth out the edges.
Find some old speakers with a metal mesh that you no longer need. I picked up some sortof cabinet CD player from Value Village for $5 and it had perfect silver metal mesh.
Cut the mesh into squares slightly larger than the holes you just drilled, but not too large on the top edge as you don't want it covering up the stock exhaust grates on the bottom lid.
Use a hot glue gun to glue the mesh onto the inside surface of the bottom lid.
This mod reduced temperatures about 7c for me.









Method 4: Better isolate fan exhaust grates
Unpeel the stock foam pads off of the heatsink and fan.
Use sticky tack along the same 3 sides to isolate this area behind the fan where all air should be exiting the case.
Use as little as you can while making sure it's still enough that it will touch the bottom lid when you place it back on.
This reduced temperatures about 1-2c.



Method 5: Use thermal pads to transfer heat to bottom lid
Stick thick thermal pads along the top of the heatpipe, and heat producing chips like the Northbridge/Southbridge, the video card memory chips, RAM, etc.
This should then contact the bottom lid when on, and transfer heat to the metal lid. Combined with a laptop cooler this should help cooling a bit, and it will help passive cooling when the laptop's fans aren't on while idling or during light activity.
I haven't actually done this yet as I need to order 3mm thermal pads. For testing out the idea I used some aluminum foil folded over many times on top of the heatpipe. It seems to have helped 1-2c, but it may just be taking longer for the laptop to reach peak temperatures. I will update this post with proper results once I do it.


Let me know what your thoughts are! Do you have any other ideas for improving performance or cooling on this laptop? If you found this useful and you have an Android device, check out my apps linked in my signature. Enjoy!

 

Good job, they seem like some good mods, looks like a neat job when viewed from the outside too. Good idea about placing thermal pads on the heatsink pipes so that they're in contact with the metal casing, I reckon that could make quite a difference, especially as the base of the laptop is one giant flat lump of metal (combined with your notebook cooler cooling down that base).

 

Thanks!

I just added a section on changing to the high performance plan. I never knew there's a differences other than how the sub options are configured!

 

Hello, this tutorial is great, I've looked for something like this before but haven't found anything until this. I wanted to ask if you could do some tests of the performance differences of before and after, either with some game or maybe 3dmark. Also I didn't see how to overclock the 620m GPU in your post. And an idea I thought of that I wanted to ask your opinion on, would it help much if you mounted a bunch of heat sinks(with all the little teeth coming out) on the heat sink bar and either rerouted the intake of the existing fans or adding an internal fan to blow over them?