Dell XPS M1330 - nVidia GeForce 8400M GS - Copper Mod

Is it actually worthwhile getting one of those laptop coolers to work alongside this (and are there any 13" ones? I known 15.4" would work, but they'd be oversized)?

I've always been dubious about them, seems like they blow cold air back at the laptop, rather than aiding the laptop in removing the heat...

 

Thank you for this awesome guide. Did my copper mod yesterday and it works as expected (i can finally use my nvidia graphics ). Although my laptop is still under warranty, I don't care - actually I'm helping dell, so they shouldn't change my motherboard over and over again.

 

thas a very good result you got there... anyway how do you set you fan to kick in full speed at 56C? what program to use?

thanks

 

Hi everybody.

Like many of you my Vostro 1310 is overheating due to it's faulty 8400M GS. And like many of you I have decided to do the copper mod (great idea, by the way).

So before going any further I read a lot of replies and topics to learn more about this solution and I read somewhere about an e-bay user selling perfectly fitting copper sheets for the mod. So I contacted him and got myself four copper shims (got four 1310s in my family)

I also read somewhere in here that the perfect fit for the Vostro 1310 heatskink would be the 14mm X 14mm X 1,5mm but as I could notice when my copper shims arrived was that this was not the right measurement for the 1310 laptop.

I'm guessing the problem is that 1,5mm is too thick for this model's heatsink because the chipset contact area was not touching the chipset at all and the CPU contact area was not completely "sealed" with the CPU die.

So what would you guys do in my position? Should I try to watersand the copper shim to anything thinner than 1,5mm? And how would I do that? Has anyone in here tried to apply the copper mod to the Vostro 1310?

Thanks for the attention and please don't mind my poor english.

 

Nah, don't watersand it.
Just bend the heatpipe a little so the distance at the end (where the GPU makes contact) is a little father from the GPU than it already is. Then the 1.5mm should fit in fine. I did the same on my M1330, though I bent my heatpipe downwards and used a 1mm shim.

Don't worry about your English, it's excellent. In fact, it's much better than many other NBR users' who speak English as their first language.

 

Hey Hep! thanks for the reply and the compliments!

The thing is that the 1310's heatsink is slightly different from the M1310, as you can see:



On the top you have the chipset contact area, wich is followed by the GPU at the bottom and then the CPU on the right. So the GPU is actually in the middle of everything.

My only concern is to actualy make it to bend the heatpipe correctly two times (since I'd have to bend it up to fit the GPU with the copper mod and then bend it down again to fit the chipset with thermal pad). My laptop is still in warranty and I'm afraid to try any "caveman" solution like bending, breaking or twisting lol

So if I had to inflict some damage to any hardware I'd rather spare the laptop's original parts and lay may wrath on the copper shim.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again!
_________________________________________________

EDIT: In fact, looking at this picture again makes me wonder if there would be enough of the heatsink between the GPU and the CPU to perform that "bending up" move --> _____/ and getting it straight back again to cover the whole GPU copper shim surface...

 

Sounds like your only option would be to get a thinner shim then...
I agree, it would be much better to "leave no trace" in the laptop as long as it's still under warranty.
Buy several cheap pieces of copper (or actually really anything) in different thicknesses and experiment with size. When you find the one that works, order more of that size. Only thing I can really think of - when I was first experimenting with what to use for the M1330 cooling mod I used a lot of trial and error.

 

I have one of these 1310s also. As I am also a mechanical engineer, I will post the thickness that I end up with. Might take a week or two to finish this project.... You should be able to use shim stock to get a good starting estimate of the thickness required.

 

I8kfanGUI (it misreads temps though so you need to adjust for that).

 

Great, AlanP!

I'll be looking forward anxiously for your reply on how thick the copper shim must be to perfectly fit the Vostro 1310 heatsink gap.

Now, because english is not my native language, I could not understand what you meant by " You should be able to use shim stock to get a good starting estimate of the thickness required", sorry. Can you please say it again in different terms? Thank you very much.

 

I think he refers to the old/previous blue shim, which you can measure and find the right thickness. This way you can choose the correct thickness for the copper shim based on the blue shim.

 

My Copper Sheet, ArtiClean and ArticSilver 5 have just arrived in the post today.
Wish me luck!

 

Awesome

Quite easy to do, even for a first timer!

Now my GPU doesn't get above about 86c, where it used to get up to 104c (which would trigger the gpu to downclock)

I haven't bothered with before and after temps, I really don't care that much. Just that my GPU won't overheat like it was.

Plus now the fan doesn't run up to full either!

Thanks for all the info everyone.

 

Zunga, Shim stock is available in the Machine Tool Industry in packets of a uniform width and length. The Shim is a controlled thickness and usually it is stainless steel material. A packet of Shims will have a piece of each thickness, here in US for example, each piece gets .001" thicker than the previuos Shim in the packet.

It's purpose is to allow quick checking of the thickness of a gap, or the amount of material required to match machined part stack ups.

An older but common example of a Shim Stock Set is a set of Feeler Gauges [or gages] that are used to check the gap of the points used in the distributor of non-electronic ignition engine, such as some gas boat engines still in service today.

 

Prepare to laugh...

So more extensive testing, I was still getting up to 93c GPU. I thought "This can't be right" so opened it up again to check.

Now that I've pulled the blue plastic off both sides of the copper shim, I'm down to 75c under load.

Whoopsie!

 

Hahahaha, we all make mistakes. Glad to hear you did some detective work on your own instead of panicking and running back here right away, and most of all, that you've now got it fixed.

 

Another interesting thing, this mod seems to have lowered my idle CPU temps as well. I assume this is because the thermal paste that Dell used wears out after a while?

I am now seeing my CPU idle around 36-37 degrees, where it used to idle up around 41-42 before.

Either way, I'm amazed at what a fantastic difference this mod has made, and I would encourage anyone who's a bit hesitant (like I was) to give this a go. It's really easy to do, costs very little and makes a huge difference.

 

Could anybody please teach me how can I set the HWMonitor to automatic startup with administrator rights? Because I am runing vista from rights-limited user account and it is a litle troublesome to dial admin pasword everytime I start the HWM...

Thanks a lot in advance!!

 

Hello. I would like to say that I bought the xps m1330 this week and even before having it shipped I found this topic and read ALL 77 pages of it. This thread has very valuable information.

First of all I would like to thank to the author for the great tutorial and all of you who helped in a way or another during the 77 pages.

I decided to order the copper from ebay uk and do the mod using arctic silver 5.
Yesterday my laptop arrived (which by the way it's just wonderful!! I love it) and today the copper. I didn't stressed the gpu so I only took the values from HMonitor in idle time. (bios A15, latest nvidia from dell).

CPU (before/after)
25-26 / 25-26

GPU (before/after)
54-55 / 48-49

Those values are just 1h after the mod so I expect some more 2 degrees drop in GPU until next week.

P.S the CPU is the T8300

P.S2: now there was an intersting thing that I noticed when opened the laptop. The cooling system is different from everything I saw before over here (I think it's better), and here are some pictures of it:







The laptop came from dell in January 23, 2009.

 

It could be due to the better thermal paste, but probably more due to the fact that the GPU and CPU share the same heatsink. Any reduction in temp of the GPU would result in a reduction in temp of the CPU.

 

That is not true at all. The GPU is not putting out less heat after this mod, heat is being dissipated better after this mod, meaning more of the heat coming from the GPU is going into the heatsink. Since the heatsink is shared with the CPU, it means less heat can go from the CPU to the heatsink, as some of the heat retention capability is being used by the GPU. Not to mention, the GPU is dropping lots of heat into that pipe, which then runs over the CPU, and since the GPU gets up to about 80 and the CPU gets to about 50-60, the GPU is actually piping some heat into the CPU. The better thermal paste must be causing the CPU to have a much better contact before, plus it's probably been properly applied now, which helps a lot too.

 

Yes, you are correct. I was temporarily confused

 

Hello, I have this mod for a while now and this time I tried to play games on it. While playing NFS Undercover I got 68C max using HWM. Is this ok? NFS is setup to max resolution and medium display preferences.

Btw, my idle temp after cold boot for 30 mins is 52-54. Is this ok also?

Thanks

 

That's a fine temperature.

 

Do you know anything about this heatsink type?





Is this a new/better revision as I never saw it on other xps m1330's?

 

I've not seen that yet... you should still replace the thermal pad, the thickness may be different though.

 

I already ask this question before but I would like to post it again.

Can someone please post what it looks like for a mobo with cooling assembly for Intel GMA x3100?

I want to know if I can downgrade my xps to Intel vga just in case. Also do you guys have any idea how much it is cost for Intel vga chipset mobo + cooling assembly.

Thanks

 

Here's one:

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=5552

and another:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/DELL-XPS-M1330-C...215|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318#ebayphotohosting

 

Thanks...now I need to see a picture of intel based mobo.

If someone out there tried already to downgrade their mobo from nvidia to intel please post

thanks

 

Here it is from the same site:

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=4722

 

I've just done the mod. At first I forgot to plug in the fan again xD. I ran 3dmark and my laptop got really hot and slow.

But there is a Thermal Cooling Pad missing on my chipset (middle chip). So there isn't a direct contact with the chipset. Can this be a problemm? If yes how can I solve this?

 

You need to find a replacement pad for the chipset, otherwise you're going to kill your motherboard.

 

hmm that doesn't sound good. Strange that there isn't a Termal Cooling Pad on my chipset.
But can I use the GPU Termal Cooling Pad that I just have removed from the Thermal Cooling Assembly? I've noticed on the pictures that the cooling pad of the GPU is a bit smaller than the chipset. But I don't have anything else now.
Will this be OK?

 

That'll be perfect - they both use the same thermal pad.

 

yeah but on the pictures the termal pad of the chipset looks bigger. But on the other hand there have never been a termal pad on the chipset before and my laptop is still OK . So I think this solution will be OK. And I don't have to keep the extra termal pad anymore for the warranty .

 

Hi,

I've got a copper sheet of 14x14x1mm. Is it enough or I need to seek an other one thicker ?

Thanks for your reply and for your thread.

PS: Sorry for my poor english.

 

My GPU temp now idles on 55 °C and goes max to 77 °C. Before the mod it was 58 °C and max to 90 °C. I think this is OK. But the rest of the temps are a bit higher. My CPU went from 34 °C idle 66 °C max to 38 °C idle and 77 °C max. Is this normal?

 

Yes, that is to be expected for the reason on the previous page:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4543119&postcount=771

 

Hi guys

Did anyone find out the correct thickness of the copper shim for the Vostro 1310 (1,5mm is too thick)? I'm still waiting on the answer to apply the mod in my laptop.

 

I think that's for you to determine and to post back here, just like so many of us have researched and done trial and error to benefit other users.

 

I installed a copper mod on my Inspiron 1420. It went pretty well considering it is my first time messing with laptop hardware. Doing it on the Inspiron 1420 is not for the faint of heart. The only problem I am experiencing is I seemed to have misseated my mainboard or something and the wifi switch is not wanting to turn off. In a couple of weeks I plan on doing it again. If anyone have any tips as to what might have gone wrong here, I would love them!

For those wanting to copper mod your Inspiron 1420, I highly suggest for you not to use anything more than 1.0mm thick.

I think when I do it the second time, I will take some pictures of the process to post if someone thinks that would be helpful.

I will get back with temps once things settle a little.

 

If you could post some pictures, it would be very helpful. I just purchased a .9mm sheet of copper and Arctic Silver 5 on ebay and am going to copper mod my 1420.

 

so yea...where do you guys buy the copper sheets exactly that size?

thx

opps

edited


Hep, I re-read and didnt find. Did i miss something

 

Read the first post in the topic.

 

Hey, this seems great, but i just ordered my m1330 (arrived today) so i still have a year of warranty left on it and with my luck with pc's, i'm going to need it.

Do dell frown upon these mods?

will it void my warranty?

 

Yes it does void your warranty. Usually anything that's done to a laptop other than a hard drive swap or ram upgrade voids the warranty.

 

Just keep the original thermal pad, and if you have to send in your unit for warranty work, swap the copper shim with it (after cleaning off the thermal grease of course).

 

Per a previous post by a user - how do you modify the fans to kick on to 100% when the GPU temperature is at 56oC or higher? I did some searching and couldn't find anything other than I8kGUI or what not which is not compatible with my 64bit. I was hoping it would be a Bios mod?

 

Ok I got a new motherboard today....and according to my temp monitors my idle temp is at 76 degrees! It's been that way for a few hours. It has to be wrong, the laptop is only slightly warm. Anybody have any ideas to somehow check the sensor or something?

 

Hi all! I just wanted to chime in after a long time of not posting here. I did the copper mod about 4 months ago, and so far so good (knock on wood though, 6-month limit is approaching). Anyway, I wanted to thanks again everyone responsible for the copper mod solution. Problems aside, this is a very good laptop. Good luck to everyone else doing their copper mods!