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

my laptop's been running fine for more than 6-mths now. just now someone said about having high risk of gpu failure after a year. would coppermod increase delay of failure or decrease?

 

Would delay the failure.

 

hmm ok. coz i was seeing, with coppermod it'll die at 1yr mark. so i was like LOL. my laptop is reaching 1 yr mark without mod in 2 mths... still waiting for my sheet... how long wud it take to reach singapore if i were to send payment on april fool's?

 

I'm still a bit confused after I've done the copper mod
1. which software would give the most accurate reading for GPU?
EVEREST 66/HW Monitor 71/I8kfanGUI 55
2. I've only used EVEREST before the copper mod and after the copper mod there is not much difference I think, why is that?

 

66 degrees is not bad at all...
Is that your load temp, or is that your idle temp?

The copper mod primarily lowers your load temp, the idle temp's drop will be small in comparison.

 

66 is half load temp, I think, because I'v just got my motherboard replaced again from dell. So the kaspersky is updating and scanning in the background all the times, which occupies about more than 50% cpu load

 

That's not the load temp then, since there wouldn't be any load on the GPU in that scenario.

 

is there any software could give a load rading of the gpu?

 

3dmark06 is what I, and most other people in this extensive topic have used.

 

Not the same system, but here's what load temps with warm components would be like - this is right after a wPrime 1024 & a 3DMark 06 bench -

 

Perfect when running in full load mode,

Thannks

 

71 max on load. can i O/C now?

 

just maxed out my 8400m gs in the speeds. max temp was 86 with coppermod. =/ setting to that only when playing high-demand games. other than that, will be setting to Normal.

 

my mod experience here: http://deluxeforums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?p=36955638

 

Nice documentation.
I love seeing how far this mod has spread across the internet.
Sadly (for me) sinstoic usually gets the credit for it... but so long as it's helping people I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

Hep!: he just has to make his guide credit you more obviously. haha. thanks for ur tips though. ur the one on the grounds.

 

He did give me one little credit line mixed in with other random stuff at the bottom. Would be nice if he started the post though with "based on Hep!'s guide, found here: or some such.
No problem for the tips, glad to help.

 

yea i guess so. all the credits are small lines. i was looking for the explanation on the credit card slit also. ended up only had a credit. not even explanation. -.-

 

i think this is a noob question. can i apply copper sheet on the CPU as well? and if yes, what should be the measurement?

Thanks!

 

You could, but since there is no gap there it would be counterproductive.

 

so there is no gap at all between the CPU and the thermal? if i use the 0.55mm thickness and loosen the screws a bit, is it okay ?? anyone tried this before ??

 

There's no gap. The point of using copper is to fill a gap, it doesn't magically lower temps where there is no gap. If you did what you're suggesting, your temps would go UP.

 

I notice Dell has an A15 bios now. Is there any reason to keep the A13 bios as recommended in the original post?

 

There really is no reason not to install the latest BIOS. If you notice any weird issues you can always roll back and install the previous version.

A15 is supposed to:

"Enhance Fn+F8 function"

which has to do with switching between your LCD and any attached displays. There may also be other fixes not listed by Dell. Sometimes there documentation is a bit 'light' -

If you do want to roll back, just reference this link:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...etag=&catid=-1&libid=1&impid=-1&osl=en&os=WLH

 

Hi everyone! This is my first post here in notebookreview..

I did the copper mod on my m1330 about a month ago. It was good, my GPU temps went about 10-12 deg. lower. Just now, my XPS died again. The warranty's over and I'm planning to get the one with the Intel X3100 motherboard for replacement (saw some on eBay). Is it compatible on my m1330's chasis which originally has a motherboard with an Nvidia GPU in it?

Hope I get a reply. thanks!

 

You do realize, the Dell has extended the warranty on the GPU for another year past your normal end of warranty, right?

The answer to your question: The chassis remains the same, but you will need to replace the cooling fan/heatsink as it is different for the X3100.

 

I didn't make it, original warranty expired Feb 2008, then plus the extension so It's until Feb 2009. It failed Just this week.

Thanks for the answer, appreciate it. Is that all that will change? Everything else will be the same?

 

guys, any answer on my question?

 

Yes... everything will be the same besides the HSF. mystery already answered you.

 

oh geez.. thanks for the response Hep! You really are the great one! lol

 

Hello all,

I have started a new thread where I ask everyone that has the overheating issue (whether you did the copper mod or not) to report their findings. Dell Finland asked me to gather all evidence of this problem I can and send it to them via email.

Thanks in advance!

 

Just ordered a certified refurb 1330 with the 8400M GS. Thanks to the OP (and other contributors) for this thread.

Will be doing this mod. Just finished ordering the copper sheet from metaloffcuts ebay vendor.

 

Cancel your order... there are better laptops for less money that don't have faulty GPUs. Why you would willing submit yourself to an nVidia M1330, I have no idea...

 

I just had my M1330 mobo replaced...8 months out of warranty. I bought the laptop the same month it first came out with a one yr onite warranty. Over the year i had the speakers changed, the mobo changed (now for the second time) and also the screen changed - so it is very poor build.

However, i must say that ive received excellent customer service (probably because it was an onsite warranty and an XPS). Phone conversations never took longer than 20mins and all repair were carried out on site the following day by the engineers.

I just spoke to a dell advisor, and they assured me that dell has agreed to cover this overheating GPU issue for FIVE YEARS!...not the 12months that were initially suggests. Although this gives me SOME reassurance, im planning to do the copper mod just to save the hassle of constant mobo replacements. Technically this voids warranty, but you can always put the thermal pad back on before you return it for repair and they'll never know

Im not planning on keeping the M1330 for long, just ordered a Vaio Z. Hopefully that'll live up to the challenge that M1330 has failed miserably.

 

Also, i just performed the copper mod on my m1330 and the results are great. My GPU temp idles at 53 (down from 67) and the CPU idles at 40 (down from 47)....thats a biiig jump for a small piece of metal

 

I'm considering attempting a similar copper mod for the ATi Mobility Radeon 3450 on my Studio 1535...I've got a couple of 16x16x1mm copper shims lying around, and half a tube of Arctic Silver...my temps are high, though nowhere near as alarming as the XPS M1330. I'll post back here when I finish the mod, and see how it goes.

 

First confirm that you can even do it... don't haphazardly just install a shim just to find you've caused damage to some other component because the HSF was not properly seated.
Do you have a gap that is currently bridged by a crappy TIM?

 

That's exactly the case. The heatsink doesn't directly come into contact with the GPU; there's a thermal pad taking up the space in between.

I know another Studio 15 owner ended up bridging the gap with some layers of aluminum foil and applying Arctic Silver to both sides of that, and he reported a few degrees' difference. I think copper will do the job nicely.

 

UPDATE - I just installed the copper shim between the ATi 3450 and the heatsink. I was right on, the shim is the perfect thickness for the gap (1mm), and fits snugly in the space that the thermal pad used to occupy.

Before, idle temperatures on the GPU were between 55 and 60 degrees Celsius. Now, after being on for about 25 minutes, it's sitting at 49 degrees.

Mission success!

 

What about your load temperatures?

 

Ok, so I've been really holding out on doing this mod because I have a 3 year in home warranty from Dell and didn't want to lose it. I've had my dell for almost a year now and just the other day, the video card finally gave. I was watching a high def movie and then the screen just went black. After that, I would just get the vertical lines of horror every time I tried to turn it back on. So I called Dell and the next day the guy was at my house replacing the motherboard and LED screen. New motherboard and screen? Sweet deal, or so I thought...

Before this happened I was happy with my temps. I would idle at around 45-55 and with load be around 60-70 without doing any modifications at all. After my "new" motherboard my idle temps were between 55-65 and load was higher than 70! I had asked the tech guy while he was working on my laptop about the coppermod and he said he didn't really care if I did it. Most of the time they don't even see it and when they do they don't usually report it. Unless it had a direct effect on the problem. (keep in mind this is for in home service. I'm sure if you send your comp in, things'll be different) So that gave me some incentive to try to copper mod. I knew with these temps, my new GPU card was not going to last.

So I tried the mod just as it was stating and my temps went even higher! My idle temps were between 65-75! I tried putting more and then less of AS5 and tried a combination of things. The only thing I've been getting to work the best is a combination of the heat pad on top with AS5 between the copper and the GPU. Now I Idle between 55-65 but I have no idea why it's not working the way I thought it would. When I turn it on the temp starts out at 41 and then steadily climbs to 50+ in seconds. Is this normal? Has anyone else noticed similar results? I'm sure I did something wrong but I don't know what. I tried a really thin coat of AS5 like it requested and it was blazing hot. So then I tried a little thicker coat and it got a bit better. I tried a really thick coat and not much difference. So then I cleaned it all off and put a thin coat between the copper and the GPU and then put the heat pad back on and that got the temps down to 55-65 idle which is still hot! Any suggestions? Thanks

 

I haven't really measured those yet. Before the mod, they would reach the 90's Celsius. I'm going to give this some more time and on/off cycles to cure, but I'll be sure to get some in-game temp readings later on.

You should put some AS5 between the heatsink and the copper, not just between the GPU and copper. Otherwise the copper absorbs all the GPU's heat, but doesn't really transfer it very well to the heatsink.

 

That's how I had it. I had AS5 between the GPU and copper and also between the copper and heatsink. So the copper was sandwiched between two layers of AS5. But I still got extremely hot readings...

 

Make sure everything was resting flat. One way to test this is to put a small ball shaped dab of thermal paste down and attach the HSF. Then disconnect the HSF, if the paste is unevenly spread, then the HSF is not resting evenly!

 

Great guide I think u should sent this thread link to dell people.So that should know what mistakes they make.Simply amazing.....

 

so here is my story..

my m1330 has once already been in the warranty repairs because "the lines" appeared on my screen. if i remember correctly they gave me a new motherboard and that was that (or maybe was it a new 8400, going to clarify that tomorrow with the warranty technicians). and this was like 6 months ago

so recently ive noticed high rise in temeperature, especially under my left arm.
so i checked my temps with hwmonitor and in idle 8400m cpu is 70-75C and under high load its 95-100C+

so my question is that is this a indicator that my 8400 is going to fry again and im going to get "the lines" on my screen, again?

its been over 6 monts since my warranty repairs and i dont want to wait till the gpu completely dies. im considering copper mod, but again, its been 6 months and isnt "the damage already done" so to speak?

so what should be my next move, send my xps again to the warranty repairs and tell them that my temperatures have rised and that they should replace my 8400?

i would really appreciate all the help.

 

Well, it depends how you look at it.
All 8400's are faulty and will fail, no matter what. So no matter how new your GPU is, the "damage is already done"
The damage is cumulative, so yes, by using it for six months, more damage was done.
But a replaced part from Dell is a refurb, so someone else was using it and the damage was done then too.
Basically, a GPU should never be 100C.
It shouldn't even be 90C.
If you mod it, you will lengthen its life by keeping the temperatures lower.
...however, the GPU will fail eventually regardless.

 

Tell Dell that you're having bad heat issues again. If I were you, I would try to get it repaired under warranty again. I would wait to try the copper mod as a last resort.

 

I bet he's just got a lot of fluff in the cooling vents.
I have now set an alarm to remind me, once a month, to clean my cooling fan. The amount of fluff and crap I pull out of there on a monthly basis is scary.

 

well sh*t, thats sad.

i mean no matter what i do it will eventually fail?
so what.. its like after warranty ends, every time the gpu dies i must buy a new one?
and that way forever and ever..