Studio XPS 16 Copper mod

Hi guys,

I've been reading through the "Dell XPS M1330 - nVidia GeForce 8400M GS - Copper Mod" thread (must admit not all gazillion pages...), and I was wondering if this mod would be possible for the Studio XPS16 as well, since the M1330 uses an Nvidia GPU, whereas the SXPS16 uses an ATI GPU. And, if it were, would it be beneficial?

How would one go about the mod then? Is the procedure similar to the M1330 mod described in the thread?

Link to the thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=268081

One more question: The pictures in the thread show three large chips under the heatsink; one is the CPU, the other one is the GPU, but what is the 3rd one? Southbridge?

Many thanks in advance!

 

the 3rd one is the northbridge.

the southbridge does not need a heatsink to cool it.

 

I am pretty sure the ati 3670/4670 on the sxps 16 doesn't use a thermal pad so a copper mod will not work.

I am taking mine apart tonight to put as5 on cpu and gpu so will be able to confirm later

 

I beg to differ

 

From what I read I concluded that this is located exactly under the touchpad and that the southbridge is the reason the touchpad gets hot, but I could be wrong...

Anyway, is it worth it to replace the cooling paste with Arctic stuff or will that do too little?

How exactly is the ATI GPU cooled if it doesn't use a copper pad and cooling paste? Is there any other mod possible to cool it down a little?

 

maybe so, but I'm still right about the 3rd chip under the heatsink being the northbridge.

FYI my southbridge (from intel 965 chipset) has no heatsink
Maybe I should put one on there?

 

Anyone can correct me if i'm wrong about this but...

I think the reasoning behind the copper mod is because of the thermal pad being thick. On the m1330 you couldn't remove the pad and replace it with thermal grease because the gap left behind by removing the pad was too great.

To remedy this, a copper mod aka a sheet of copper is used to fill this gap. I'm not so sure if the sxps16 has this type of situation though.

If it doesn't have a thermal pad, just reapply the TIM with mx-2 or tuniq and this would actually work better than a copper mod.

 

I just put AS5 on the GPU, CPU, and northbridge and it's fine.

 

fred2028 - did you see much of a difference?

I am doing this tonight as my P8600 cpu idles @ 55c and has hit 93c on load! My ambient temps are approx 20c. I have never seen such high temps on a mobile cpu and have had plenty in my time

 

The sxps 16 is similar to the 1530. I copper modded mine and it was the same as if I had just thermal paste in it. The 1330 needs the mod because dell put a crappy thermal pad between the gpu and heatsink so it doesn't transfer heat well. IMO I wouldn't copper mod a sxps 16 but maybe a sxps 13 since it also uses the thermal pad.

 

I took my sxps 16 apart last night, there is definately just thermal paste on the GPU so it does not need a copper mod!

I removed the rubbish dell paste from the gpu and cpu and re-applied AS5. It has made a 10c drop in my temps (which were stupidly high from the dells poor application on paste)

 

Wow... a 10 degree drop in temps? That is huge...

Did both the CPU and GPU drop by 10 degrees?

 

On Idle my CPU dropped 10c my gpu dropped 5c

On load yes both dropped by min of 10c. The CPU actually more than 10c but I was just generalising (I have hit a max of 73c with AS5 whereas with the dell stock paste it got upto 93c before it was throttled)

 

Just ordered a kit of AS5 and cleaner... Is there any description of the procedure? Any guide that describes how to do it?

I guess it's not too difficult, but I'm new to this so any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

people say that the best way is to put a small amount on the chip and let the heatsink spread it out.

That makes it less likely to get air bubbles.

 

I spread mine with a credit card so I know there is a thin layer across the whole die. Make sure it is a very thin layer for optimal results.

 

This thread is exactly what I've been waiting for. I didn't want to pop my heatsinks off to find a big thick thermal pad is needed and I just ruined it. Gonna do mine with the Shin-Etsu tonight.

 

To put on the compound is not too difficult, I think. From what I read and saw on Youtube, the best thing to use is a plastic bag and to wrap that around your finger to spread out the stuff on the CPU and GPU.

What I would like to have is some sort of guide on how to dismantle the heatsink on the SXPS16. Another thing I would like to know is how to remove the existing compound. Besides the AS5, I also ordered "ArctiClean", which consists of two bottles: Thermal Material remover and Thermal Surface purifier. I've seen and read about stuff to use, and it ranges from coffeefilters to cottonbuds and paper towels. Any ideas?

Is there any guide on how to dismantle the heatsink for the SXPS16? Is a guide required or is it a pretty easy thing to do and figure out for yourself? I don't want to end up with a 2200 euro costing overheated (goodlooking) brick...

 

You dont need a guide it is so easy. You can get the dell service manual from their website which explains it well but in summary:

1. switch off your laptop, unplug it and remove battery.
2. remove the base panel to expose heatsink
3. remove the right rear cap that covers heatsink fins (this slides right about an inch then pulls out the same way as the battery)
4. unscrew the 7 screws on the cpu and gpu heatsinks
5. carefully lift the heatsink off (mine also had a bit of tape from the fan to the heatsink, I gently removed this and reused it when I put the heatsink back)

With regards to the old thermal paste I used Isopropyl (pure alcohol) on a cotton bud to remove the old paste and clean the die's.
voila!

 

Thanks Ninja!

Will try it as soon as I get my new machine! Expecting it the 28th...
Don't think I'll be doing this for my current SXPS as I'll be sending it back to Dell in september.

Many thanks again!

 

No, no, no, no. That is bad advice and I wish the owner of that youtube video would take it down as I have seen it as well. It is misinforming way to many people. If you applied it that way there will be air bubbles galore.

The definitive way of applying thermal paste is to let the pressure of remounting the heatsink spread out the grease itself.

This has already been proven to be more effective then spreading with a credit card or a razor blade.

 

exactly. Just like I said before

 

Well, it's one word against another... Some say that the plastic bag is the best, others prefer a credit card or business card, and some others prefer to let the pressure from the heatsink spread out the stuff.

I don't like the businesscard idea, because I can image that to leave some paper fibers behind in the paste.

I actually don't really like the heatsink / pressure idea either, as I can image that not the entine core will be covered by the paste (or am I wrong?)

The creditcard method could leave scrapes on the CPU/GPU heatsink, and I think it will not be easy to spread out the paste evenly, so I don't really like that idea either...

I've seen youtube videos of all possible ways to apply the paste but can't becide which method to use... Ninja, how did you do it? Sounds like you got optimal results, so I'm quite curious to know how you did it...

 

Hi Technative, I used a business card, I have done it this way for years and have always had good results. I have also tried the blob and letting the heatsink spread it which although worked well when I have removed the heatsinks (for upgrades or maintenance) I could see that the die was not always completely covered evenly.

My biggest advice whichever way you do it is to apply the thinnest layer possible.

Also apply the compound to the die and not the heatsink, and dont worry about scratching it with a credit card/business card they are quite tough and you should spread gently/evenly anyway

 

Thanks Ninja! Think I´ll prefer the creditcard method then.

Will try it on my new SXPS16 (with 4670) when it arrives. It´s supposed to be here by the 28th. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you posted.

 

I've always done the pressure mount method.

What I normally do is instead of a dollop I do a line parallel to the core and mount the heatsink. When I took it off to inspect the coverage It covered the entire core.

I did this to my Dell 1520 and I get 35-40C idle.

Here's proof behind the method and that I'm not just making stuff up.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=37&threadid=2139377

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=5&artpage=3071&articID=635

Although the credit card method will work its not as efficient as pressure mount. If you do it this way make sure you clean the card edge with alcohol so you don't contaminate the TIM when you're spreading it.

 

And what temps did you get before reaplying the TIM?

 

@ MrX8503,

These are impressive results I must say... A difference of 5 degrees Celcius between pressure mounting and spreading with the same TIM in the same system!

Pff... I don't know anymore... Guess I'll have to try it out and see what works best...

 

At the end of the day either way will be 10x better than the cr*p dell uses and the amount they gloop on.

Just use which ever way suits you, just try and make sure its even and dont over do it. Give it a good burn in afterwards whilst monitoring the temps.

You will know if it isnt evenly applied by a large difference between core temps.

 

I don't know, I can't remember. But you can't really get any better than 35-40C idle. Thats almost desktop cooling performance on air. Then again the dell 1520 has a pretty roomy chassis.

Pressure mount on a laptop is a lil more difficult than on a desktop CPU because Laptop CPU's has exposed cores. What this means is that its important that the TIM covers the entire core.

What I do to combat this is that I do the applying of TIM and removing twice. The first mount is for the inspection of coverage, then I clean it up and reapply TIM based on my first inspection and do the final mount.

The credit card method will work also, just make sure its a thin translucent and even.

 

If there's enough stuff I'll try that. I ordered 3.5 Grams, so I guess there's plenty for testing purposes. I'll try pressure mounting first. If I'm not satisfied by the coverage or don't have a good feeling about it I'll skip to the creditcard method. Thanks for the tips!

 

Just out of curiousity I tried running a stresstest (Prime95) and monitored system temps on my system (Core Temp 0.99.5). The system idles at 50 degrees celcius, and when I run the stresstest, it shoots up to 78 / 79 degrees. After about 30 seconds the fan started blowing, and after 40 seconds it started blowing at top speed. I then just let it run for about three minutes and the temp of both cores maxed out at 84 degrees, but it had been gradually climbing.

I then opened up my browser, logged in to this site and started typing this message when all over sudden the whole system shut down and remained dead for about a minute!!! Scared the &^%# out of me... Thought I cooked it or something... Must be some kind of thermal protection that kicked in... Anyone else had this with their system? Isn't this proof that the cooling system of the SXPS is not sufficient?

Knowing this I'll be applying AS5 to my new system for sure!!!

 

Yep its cr*p isnt it
This system has the worst thermal solution I have ever come across. I am tempted to send it back.

I get random CPU throttling now, even though my temps dont go above 75c every now and again my cpu will throttle and then stick at 6x multiplier. Only a reboot will resolve. I am so hacked off. I thought getting the temps down would solve this.

That and the touch pad temps are crazy

 

I tried the same test again with the screen tilted a little to allow the fan exhaust to "breathe freely", but the same thing happened... It's slowly killing itself with the temps...

Check this out:


The system idles just below 50 degrees, and when stressed it quickly climbs up to 78 / 79. It then adds one degree to each core every 15 to 20 seconds or so... I guess shut down temp of my CPU is somewhere at 86 or 87 degrees.

I quit the stresstest now at the temp displayed in the image, but if I hadn't stopped it would most certainly have killed itself again. Note: I did nothing with the cooling system as I'll be sending this one back in exchange for a system with 4670 GPU; this is a stock machine!

Never seen this in any system before. Got to say that I'm heavily disappointed by this!!! Hope it improved with the AS5, but actually I think that should not be necessary at all. It's too bad that we should even consider using that stuff... I mean if you want to overclock your system because you want to get the max out of it and you are thereby forced to use an alternate paste, ok... I can understand... But Dell has now supplied us with systems that are able to perform at their max for about 30 seconds or so...

 

Yeah every computer has an auto shut off when the temps get too high to protect itself from damage.

The SXPS16 does have poor cooling. I'm not so sure what Dell was thinking to have the exhaust in the back where it can be covered. All their Inspirons have the exhaust on the side, which makes sense to me.

 

Well, In the last test I did, I tilted the screen which completely unblocked the fan exhaust at the back. Whether or not the fan exhaust is blocked by the screen, this machine is still killing itself when under stress. My conclusion is that the cooling system of the SXPS16 is unsufficient to have this system running under stress for a prolonged period of time. After all, the test ran for about 4 minutes when it auto-shut down. It then took about two whole minutes for the machine to show some signs of life again.

One more thing: While running the stresstest, I noticed that the machine itself did not get extremely hot. The touchpad and palmrests did not feel as hot as when I'm rendering a bluray movie for example. Difference between the stresstest and creating a bluray movie is that the harddrive is used more intensively when creating a movie. Could it be that the drive is also partially contributing to the heat buildup? And if so, does an SSD get less hot than the 7200 RPM 500 drive?

 

Right well I have spent the day testing and trying to sort my downclocking.

I have stopped the throttling with a combination of the AS5, Undervolting, raising the back nd tilting the screen back about 110c

With this combination I can leave orthos and furmark running for a couple of hours with no problems.

I am so annoyed with Dell though, I shouldnt have to do all this just to get my laptop working as it should.

 

Hard drives do contribute to heat buildup, but most of your heat is coming from your CPU/GPU. All other stuff is minuscule. SSD would be cooler, but it wouldn't help your situation much.

As ninja mentioned, if its not a lemon. Then you could do the undervolt, reapply TIM, and get a notebook cooler.

 

Thanks! I'll see how much of a difference there is with the 4670 system.

 

Good luck, keep us updated.

 

good reading guys, I've got a SXPS16 on the way from dell atm, reading this is quite worring because I've gone for the T9900 CPU and the one with ATI 4670, Ive applied AS5 many a time on desktops looks like I will have to do this on my new Lappy. Its a shame because I went with dell because their quality is supposed to be awsome (my last laptop an ASUS was shockingly bad and their support didnt care about a serious bios flaw that was reported to them in 2007 by loads of users and still exists to this day).

 

Let me put your mind at ease tyhen: The SXPS16 with 4670 GPU runs a lot cooler than the msame machine with the 3670 GPU! As we speak I am benchmarking both machines (with T9900 CPU), and I found that the system with the 4670 run about 8 degrees (C) cooler! i'll put up a complete report of performance and temps soon. I'm still working on it, but it shouldn't be long.

 

Looking forward to it! I have an outlet model with the 3670 I put a T9900 into and I'm considering sending it back for a model with the 4670 and if its actually cooler than that will seal the deal.

N

 

Cool I will look forward to seeing that, apparently its going to be 10 days eta, im chomping at the bit to get a hold of it could I ask what make the 256GB SSD is in the new models if anyone knows? I've heard rumours its the £500 Samsung one.

 

Alright folks, here's the doc. I basically confirms all that has been said: The 3670 runs considerably hotter than the 4670, and the 4670 performs a lot better than the 3670. Enjoy!

BenchmarkResults_SXPS16_3670_VS_4670.doc