The "I use my laptop only as a desktop" cooling mod.

So, I have a i9 9570. It gets hot, much moreso than the i7's. I undervolted, I padded, I was still running idle temps of ~50c and hitting 95 under full load. I feel like I tried everything there was to lower temperatures.

Well, almost everything. UNTIL NOW!

Behold, the ugliest mod you will ever see:


Thats right, I did all of this for around $30 - You can buy a older 9560 caseback on ebay for ~20 bucks and then just throw some fans on it. Idle temps are now fantastic and I dont even hit 75 under load.

Note that the fans I ended up using are not the ones pictured. I had some server fans which did a much better job even though they were smaller ( 60mm I believe ) but pushed way more CFM.

Anyways- Thats about it. One fan sucks (over the CPU) and one fan blows (over the GPU) As you can see, I cut a hole over the CPU so as to increase the sucking. I did not cut it over the GPU as I didnt want to help dust get in there. The fans are just attached with tape, but glue or any other adhesive would also be fine.

Please note: Dont modify your original XPS, Im sure it voids your warranty. Just buy a used one like I did.

What if I want to take my laptop out of the house? I simply unscrew the backplate and then attach the original. I know for some of you thats way to much work, But i only bring my laptop with me when I go on vacation, so this is a easy sell for me.

One last thing: You obviously need to raise the laptop when you do this. If you just set it flat the fans wont do anything.

 

I have a laptop cooling pad instead.



ignore the poor translation at the bottom, but this was $14. The only downside is some people may not want LEDs.

 

the issue with the cooling pad is that you are just cooling the back of it. You are not creating any airflow over the processor/heatpipe. For me at least, using a cooling pad maybe had a 2 degree differential.
Doing this knocked off 10+ degrees for me. (I can hit 35c if the computer does absolutely nothing for a while)

 

Hahaha. First one I have seen to cut a hole in the casebottom.

Are you getting PL throttling easily? What are the bottlenecks on your i9 now?

I suppose you could engineer larger holes underneath and reduce the fan speed. Did you try running just one fan?

 

Still has PL throttling. Not sure how I can fix that... Remove the undervolt? It sticks at 4.1/4.2 non stop doing heavy loads so im good with that.

My only issue atm is my fans im using are pretty loud. Might change them out for something quieter

 

But this is probably to long-term PL1 45W, kinda normal?
(The i9 allows more but it is unlikely Dell would allow this considering the known cooling issue.)
You should have used duct tape!

 

Removing the undervolt will cause it to PL throttle earlier and at a lower frequency. Undervolting = less wattage into the cpu = higher sustained clocks.

 

Your fan mod makes no sense...why do you have one blowing air in then right next to it blowing air out?

I bet if you had both blowing in you'd get better temps....FYI. Also...it's more so about static pressure than anything and your best fan is actually going to be a blower fan...or squirrel cage type fan...those will give you the best thrust of air into the case... You need 1 in the center and 2 on the sides right where the fans are to suck air into the laptop to blow across the heatsinks...

 

*edit* I see what you mean about the fan orientation.

 

I think this "first iteration" mod relies on blasting massive amounts of air to the laptop. Refining the mod could reduce fan noise and temps significantly.

I would remove the metal from the case bottom directly under the laptop fans so they can intake max amount of air.

Maybe you could get away with two smaller blower fans under the laptop. They would be "feeding" the built in laptop fans and cooling the vrm area.

@Philaphlous has some good points and you don't want to be sucking air from under the built in laptop fans else the heatsink solution gets LESS efficient.

Also you can buy or build a simple speed regulator for the USB fans to control noise. I don't think you need much velocity to be frank as you will always be fighting PL throttling.

You can use MSI Afterburner to undervolt the GPU. That might reduce PL throttling depending on how Dell engineered the VRM. Worth some testing.

As @custom90gt noted, the CPU undervolt reduces power usage so should reduce PL throttling. You can use Intel XTU to boost short & long power watts & time; search my posts for tips. You can't run ThrottleStop and XTU at the sametime however (so you would need to use XTU to undervolt the CPU also).

You may get a bit more performance with Windows Power Options at "High Performance", using Dell Command I Power Manger "Ultra Performance."

 

You guys are both inventive and innovative to get the 9570 to cool, and fair play to you all, but IMHO all this is all on Dell to make this better. Not pushing this back to them may only prolong the issues and future models are just as bad.

They should be able to make a product that works as described, is able to cool itself properly and doesn't have to get normal users to have to install software and make physical changes to get it to run properly.

Vote with your £'s or $'s, if its not up to scratch, send the baby back - I did. Ok I'm still sat here on an old laptop but my £'s are there in the bank and if a decent upgrade appeears I'm jump on it like a tramp on a bag of chips.

Perhaps Dell should employ a few of you from this forum, and I'd wager we'd have a far better machine in a very short space of time.

 

Im not sure how you get it makes no sense. Space is limited. If you have both blowing in, there would be no exhaust. This takes up 90% of the intake 'vents' Creating a constant flow is much better as both fans 'assist' each other vs both fans trying to blow air into a space with no exhaust.

 

well, it's not like the chassis is an airtight enclosure. the air will creep out.
Not sure if it will be better than what you already have.

Anyway, I appreciate your "ghetto" fix.
It would be interesting to see if simply removing the black insulant blocking the grill and using a cooling mat with focused fans will do the job as well.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2S10HY/ref=twister_B01D4MJI26?th=1

 

I use a Coolermaster U3 laptop cooler and you can rearrange the fan positions - I have mine right under the CPU & GPU: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/41099/cooler-master-notepal-u3-plus-notebook-cooler-black

 

There's a copper sheet below that insulant, the one iunlock recycled as VRM "fin surface". Not sure how much function it has in the default (poorly functional) thermal design, but it may happen to be worse without it. I mean it looks like someone initially thought to have open grille but later thought of placing the copper sheet over it...

With big fans I guess the placement likely doesn't matter so much. But if trying to cool the VRMs with a little bit of air redirected from the internal vents the way iunlock did, directing the airflow is likely important.

 

You're likely seeing Power Throttling and lower temperatures because Intel DTFP thinks your using your laptop on your lap. Therefore you are also seeing decreased performance.

I have observed about a 4-6 degree drop in average CPU temperature in DTFP A00 with the rear lifted (compared to on the desk), and maintaining 56w PL1 when running Prime95. If I have DTFP A01 installed and the rear lifted, running prime95, i cannot maintain 56w and the PL1 will reduce, to about 40w or what is necessary to maintain temperatures of around 80c.



" The Dynamic Power Mode Policy can therefore, adapt to the notebook's usage. If the system is docked, the policy can set a higher temperature limit. Similarly, if the system is hand-held or worn, the policy can set a lower limit in real-time. Thus, maximum performance within the dynamically adjusted power limit can be provided. "#



https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-...-policies-across-its-XPS-lineup.247462.0.html "

 

Another potential solution to the temperature issues you're getting with the i9 is to get a custom 9570 heatsink with 4 heat pipes and copper fins off taobao for around 30 USD

 

This sounds interesting, has anyone posted about this? fitting, benchmark comparison ect

 

I'm posting about it in the thread titled
Dell XPS 9560 VRM Thermal Insanity As Seen Through FLIR by republicofsam

 

Instead of hacking the crap out of your laptop, on a hackjob that will probably do no real justice to what you are trying to do. Why not just sell the damn thing and buy/build a desktop system and have something that can blast full power for hours and hours? Seems like a silly thing you did.