XPS 15 9550 temperature observations (undervolt + repaste)

Yes, that is a way to do it, but you are using the line method, not the dot one.

Spreading will cause air bubbles if it is not properly done, but the line method will cause them as well if not properly done.
However, in both cases (but specially in the smooth spread method), the area covered by air bubbles is way less than the area not covered by any TIM when using the dot method on a non-squared die.

This post has some good pictures about the different methods (but in IHSs).

 

finally getting my tools from amazon today. now you guys only take off the heat sink right? do you touch the fans too? I dont want to take out too many part


nvm got it figure out

 

I guess thats an improvement...doing prime right now instead of XTU

did anyone get a GPU temp?

 

YMMV, as this has automatic fan profiles you may find a lower fan speed and a lower gpu temp, no point trying to compare against others as ambient temps etc.
If you have better results than before it's good enough!

 

I'm not sure how much this help, I run furmark and my GPU gets to 90C and 77 on CPU, can someone with stock voltage and paste run furmark? just like for 1-2 minutes, I am on the I7 version.


repaste it with the spread method, got 88-89c (GPU) after 3 min on furmark

 

That's way too high on the GPU. The hottest my gpu has ever gotten was 78C. Either a bad paste job or your heat sink is bent

 

running 1080p furmark at x2MSAA?

 

I don't know about furmark. Witcher 3 is more strenuous on cpu and gpu together and I peak at 80 gpu/78 CPU. This is on an i5 with ic7 repaste and -mv undervolt

 

you should download furmark and try. I am also OC GPU at 120 core and 150 mem. I am I7 may be a little more heat too.

 

Pretty similar results to what I've observed with an i7 as well. On stock TIM I had peaks of 88C CPU and 90C GPU after 5 mins of Furmark. After re-pasting with IC7 the CPU peaks at 79C and GPU at 88C. For another data point: Prime95 on stock TIM 84C CPU peak, IC7 TIM 75C peak.

I'd give Furmark a try at least for another data point if nothing else. It's notorious for being known as kind of an unrealistic scenario because of the amount of heat it generates and the power consumption it uses. But it can be a useful worst case stress test because if you have no issues with crashing or throttling in Furmark, then you generally won't run into any issues elsewhere.

 

furmark 1080 preset 85 degrees 1100ish gpu core.
This is with a repaste on a well seated heatsink using mx2 as this is what Toshiba suggest we used for onsite Toshiba laptop repairs due to its low pressure results.

And thats the only time I will run it on this laptop as it is about as stressful as you can get.

 

I'd love to see people's work on repasting the cpu/gpu. I know there's a few pictures back on the first few pages but I'd like to get a good idea of what I should look for when I pick up my own xps 15 and repaste. I'm planning on using CLU but I'll probably start out with PK-2 and see how that goes first before jumping into using CLU right away... Plus I want to make sure the laptop is stable and won't randomly die on me... I've heard some stories from this 9550...

 

so when you open up the back case, pretty straight forward

 

wow here I thought the thermal grizzly Kryo is the best...

 

So it occurred to me that at the rate the fans are pushing air (~4900rpm maxed) there may be intake flow restrictions with how little clearance exists when the laptop is on a flat surface. I held the laptop in the air so there was unrestricted flow around the air intake vents and re-ran Furmark.

On desk - 5 min Furmark peak temps: CPU 79C, GPU 88C
Floating - 5 min Furmark peak temps: CPU 75C, GPU 83C

So that's another variable to be aware of if you're comparing temps. And something to be aware of if you want to minimize temps during extended gaming or benchmarking sessions.

 

how many minute on furmark if you dont mind me asking? did you repaste?

 

5 min Furmark as stated in my post. I let it run up to 10 minutes and it peaked once briefly at 84C but still stabilized around 82-83C. I probably should've quoted my own post from the previous page since it had some relevant info. IC7 repaste and CPU undervolted by -140mV.

 

Furmark

IC7 repaste, CPU undervolted by -160mv. notebook lid closed. GPU overclocked by +120/200.

Temp: 83C

 

hmmm why did you close the lid? I dont know if the thermal kyonaut is too thin for it to work but I dont get as great of temp as you.

not sure your CPU could be a factor too.

 

I'm convince that I did my paste right...I'm idling in the 26-29 range not sure why my max load temp are so much higher than you guys.

 

Because I use my laptop at my desk with an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

Just do the paste again. Take a look at the coverage on the chip (too much, too little) and adjust accordingly.

 

I wouldn't worry about Furmark being in the 90's. There is a reason that nVidia and AMD recommend against running Furmark. It's not a realistic way to test your GPU.

 

I dont really care about furmark except to test if I paste my stuff right. From what I been reading, people getting in the 80's doing furmark. I bought a very good thermal paste, I'm not sure why I still hit 90's, my idle temp is very good though between 25-29.

 

it may be good but is it designed with low pressure applications like laptop heatsinks?
Some of the "good" pastes are high pressure for water blocks and large heatsinks so work worst than the sh!t dell put on

 

This is why I believe CLU is going to be one of the best, if not the best, thermal pastes for this laptop. Most laptops, especially if the CPU and GPU heatsinks are connected usually have some type of contact issue. I've seen that the GPU heatsink is slightly raised on 1 corner, the CLU wet's both surfaces quite well and should create a gap free bond between the heatsink and die, whether or not its a high or low pressure mount... It's just a risky paste to use since its so conductive and destroys all aluminum...

 

Hi All. I got some MX-4 which I will use on the weekend for a repaste. My temps are already excellent, I'm just trying to make sure the fan noise is minimal. It seems like the fans are very aggressive and noisy on this machine, I don't know why Dell couldn't make the temperature thresholds a bit more relaxed.

I also have 4x2 cm of leftover thermal pad (2mm thick), can I use this for the GPU ram? Or is it too thick?

I haven't seen any comments here about laptop cooling pads. I like to use my machine on the lap, which is not good for gaming. I purchased the Trust Frio Notebook Cooling Stand and am very happy with it. The size is perfect for the XPS 15, the fan is very silent and temps drop by around 3c when using it. The nice thing is it blows cool air onto the base of the machine (which gets quite warm during gaming), also it's more comfortable for use on the lap than the bare laptop.

 

I think the pads are 2mm thick anyway.

 

Anyone tried Gelid GC Extreme for a repaste on these? I've heard it's very thick and might not be the best for laptops because they're lower-pressure mounts. It's either that or MX-4.

 

so far I got the thermal grizzly kryonaut, its not giving me the temp I want, I have MX4 and PK3 something and Coolab metalpad which I'm debating of trying since I dont know what it will do to the die and the heat pipe.

 

according to customgt they are 1mm

 

Yes it works fine, I tend to use MX2 now as it is approved by Toshiba for laptop repairs.

 

I'm so tempted to try liquid metal, anyone know what our heatpipe is made out of ? its orange so copper right?

 

Copper is right. I believe the surround material that is soldered to the heatsink that will cover the VRAM is either a galvanized metal or aluminum.

 

So i just tested MX4 and PK3, both were inferior to the Kryonaut. I couldnt believe it, I guess my I7 just love getting hot :/

 

Intel GPU (i7 version) data point:
0 load on the CPU
Furmark on Intel GPU currently testing at -180mV offset.
Crashed at -185mV.

Edit:
Running CPU stress and GPU stress at the same time brings that number way down (or is it up). I'm still working on a number.

 

because you are being throttle... 185 too much for i7. I would start at 160

 

I don't think you can make a blanket statement like that. It really depends on the quality of the chip as to how much you can undervolt.

His lockups are definitely due to too little voltage, but not because it's throttling.

 

Yeah it's not throttling. Currently the crashes are happening away from Furmark. So the higher clock/voltage states are more stable than the lower ones, which makes it harder to test for.

 

I think he missed the minus sign and assumed he is overclocking.

 

when my GPU lock up, it freeze the screeen and reboot. When I do furmark and temp either steady or gone down, I can tell my GPU is being throttle.

 

FYI, if anyone really want to repaste, Coollabotory Liquid Ultra is the way to go. my CPU and GPU completely cool.

this is comparing from MX4, Thermal Grillzy kryonaut and PK3

 

Of course furmark will cause it to throttle.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

uh what? did you read the whole conversation?

 

Yes, furmark will throttle any GPU in a laptop/notebook and if you are messing about with voltages and it locks up then leave it alone as you obviously don't have a clue as you are just posting statements.

 

Throttling doesn't cause lockups, too little voltage causes lockups.

 

I can attest to this, a few weeks ago i pushed my undervolt to -175mV, it passed prime 95 test for well over 24 hours but a week or two into using the under volt settings, i started getting random mini lockups. I upped it back in steps to -165mV, which was better but still had mini lockups. -160mV is what i'm running but i might stick with -150mv to play it safe.

 

Hmm, reading this thread is actually putting me off doing a repaste... My temps are very good already, just with an undervolt and using cooling pad to sit it on. I purchased MX-4, and I'm worried my temps might be worse after a repaste.

My real gripe is the fan. It seems more aggressive than it needs to be and it's very loud even on the second highest setting. Is there any of making the fan more relaxed? I assume this is controlled by the firmware, but is there any program or way of controlling the fan speed?

 

repaste it, it calms the fan down as the heats being removed more efficiently .

 

coollabortory liquid metal....awesome stuff.

 

Uh...before/after temperatures? Pictures? Results? You basically just gave a blanket statement with 0 proof to back it up. I know CLU is awesome because im using it right now on my 4.5GHz 2500K which doesn't even hit 60C in P95...but yea...little more info plzzzz