XPS M1330 - The cooling sucks, and I'm looking for some input.

I noticed that while playing even older games, such as GTA: San Andreas, my fan would start running like crazy, and after a little, the game would get very choppy. I ran speedfan, and my temps were all way too high.

I opened up my laptop and took off the cooling module. There was a TOOON of thermal grease on the CPU. Like, overflowing amounts; way too much to be effective. So I cleaned it all off my CPU and off the cooling module with some isopropyl alcohol, and applied Arctic Silver 5. I reassembled my PC, but my idle temps were almost unchanged!

I am 99% sure that the problem is as a result of the space between the cooling structure and the GPU/Chipset. I attempted to smooth out some pre 1982 pennies (as their ~95% copper) with an electric sander, but unfortunately, they came out kind of uneven and I know that this will not be good at all for cooling.

I remember back in the day, putting layers of aluminum foil between the L2 cache and the HSF on slot Athlons to maximize heat transfer (since by stock they had like a mm or so of space between) and I'm considering trying this.

I'm interesting in everyone's feedback on the issue. Am I totally off track on the cause of the high temps? Are these little pad/sponges more efficient than I am predicting?

If I am on the right track, what do people think of my ideas? Any suggestions for improving what I'm currently trying, or any completely different suggestions?

Any feedback greatly appreciated. Results will be posted once complete.

-Lou.

 

Ideally you'd sandwich a copper block with AS5 between the heatsink and the GPU but I don't know the thickness or where to get some.

You're on the right track as the 5mm thermal pad sucks for heat transfer.

 

That's why I was using pennies. I do have some old WC laying around from when I was into desktops, I suppose I could hack the waterblock or radiator to get some copper. In fact, I think I may have some copper fins on the radiator. What would people think about perhaps sandwiching several copper fins (polished of course, with a TINY amount of AS5 in between)?

 

One block of solid copper would be far better.

 

Steve511 had a source of copper sheets here
http://www.greathobbies.com/productinfo/?prod_id=KNS259

That's from this thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=219786&page=2&highlight=copper

 

I hope this isnt the case for all M1330 and M1530 X_X

 

Actually 5/6mm aluminium sheets are a decent price on ebay. perhaps someone could buy one of the right thickness then cut and distribute the blocks to others on here.

Edit: I'd happily do this if I could source the correct thickness of polished copper from somewhere.

 

Yeah, a large issue is going to be getting it to be the right thickness and it still be polished and level. I know one block would be much better, but the spacing is probably only about a MM, maybe even less.

I'm about to go dig around, see if I have anything I can start testing with.

@Forte - I am 99% sure this is the case with all M1330's... problem is not many people seem to care. I searched a long time to see if someone's found a solution, and no one seems to care.

 

You can buy solid blocks from ebay quite cheaply but someone needs to find the right dimensions and where to source the copper from in the UK >_<

where are you from Hep?

 

New Jersey, United States. I checked my basement (my grandfather used to be a GM Tool and Die maker before he died, his workshop is our entire basement)

Couldn't find any copper sheets. Found lots of aluminum, but I really don't want to use inferior materials. I'm thinking about going to Home Depot to see what they've got.

The thread linked has sheets at a 0.025 inch in thickness, I am trying to visualize that. I think the fins off this radiator might be that thickness... pics in a moment.

EDIT:
Actually no pics, my camera isn't working. But I am thinking that this is too thin anyway. It's literally about paper thin.

Someone mentioned business card size. Did they mean thickness?

 

The gap is at least 0.5mm thick, probably more.

 

yeah I was thinking the same. Do you have an XPS M1330 in front of you now?

I do but I am not sure how to measure this.

 

Yes I do, I'm typing on it now, but I'd have to disassemble the heatsink assembly to check and I can't do that at 12.20 AM.

 

D:

Alright. I'm on my Inspiron 1520, my M1330 is apart in front of me. I am going to go look for a caliper (spelling?) downstairs and going to measure the thickness of the pad where it's squashed from being attached.

.025in is like .6mm, that one guide uses .65mm coper... sadly that's also a totally different computer so it's a bit irrelevant.

 

Good luck mate.

Once this cooling issue is sorted and my spongy keyboard is fixed I'll be happy with this laptop.

 

I am going to try two sheets from this watercooling radiator. I figure a bit of AS5 and copper couldn't possibly be worse than a thermal pad...

 

I have a spare aluminium heatsink I can cut up and use so let me know how it goes. The fins aren't polished though =/

 

I'm not sure if I'd use that :\
I'd be inclined to try aluminum foil before that, would be sooo hard to get it smooth enough, and even.

 

Is your water cooling radiator polished then?

 

Ran into another problem: the very corner of the GPU die is not covered, there are no places on these sheets big enough to cut out a flat area. Think leaving just a tiny bit of the corner exposed would be a problem?

I doubt it.

 

Tempted to buy something like this and cut it to size if you can determine the thickness:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-COPPER-SH...tcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Yes. Well, it was. It's been sitting in a box in the basement for years. It's very dusty at the moment but I plan on cleaning it with vinegar before putting it in.

 

Did you get to measure the thermal pads thickness?

 

Well, I stacked three sheets of this stuff and it was about one mm. So my sheets are about that thickness (estimated)

I never went and got the caliper, I'm a lazy **** (is swearing allowed on this forum? Censored for now...)

I am going to start with 2 sheets polished because the copper will expand. I will leave the thermal pad on the chipset, I don't think it really needs the help.

 

shame, would be nice for someone to actually measure and do a proper guide for this rather than the guy who made one post and left it at that. Like you said there's no information out there for this.

 

2 pads not thick enough. Once assembled, I was able to push down on the GPU cooling and it gave a bit.

Can you check if yours does this with the pad? I doubt it. Adding in a third layer now..


EDIT:
Once I get it working I will post a tutorial on what I did. But I'm a doer.

I don't like to measure stuff out tediously then not even use the info. Promise I will measure my sheets with a caliper once I'm done, post how many I used, take some photos (need to get a hold of a working camera), etc.

 

No it doesn't, the assembly is rigid.

 

taking the dive. powered it on.

 

Can you look at the little spring right by the GPU? No movement there? If not, I will add a fourth sheet. So far, no problems.

 

Alright, well, my temps went from 67 idle before the mod (after a few hours of being on) to 75 after only a minute of being booted. I pressed firmly down on the cooling assembly and the temps quickly dropped to 55. I imagine they'd continue to drop. So I need to put more in between, definately.

 

Ah. the middle sheet I used is NOT flat. When I took it apart, there was not an even spread of thermal grease! So now I am cutting two new ones to use.

 

Actually, this radiator is getting very disagreeable -_-

Think Home Depot would sell this stuff?

 

If you know the thickness you need I think most hardware stores/arts and crafts places will have copper sheets in the correct thickness.

 

God dammit... I just called all the hardware and art stores around here, home depot was a huge pain which ended in a "no"

Michaels sells them, but they're rolled up in a tube, PLUS, they had no idea of their thickness... pretty useless.


Not sure what to do next

 

you should only use a single thick sheet.

stacking multiple sheets wont be effective and might actually be a bad idea

 

Well, I stacked four and I lowered my idle temps to 55C.

When I press down, my temps drop immediately to 50C. I am going to add one last sheet in, this seems to be working fine.

 

Get a single sheet with the appropriate thickness from ebay.

100*100*0.5mm should do fine. You really want 1 sheet to maintain an even pressure and good mating surface anyway.

 

Kreeee, is your laptop apart right now? I think it's thicker than .5mm, more like 1mm.

 

Okay, I think I've got my sweet spot at 5 layers. My GPU idles at ~53C degrees without me touching it and without the fan on, down from 68. Gonna run 3dmark06 and see how it fares.

I am going to stop multiposting and start editing >_>

I can't imagine that a stack of several layers is worse than that horrid pad they've got in there. I will be switching to a solid piece of aluminum tomorrow (.04inches thick), see how it changes, and possibly move up to a copper piece.


EDIT: Okay, running 3dmark, instant difference. Parts that got 5-6FPS are now getting 11, parts that got 1 are getting 3-5.


EDIT 2:
My old idle temps:
CPU: 48C
GPU: 67C

New idle temps:
CPU: 44C
GPU: 59C


More to come when I put in a single sheet, I think it should do wonders.

 

Just a small update -

Though I've lowered both my average CPU and GPU idle temps, during graphics intense stuff, my CPU now goes to a higher temperature than it did previously.

While playing TF2 I was thinking about causes for my higher CPU temps during benchmarks - initially, my thoughts were that my entire cooling module is now higher up, and I've lost a slight amount of contact on my CPU... so I popped open the back again and pressed down on the cooling assembly on top of the CPU. It didn't give at all, which tells me this isn't the problem.

Thinking logically for a bit, I realized it's because my mod is WORKING. The GPU is now transferring more heat to the heatpipe, which crosses the CPU. It's kind of a shame, for anyone who doesn't know it goes GPU -> Chipset -> CPU -> Fan & Vent. Seeing as the GPU is the hottest thing, it's actually now HEATING my CPU. It's a worthwhile mod, nonetheless, because I looked it up, and according to intel, the "safe" operating temperature of the Merom (Core 2 Duo) is 100C. So going up a few degrees is worthwhile to lower the temp of my GPU significantly and also increase my framerate without an overclock or anything. All things considered, it's probably raising the temp of the CPU less than it says and it's partially a false reading coming off the heat pipe.

Tomorrow I am going to look into all sorts of things. I ripped apart the cooling assembly for an old P2 mobile earlier and I got to thinking about re-using the heatpipe. That thought has generally subsided at this point, but I have a new one. Once I get a sheet of copper, I am thinking I will leave a bit that extends out on the side. I will attach some thick copper wire to this and run it past the chipset and the CPU, then reattach to the heatpipe right before the fan. This will hopefully help spread out the heat, as well as cause some of the heat to bypass the Chipset/CPU. I've already looked, it shouldn't be a problem to run 1-2 strands of 10G wire. I will probably leave the wire coated though, TBH, kinda scared of short circuiting


More updates tomorrow.



BTW, for anyone interested, my specs are T7300, 2GB DDR2 667, 8400M GS.

 

Your temperature could also be higher because the fans might not be going at full speed anymore if your GPU never exceeds 96C

 

You need to keep an eye out for expansion.. Copper and aluminium expand.. a lot.. And too much pressure means the chip will crack..

 

Kreeeee - Yes, when idling my fan runs less, which causes my temps to go up to about what they used to be, the fans turn on, it cools down, they go down again, the fans turn off. Took me a few minutes to figure out why the hell it was fluctuating!

sesshormaru - Yes, I know it does, but I don't know how much. Won't I have stability issues before it does any serious damage? Also, if my cooling assembly now has a TINY amount of give, won't that be plenty for the expansion?

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

I meant that the fans might never run at their full capacity under full load if the GPU never exceeds 96C, meaning that the processor will get a little warmer too.

 

Save yourself the trouble and undervolt. Easy +10c off the CPU temps

 

I have done, has zero effect on GPU temps because it's restricted by the thermal pads.

 

^ i was talking to Hep! since his CPU temps started going up after the cooling mod

 

I want pictures.

 

I want dimensions

 

Great mod if this turns out well, but darn single heat pipe...... and 3 chips wasn't a good mix to begin with.