Preserving the life of the Studio

I'm new to the Laptop thing. Always had desktops since 1997. During my 11 yrs of computers, I've had 4 different desktops. Every 4 months or so, I would open (still do) the case, and remove the video card to clean the fan off. I'd also use a converted vacuum cleaner to blow out the dust that has collected on other parts inside the tower, power supply, and etc. I think this helps preserve the life of any computer.

From what I've gathered, I can sense it's gonna be more difficult with the Studio line. The thought of having this new Studio 1745 for years, and never cleaning it...is already driving me up a wall. (OCD...I guess )

Does anyone have an tips and secrets to share? I just know in 6 months, I'll be ready to disassemble it to clean the fans off, and blow out the dust.

 

Just pop off the Studio's back, clean the dust off the fan and perhaps the air intake slits, and you're done.

 

Judging from some of the images in the 1745 service manual, it doesn't actually look like the fan is accessible via the bottom the panel.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio1745/en/sm/index.htm

It looks like you're pretty much have to disassemble the entire thing to get at the fan or the main heatsink assembly.

Venting your machine(s) every four months is pretty damn good practice; but I'd say six months to a year is probably more practical for a laptop.

 

I already know I'll be drilling very small holes in the Base Cover to allow heat to escape...especially where the two hard drives will be. As we know, heat & dust are the killers of computers, so I'll try to eliminate heat as much as I can.

 

The most maintenance the Studio requires is a blast of the heat sink fan and vents every couple of months to keep the airways clean. There really is not need to drill a hole in it. I've had mine about a year and a half it it runs cool as long as you keep it clean.

 

Before I returned the Studio 1737 (won't go into it), I noticed it was very warm/hot on the bottom (Base Cover) where the two hard drives go. Decided to create a few templates using MS Word to make boxes full of dots. I then printed and cut it out neatly, and used Elmers washable stick glue to temporarily glue the templated to the desired location on the Cover Base. The glue held the paper to the cover while I drilled the tiny holes. Afterwords, the template peeled off, and I washed off all glue residue. I noticed it didn't get nearly as warm/hot as before because the heat from the area rapidly escaped.

If this helps to extend the life of it, then I'm all for letting out as much heat as I can. Besides, if I don't drill the holes...my OCD will kick in. LoL.
:confused2:

 

I think it already kicked in!

 

But this makes no sense at all. Drilling holes in the underside of your notebook is going to allow more dust to get inside. Never mind the fact that you would almost definitely invalidate your warranty. You'd be better getting a notebook cooler if you think heat is going to be an issue.

Heat near the HDDs seems a bit odd to me anyway - typically they hang around the 40 degrees Celsius mark; some a little cooler, some a little hotter, but we're talking a degree or two. I would expect it was something else causing the heat.

Notebooks will get warm; unlike your desktop, they don't have a million fans inside just to keep things cool.

 

Dust/Lint can still get inside any of the Studios. The holes I drilled in the Base Cover were as tiny as the ones that are manufactured. It helps let accumulated heat out, and to me...that's worth it. I believe it will help add life to it.

You have a point about the warranty. The only thing I'm talking about drilling holes in... is the Base Cover. I believe they're about $10. The same Base Cover goes on all the Studio 17 models, so I'll buy another one to keep put up.

Dell likes to use the intimidation factor. They like for you to think that if you even think about adding more memory, changing the processor, or even changing the hard drive...your warranty is dead. As long as you hang on to the original part...that's not always the case.

 

Dust / lint can get in any of the holes, absolutely correct. So you have a problem with dust, so you create more holes for it to get inside.....

Just seems like 2 + 2 = 7 to me.

Ultimately, adding holes that are that small to the bottom of a notebook is not going to make masses of difference to the temperature. If it makes you feel better then good for you. Each to his/her own and all that.

 

i just stick a hover over anything has has a hole/vent... you start taking it apart in the warranty time to clean you could end up with issues if you ever had to return it

 

Air vent holes on the bottom that show accumulated dust/lint...is a sure sign of air movement in that area. I'll be using a rigged up vacuum to blow dust/lint out every 4 months anyway.

Heat is my major concern since I'll be using two 7200rm hard drives. Besides, it's the #1 killer of computers. Dell could've easily manufactured additional air vents on the Base Cover because heat accumulates in the center over the Memory. They didn't do it because they want the temperature to rise, and wear the machine out over time. That way...you'll buy another one.

You're right. It's not gonna make a whole hell of a difference. It's not like it's gonna lower it 10 degrees. But using a Cooling pad in combination of more air vent holes...only means heat will get out faster as it accumulates.

 

heat isnt the killer of computers. extreme/excessive heat is.

i would also like to add that thermal cycling low-high repeatedly is probably worse than keeping it at a high temp (not extreme) but consistently.

 

What usually causes extreme/excessive heat build up? I'll take a guess and say - Poor Ventilation or No Ventilation.

That last part is very reminiscent of the "should I leave it on, or turn it off" dilemma.

 

Replacing your stock thermal compound with ICD diamond thermal compound and copper shims will significantly lower your operating temperatures.(Very involved/can be risky)

Additionally, undervolting will lower them even further.(Easy/fail-safe)

 

I'll try the ICD diamond thermal compound. Read a lot of good reviews about it. Additional neatly drilled air vent holes on the base cover should help a little as well. It might drop down a degree or two doing the above. I believe I'll sit out on the under-volting thing. Doesn't sound too good, and makes my teefers chatter.

 

If you're willing to replace thermal compound and drill holes in your computer, you should try undervolting first. Its ridiculously simple, and won't harm anything.

 

you can also screw up the airflow if you add too many vents. laptops are precisely engineered. not to mention that recent surveys have shown that almost a third of all notebooks are lemons, if you start drilling and happen to have a lemon you're screwed when it comes to the warranty, unless you happen to have a spare cover to swap when claiming warranty

 

You're exactly right about that. To many can harm airflow design. However, I find Dell's "precisely engineered" Laptops to have many "hot spots" on the back of them. There are areas on the back of the Studio 1737 (base cover) that are cool, and then other areas are very warm/hot to the touch. The area in the center above the memory is a prime example. Dell should've manufactured a few more air vents in that precise area to allow heat to escape.

I'm not trying to advocate to just grab ahold of your Laptop, and drill holes with a sinister laughter. They have to be in specific warm/hot areas, and ONLY on the Base Cover. That's an inexpensive removable part, and IMO...the 4cm plastic seems to not have enough pre-designed air holes in it. Using a 3/32 or 5/64 drill bit is what I have in mind.

Definitley want to have a spare base cover on hand...in case you have to return it one day.

 

ROFL. this one made my day. +rep

hard drives are quite sensitive to dust, thats why there are no vents for it, however a lot of laptops now have vents for the RAM, my M4400 does, and so does my mum's inspiron 1525. actually, having said that, there are vents under almost every heaty component in the 1525.

 

Hard Drives are sealed. No dust can penetrate them. I've seen Hard Drives inside desktops...last for years with an inch of dust laying on them inside the tower.

I'm referring to the Base Cover for the 1735/37/45/47. Take a look at that model, and you'll see that the two areas in which the TWO Hard Drives are located...don't have any ventilation at all. And we're talking about 7200rpm drives, not 5400, so that might produce some heat. But however, the warmest area is in the center of the cover...right above the RAM. There's no venting holes at all in that spot.

 

there is a hole on hard drives, they are not completely sealed. the valve enables the pressure to equalize. in dusty environments, some dust particles do get in. look for the "do not cover this hole" sticker.

i use a 7200rpm drive as well, no vents near it. even with the processor and gpu at load, and the hard drive at load, it dosent go higher than 50*c.

modern hdd's generally dont get too hot

 

I've never seen my WD Black go above 45oC.. just sayin. And thats with my GPU in the mid to high 80s, and CPU at mid-70s. I DO wish I could monitor my memory temps though. Could either TZ00 or TZ01 be for the memory?

 

That's what I love about these new WD drives. The WD Scorpio Black is a great one for Laptops. The one I tested was mildly cool; but however, I've not tested two of them constantly running. Soooo, we'll see.

Ram temperatures? Found this sight. Not sure if it's a good one or not. http://ram1.software.informer.com/download-ram-temperature-monitor/

 

i use hwmonitor for temp monitoring, seems to be the most accurate for the current crop of dells.