HP DV6z Cooling Mod Thread (warning - lots of photos!)

Thought I'd start a new thread on this since my progress was shown helter skelter in the DV6z owner's thread and consolidate here.

First of all, special thanks to NBR user "some guy" for ideas on similar mod he made on the M11x R1. There are the components I bought (some already owned):

These are the heatsinks I bought (actually already had them): Newegg.com - Swiftech MC14 Copper Heatsinks only

The little stick on heatsinks took a lot more trimming that I expected. Just be sure to clean them off VERY well after you cut them. I had copper dust EVERYWHERE. So I used compressed air and then doused them with alcohol using a toothbrush. Just be sure not to get it on the adhesive pad. Or it will lose its stickiness.

Thermal Paste: IC Diamond

I ordered some of these from Fleabay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/280730211387

I figure these will be good on the vRAM chips and along the heatpipes.

Along with some thermal tape: http://www.ebay.com/itm/180592168677

and copper shims: http://www.ebay.com/itm/230511291628

I normally have a bunch of this stuff handy but was out of stock. I used the thermal double sided tape to secure my fan grille, and probably won't need the copper shims, but maybe in a couple tight places, like the one vRAM chip that's under the GPU heatpipe.

First thing I did was to repaste the CPU and GPU. The existing goop that was on there was as hard as a rock and thick, and temps would easily reach 90C when playing Bad Company 2.





I also confirmed physically that the video RAM in the laptop is GDDR5:

Samsung K4G10325FE-HC04
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/Greenmemory/Products/GDDR5/GDDR5_Lineup.html
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/productInfo.do?fmly_id=759&partnum=K4G10325FE



I also checked the airflow over the CPU and GPU from underneath and the tiny tiny slots that they put in the machine to allow airflow were so small very little air was moving over the CPU and GPU. To validate I took a small piece of tissue paper to see if there was enough suction to hold it in place, but it couldn't, it was like no airflow. So I hacked open the bottom of the case to open it up a bit. Copper stick-on heatsinks were added on the CPU and GPU heatsinks. This required sanding off the black paint that was on there, which was very tedious but necessary to get good heat transfer.





I then cut a slot in the fan shroud to help move air through the system and over the GPU and CPU. Unfortunately this only resulted in a hot palmrest, I guess because it was pushing the hot air through the compartment instead of being isolated within the fan shroud area. That being said it did help the CPU and GPU run cooler. I eventually used electrical tape to cover up the slot because the palmrest was becoming unbearably hot.

*** EDIT: I replaced my Heatsink/Fan assembly with a new one because the slot just made the rest of the laptop feel too hot. It did help with cooling the CPU/GPU temps but palmrest was unbearably hot.





Then I saw the Asus K53TA mod where he cut a hole beneath the fan to allow for cool air to enter from the bottom. Since I was in a hacking mood, I got out my Dremel cutting tool but did a horrible job, but hey it opened up the hole. For some reason I couldn't keep my hand steady and the Dremel was all over the place. I also added fan grate material over the fan, CPU, and GPU openings to protect it.

Here's the finished product.



After all this, I can now run Bad Company 2 at < 74C, usually 70-72C without a laptop cooler. Running WITHOUT Crossfire at 1080p med/low deatil at 45-55fps! I also bought a Notepal U3 cooler, but it's in the mail, curious to see how far I can push this now.

I still intend on putting heatsinks on the GPU RAM and along the heatpipes for further heat dissipation, and will probably open up the fan shroud slot again to see if adding the hole below the fan will not heat up the palmrest so much.

 

Great job! With that notebook cooler, it'll get even more ridiculous! If I get ken of these, unless I got one like Seer's, I'd do this. +rep.

 

thats so awesome lol

 

Nice job, thanks for all the pics too!

 

So in looking through the teardown guide, it looks like everything screws into the bottom tray and I would have to completely take everything out to get down there. Or is there a way to just pull the bottom panel off?

 

great work

 

Nice work! It should be similar for the dv6t with sandy bridge, right?

How would you rank (rate) each individual modification in terms of effectiveness?
i.e.

1) heatsinks
2) new thermal paste
3) holes beneath heat sinks
4) holes beneath the fan
etc.

 

It's hard to say the level of effectiveness. I really think its a combination of everything that helps.

Paste depends on the job they did with the laptop from the factory. Of course with the factory crap they put on there it isn't a bad idea to change it out anyhow. Some users are getting cool running laptops straight from the factory.

The heatsinks are probably the biggest contributor, but need airflow to be effective, so the clearance holes are almost a necessity. Plus on the CPU you almost have to cut away the plastic to get any amount of height on the heatsinks since its so close to the plastic. I mounted the fan grille on the bottom of the laptop instead of inside like I did with the GPU and fan, only because of clearance.

The hole under the fan also definitely helps with letting more cool air into the laptop.

But if you just repasted with a quality paste like IC Diamond or Arctic MX4 (both non electrically conductive), and added the heatsinks, it would be non-destructive to the laptop and gain a little bit of improvement.

However to add the heatsinks you will need to sand off the black paint. You could do without sanding, but then you'd lose some heat transfer effectiveness.

 

You have to disassemble everything. Although I've done it so much now I can get it torn down in less than 15 minutes.

 

I have since made a few more minor changes:

- added heatsinks to the GPU RAM. Could only add it to three of them, but the third is obscured by the GPU heatpipe. I ordered some copper shims from eBay for a few bucks, but have got lost in the mail somehow I guess. I was going to at least put a copper shim on that last one to help with heat dissipation at least.

- cleaned up the fan hole on bottom of laptop a bit and made it a little bigger.

- opened up the slot on the fan shroud that let air pass over the CPU and GPU, but then taped it up because it didn't help temps much and only made the palmrest too hot.

Forgot to take photos but will next time I open it up to put the shim on the last GPU RAM chip. I wish I had a shim somewhere here, but nothing handy.

 

Have you ran furmark clocked @ 850/1000 for about 10-15 mins mate?
I have done cooling mod before you made this thread
It reduced my temp about 5-8c
Before the mod my furmark temp @850/1000 was about 92-94c
after the mod my fumark temp @850/1000 steady running about 84-86c
it would be great if you could run furmark and show us your mod result haha.

ran furmark for 14mins @850/1000 clocked~

 

I can't run 850/1000. Best I can do is 780/880 with the BIOS mod. I can actually run like 810/920 but I need 11.6 drivers and not going back to that nonsense.

MSI Afterburner is essentially like Furmark, will run it later when I get a chance just to see.

My cooling concentrated more on the CPU than the GPU though, and Furmark primarily pushes the GPU.

 

FurMark is OpenGL only unforutnately, and the AMD Fusion defaults all OpenGL to the integrated GPU only, so not possible to compare.

However, MSI Kombustor supports OpenGL and DirectX 9, 10, 11. Similar testing to FurMark. I also realized you have the DV6t and 6770m which is why you can run higher clocks, although some have been able to push their 6750m to 850/1000 like yours, not me though! Maybe run MSI Kombustor at DirectX 10 1280x720 and compare. If I could figure out how to get my system fan to kick in sooner, I'm sure I could drop temps even more.

Here's mine after 15 minutes of DirectX 10 default settings, 780/880, 1280x720 - 68C

 

cool..
I didn't drill off my blackplate though.
just did repasting my thermal paste and add some copper rams only
let me try to run msi kombustor at your clock then..
did you run it on coolest on coolsense mode?
luckily you don't use i7 sandy bridge processor, it runs damn hot lol..

 

No I use performance mode. Coolest will throttle the CPU, usually > 70C, but have seen it throttle it sooner. Not a big deal with GPU testing.

edit: you can see my CPU temp is 58C as indicated by "GPU2" since GPU2 is the on-die GPU (6620G). Pretty much in line with the CPU temp. So it runs pretty cool in general. If I run Kombustor + Prime95 Large FFT's CPU might reach 80C, I think it's 77C actually. Maybe I'll give it a go and find out!

 

mine is running at 75c clocked 780/880 voltage @ 1.05c (i couldn't underclock to 1.0v like yours)
if i could underclock the voltage + drill holes I would run a lot colder than my current stock backplate + voltage
and room temp is at 25c..
have you done any 3dmark vantage mate?


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Would disassembling the laptop just to replace thermal paste void warranty? I'm wondering if they saw the screws have been a little scraped would they they not fix my laptop if something stops working? I wanna redo the thermal paste but I don't want them to void my computer if something breaks on the laptop by itself.

 

Technically yes it would. But HP does not inspect that thoroughly. Obviously in my case it would be quite apparent, lol.

 

have you done any 3dmark vantage test mate?
hows the score there?

 

I did 3DMark11 but can't find the screenshot now. I'm away from home this weekend (visiting my mom with the kids), and forgot my power adapter (thank goodness for the 7 hours battery life!). But I can get it to about 2100, although with 2.4GHz CPU and 780/880 with Crossfire enabled it's like 2000, with crossfire off it's about 1850, but I'll test both Vantage and 11 tonight and get back to you.

 

Here we go. Run with GPU @ 780 / GPU Mem @ 880 / CPU @ 2.4GHz

3DMark11 Xfire off: P1577


3DMark11 Xfire on: P1934


3DMark Vantage Xfire off: P6609


3DMark Vantage Xfire on: P6741

 

cool
and here's my score! running single ati 6770m 1GB clocked at 890/1015..


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Those are some stellar overclocks, plus your CPU helps that score. The AMD Llano is not quite a great fast CPU but it's sufficient.

 

interesting thread! yea any hardware modifications could void the warranty... Anyway I've been experimenting with coolsense and throttlestop and discovered something rather compelling: coolsense "coolest" mode appears to dial in a more aggressive fan profile, which by itself was attractive. The problem is that the throttling profile of "coolest" is, for obvious reasons, not so attractive.

But I've figured out a way to get the cooler fan profile without the aggressive throttling:

1. run coolsense and set to "coolest" mode. this appears to do whatever it takes to keep things in the mid 70s. it runs the fan faster and throttles back the CPU, rather aggressively sometimes.

2. close coolsense; the settings persist.

3. run throttlestop. this trumps the throttling profile of "coolest" mode but leaves the fan profile untouched! voila a cooler fan profile without the CPU throttling

using the above should get even more benefit from the cooling mod

 

Throttlestop doesn't work with AMD CPU's.

 

oh nuts you're right I was thinking intel...

 

coolest setting does not have a higher fan speed than performance at full load (e.g., both will run fan at 100%). the only time i noticed that it mattered was around 70-90% workload - where it's hot enough that you want to keep the temp down, but not stressed enough so it reaches 100% fan speed on performance profile.

anyways, i decided to keep the coolest mode as the default with the turbo disabled - i never seem to notice any performance losses in anything other than synthetic benchmarks anyways.

even though you can't use throttlestop on AMD processors, can't you overclock the cpu to turbo speed manually anyways?

your 3dmark11 vs vantage scores on the dv6z is very weird, the 3dmark 11 score overclocked is even higher than gt460m at stock, whereas the vantage score is noticeably mediocre. does the 2k 3dmark11 translate well into gaming fps or is it just some weird optimization amd did for the benchmark?

on the 6770m in the dv6t for example, i can only get up to about mid 1900s in 3dmark 11 overclocked, but it does seem to perform at stock/slightly better than gt460m in games.

 

thats right -- coolest seting does have a higher fan speed at lower temps-- it acts like there is a lower target temperature. without "coolest" the windows power settings allow the temps to rise into the 80s before firing up the fan to 100%, but with "coolest" setting on, the fan stays at 100% until a lower temp is satisfied. its a great fan profile, in my view.

I like "coolest" and will only use throttlestop if I need to use that last extra oomph of horsepower. like exporting a bunch of photos in Adobe Lightroom.

you're right about the workload that causes this to matter. at about the workload you specify, temps can go above the mid-70s, and when this happens, "performance optimized" will happily let the temps rise until its own target max temp is reached, which appears to be in the mid 80s. But "coolest" lets the fan run up to 100% sooner.

 

I get higher framerates using CF but there's horrible stuttering so I just don't bother with it.

 

I get higher framerates too but stutter in most cases is bad. However in BF3 beta it helps by adding an additional 5-10 fps. With Xfire I can actually play at 1920x1080 with mix of low/medium settings at 25-40 fps, median about 30fps outdoors and 35fps indoors.

And coolest mode does help with fan increasing sooner, but on the Llano machines, it also throttles the CPU once it gets above 70C, so it's no good. My one way around it was to run a profile of all P-states at the same frequency and voltage.

 

Just FYI, the seven-carat IC Diamond is the exact same compound but in a smaller tube, 1.5g instead of 4.8g. The seven-carat tube is $8.99 vs $18.99 for the 4.8g tube.

IC Diamond 7 Carat - 1.5 grams

Here's the overview on ICCooling:
Overview

 

Yes, I was aware of this, but thank you for clarification.

 

If i just make holes beneath GPU,CPU and beneath the fan without adding heat sinks, do you think it would make a big difference? I don't have enough confidence to put heat sinks on properly :/

 

I think if you at least repaste the CPU and GPU, remove the mesh on the bottom panel over the slots to the CPU and GPU (it's just like a stick-on mesh), and remove the slots (ie.e cut them out)over the CPU, it should help a decent amount, plus use a cooler which dropped my temps a solid 10C+ degrees, but that's with all my heatsinks on.

You could probably get away with:
- repaste CPU and GPU
- remove mesh over GPU slots
- cut away slots over CPU
- use cooler

You could probably also just stick on some heatsinks without sanding the black paint off, it should still have a positive effect on cooling.

I don't know that cutting the slot beneath the fan helps immensely, it did help, but repasting and letting the CPU and GPU breathe a bit helps the most. Without it, the heat has no where to go, it just permeates off the CPU and GPU and stagnates there heating it up slowly.

 

HTWingNut,

looking at what you have done with the mesh/grill/grate for the holes in the bottom of the chassis, I think you could make it a lot nicer looking and feeling if you stuck the grill to the inside of the chassis, rather than the outside.

Smooth the plastic on the outside with a bit of fine sand paper to give you neat, smart-looking edges first and it should both look and feel very nice.

 

For one, I didn't care much how it looked, I had limited time to do it. And I put it on the outside of the case at the CPU because the heatsinks stuck up too high to put the grill inside, even after I shaved them off. I redid it though and cleaned it up a bit because I bought a new heatsink and fan assembly because I hacked my old one up too much . I used shorter heatsinks second time around, but anything short of a couple mm thick copper shim would interfere with the grille if it were inside. I'd rather have more copper surface area than something that looks nice that nobody will ever see.

 

How do you like the Notepal U3 cooler? I'm looking to purchase a cooler, my biggest concern is cooling ability, not so much USB ports or docking.

 

To be honest I like the Notepal U2 but I added my own 120mm fan. Its kind of annoying with the 9 cell battery sticking down though but I manage. All the cooling needs to be in the upper left corner.

Sent from my YP-G70 using Tapatalk

 

^ can you please tell me which fan you added and, if not too much trouble for you, post a picture of the U2 with the added fan? i'm considering doing the same with my U2 to provide more cooling for my VAIO SA when playing Battlefield 3.

 

This is the fan I ordered: Amazon.com: Thermaltake Mobile Fan 12 External USB Cooling Fan 12CM AF0007: Electronics
Thermaltake Mobile Fan 12 External USB Cooling Fan 12CM AF0007

I want a 140mm fan, which would be ideal size, but this is the best I could find. I even tried to connect the USB adapter to another 5v fan but it wouldn't work. It's wired somehow for only this fan.

Anyhow, here it is:



I added a pad underneath the front bottom edge so it would lift it up a bit, reduce the angle, and otherwise the fan would be touching the table

 

great. thanks you very much

 

No problem. One more thing, I used standard fan screws at the bottom but because the fan wouldn't line up properly with cooling stand holes at the top I had to get some thin machine screws with nuts underneath to attach it.

 

Thank you for the info - I was concerned about the fan orientation as well - answered perfectly.

I'm going to roll with U2/3 or X3. The X3 doesn't appear to be modular, but it is integrated with a 200MM fan. I'm thinking the volume of air moved by the 200 should compensate for fan location.

NotePal X3 - Cooler Master

 

great work!!!

 

would like to know if OP has some heat issue, if slighly warm, warm or hot, cuz im thinking on buying one, specs look great but yet want to know about the heat on palmrest

 

No heat on palmrest. DO NOT CUT A SLIT IN THE FAN SHROUD. That was the biggest contributor to having a hot palmrest. It can get warm especially if I overclock and run a game like BF3 but nothing uncomfortable, but throw it on a laptop cooler and it's not even noticeable.

 

HT, Can you please post a link to the mesh that you purchased to make this modification 'safe'.

 

I'm thinking about doing the same. I did some quick research about the type of heat sinks. Instead of the copper ones you used, I'm thinking of getting Zalman's flared-finned heatsinks. I did more reading and came across this:

So that black paint, I think it would've been better to leave it alone? Maybe just sand off where the heat sinks will contact and leave as much as possible.

 

First off all why, why... WHY would anyone cut the bottom housing? when there's a different alternative that works 10X better. I have an HP Dv6-6135DX AMD APU + Dual Graphics, I got it last year as a gift, what I did, I bought some "Micro SEPA fans" bought 4 of them:



Before those fans I was hitting 75c* during gaming, now with those fans installed I'm running constantly under 52c* even wile gaming... Having heat sinks on the GPU memory on a laptop might also generate more heat since airflow is being blocked.

Sorry for replying to an old post, I thought this might help others who are looking for a way to make their laptops run cooler, or those with dual graphic configurations from AMD.

IF anyone asks here are the fan's size:
10 x 10 x 2 mm

 

Is there any metal pieces beneath the fan? I'm thinking about making a hole directly at the fan to improve airflow.