7970M Heatsink pressure (Please be cautious)

Update:

Background: I was having issues with the cooling, it was running hotter than I expected, even though I applied the best TIM available properly, to prevent heat bubbles. I had the cover off and happened to touch the heatsink to see if it was even hot, if it was working. I saw the temp running in Kombuster drop nearly 10C from the extra finger of my fingers.

First solution I posted posed danger to the core, possibly crack the core etc. My second solution is this. To make the tabs where you screw down the heatsink on stiffer. I attached thin metal on top of the tabs. Meaning it will have more pressure on the core.



I also applied the foil like I did with my G73JH before, and as another NBR member mentioned.

My temps are still very weird. It will idle at 35C, but when I run the Kombuster 99% burn test, it skyrockets to about 93C. ... And yet when I'm just gaming, it's a steady 75C.

 

good thank you. this can explain why some people's gpu still very high in temp after re-applied many times thermal paste.

 

i just tested this using a small pad of postit notes P) as tbh me and a mate of mine looking at this laptop had the same idea that perhaps there's not enough pressure which is why I originally bent the spring retainers back a touch when I repasted mine, and it does drop the temps by around 5c by pushing on it.... however I think there is more to it as when I did it, the fan speeds dropped right back to allow the temp to go up again, my 100% fan speed is not kicking in until 93c so not only do we need a more permanent way to apply more pressure without flexing the laptop casing, we also need to be able to adjust the fan profiles to come on at a lower temperature and stay on for a while.

 

Yeah, I also bend the springs a bit, to get more prassure, and even that helped the temps. Hoveever the fans still kick full speed at around 90-93 C. So I think the gpu and the cooling is designed . I dont thik theres somethink to be worry about. I remember mi old asus g51 with GTX 260m - th gpu was runnig at around 98 C all the time And the person I sold it to is stil playng on it and it's still working like new

 

It may also help that you used a thermal pad to distribute the heat to the cover.

However I will say this; I would advise you not to do this in this manner with a laptop that you will carry around. As soon as you bump it in that spot you risk fracturing something on the GPU.

The better way to achieve this would be to replace or add material to the retaining arms. (a bit of machining) Of course within limits, at some point the die will crack.

I also was able to drop 7-9 degrees and 1-2 fan speeds using another method yesterday which I will post up when I get a chance. (not for die pressure)

 

looking forward to your post as my one also very hot.

 

I'd be interested to read what this method is also. Hopefully it's not just gluing heatspreaders to the heatpipe etc.

 

I had a feeling this may be the main issue.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/670088-7970m-overheating-np9170-can-easily-reach-90-c-20.html#post8667976


I don't have my laptop yet so I can't quite envision what you are doing. Could someone provide a pic of the springs?

 

No springs. Just has tabs that have little torque, as said before.

 

All I know is, that right now, at work, 7970M is idling at 30C. I'm thinking of just buying some clips from CVS and clip the corners of the heatsink down so it won't be hit/pressure from the casing.

 

Here it is, improving airflow
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/674825-improving-p170em-7970m-gpu-cooling-performance-foiled.html#post8674557

 

Heatsinks for CPU's clamp down so tight that I have often worried about cracking the motherboard. It seems strange that GPU heatsinks use so little pressure.

 

One thing for sure. Whether you are using ICD or PK1 or MX4 etc, only use a rice grain size of TIM. I found even with line/dot method, if you have too much, it won't work right.

5min Kombuster/Ambient 20C - 73C

Spoiler

 

+1 rep for this thread BTW.


I bet also the weight of that heat pipe and radiator is removing pressure from the GPU when the laptop is upright. In an ideal world there would be some sort of way to give a bit of support to the end of the heat pipe at the fan, but with some rubber bushing to allow some movement. (I mean ideally this would be done in the chassis design)

 

Dude try loading the burn in test in 1920x1080 an dx11 fullscreen- the utilization will go up to 99% you will get much higher temps after 5 minutes.try that

 

i second this. please do this so we can get an accurate read o your temps

 

This is as good as it is going to get for me. I did the fan/radiator fix.

My solution to providing more pressure, torque without having something being pushed against the case and risking damage to the core is:
- I took two thin long piece of metal and then soldered them onto the two side pieces where you screw down the heatsink.
- Did this on top, so it causes them to pull up the whole time. This causing more pressure, more torque.

 

Could you post a picture of what you did with the metal bits please? I can't quite picture it...

 

yes,please post pixs of this problem.

 

i dont understand what "it causes them to pull up the whole time" means.

 

It's just reinforcing them so they are more difficult to bend.

Because the tabs don't want to bend, they want to be straight, this causes the heatsink to be pulled onto the core a little tighter.

 

did anyone else ever attempt and measure results from a similar mod?

 

Yes, but I actually developed a better mod with less risk after hours of problem solving and analyzing. I've just finished a complete consolidated summary of the heat issues many many users are having (especially me), along with a couple unique low risk non-bending solutions. Just about anyone with a Clevo 150 or 170 model can benefit! It took some hours so please check it out and give feedback:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...solutions-here-please-sticky.html#post8694123