Clevo M570TU Cooling Overhaul

I know, what I was saying is that only the parts of the heatpipes that are attached to the CPU plate will equate to the amount of ramsinks you can fit in the same area. So that at least should be as good as the ramsinks.

Im not going to use the built in fan. Im going to replace it completely with the delta, and design a shroud for it. It will take a very long time to perfect I agree.
The air will end up going exactly where I want it with a proper shroud, and I will add some full sized vents where the sinks are.

Im thinking of a cooling system addition that could almost keep a 35w CPU under control while stressed, without the stock heatpipes. Which brings me to a good point; I'll probably use a heatpipe and sink that was designed for a 35w core 2 duo. With that logic I see no way this could totally fail...

 

The shroud you can mill it out of copper or aluminium (with proper insulation and grounding) and also have that as an integral part of your new radiator. Doubling the amount of CFM that goes through the radiator (providing that pressure is equal or greater) increases cooling power by almost five fold. Even having the fan direct airflow to the CPU and GPU base with sinking on them will be a benefit. This is essentially beefing up the cooling ability of the notebook with raw horsepower.

 

Not all heatpipe systems have wicks, I've opened some in the past with my disk grinder, one from an stock ATI X1900 heatsink and another from an Asus Motherboard heatpipe system. I've seen one Thermalright XP 120 CPU heatsink open and no wick inside it. Don't know if Clevo uses on their heatpipes, so I considered the lowest case scenario(wich I bet on).

The problem is that even with a wick there is is still some gravity effect wich pulls the coolant towards the bottom. Capillarity helps conducting the liquid form, but will not counteract 100% the action of gravity.

Not only that, because the top is in direct contact with the heat source, considerably hotter than the zone with no contact, will dry the wick quicker on the top than on the bottom.

With a aluminum/copper shroud, the heat transfer between the heat source and the heatpipe is maximized and uniformed. If you have space, you could always glue some ramsinks above the shroud, or even better, make some cuts with a finishing disk using a angle grinder to increase the air contact area. That way you could turn your shroud in one huge one piece heatsink.

 

I should have a spare heatsink for my old M38AW sitting around in one of my boxes. I'll cut it open with the jaws of life when I find it. Other than that, I have no way to answer that.

But for my Notepal U3, I really got tired of the mediocre quality of my pair of U2 fans so I went on another modding spree. I picked up a 120mm Noctua, Noctua.at - sound-optimised premium components "Designed in Austria"!, to replace the twin 80mm CM's that I am using now.

Because the P12 is a 12V fan, I decided to go for a more innovative approach and make it dual powered by a dedicated battery and by USB. The battery would be the primary source of power while USB would be a backup just in case my battery runs dead or am too lazy to bring my battery pack with me. This is done by removing the standard 3-pin molex connector on the fan cable and replacing it with a male type A USB plug. My battery pack is made from three Redilast Li-ion 2900mAh 18650 cells in series inside of a ABS plastic e-hobby box from Radio Shack (about the size of a thick Altoid tin). I recycled one of my short USB extension cables and wired it to my battery box to deliver power to the fan. The plug end of the cable was removed to wire the cable to the battery so that I can plug the fan into the female type A USB receptacle. Since I rigged my fan for USB plugs, I can also use a typical 5V source from my notebook or a USB hub like my Dlink H7. This allows for the versatility of powering the nominal 12V from my battery through USB as well as having 5V power from a hub or from the notebook. Of course, at 12V the fan would still push out a lot more air compared to 5V, but at 5V it is still better than my twin U2 fans, and most other competing 120mm fans tested at 5V.

If I needed to, I can even purchase an AC to 12V 4 pin molex power adapter and power the fan directly from the wall. I can recycle another USB extension cord, cut off the USB plug, and replace it with a 4 pin connector to retain the USB interface while being able to utilize power from a wall outlet. This is a bit clunkier for me as it means taking up another wall outlet just for a fan, thus I only made a battery and a USB powered interface. However, the greater versatility again is still there if I so ever need it in the future.

All 18650 Li-ion (Li-Co) cell amperage ratings are based off of a 500mAh draw. Since the P12 only consumes a mere rated 90mAh, the battery time on paper would be somewhere greater than 30 hours of continuous use before the cells hit 3V each. At 3.5-3.6V, Li-ion cells are estimated to be at 40-50% capacity before the voltage plunges. Even then, I would still have hours and hours of runtime to last through weekend LAN parties. Even at 3V on each cell, totaling 9V nominal, the P12 would still be churning out gobbs of CFM compared to the twin 80mm CM fans. At a full charge, the cells would be at an ideal 4.2V off my Pila IBC charger, 12.6V nominal, which is still within the safe voltage range for the fan. The beauty about my battery cradle is that I can also substitute my rechargeable 18650's with rechargeable or primary 16340's with a set of three 16340 dummy cells.

When running the P12 on a direct 5V line through USB, it will not start on it's own. On my DC PSU, I think my P12's start up voltage was around 6.7-6.8V, which is out of the range of a compliant powered USB receptacle. I did not want to break out of my plan for absolute versatility, so I decided to just "manually" start the fan with my finger each time I wish to use it on 5V. It's ghetto, but it's f*cking fine art if you ask me. I don't use a finger guard or a mesh guard to maximize airflow, so manually starting the fan is very easy.

The mounting holes on the P12 align perfectly with the "vent" holes on the Notepal U3, allowing me to easily use a set of silicone fan mounts. This retains the convenience of quick and easy installation and removal of the fan from the U3 without any tools. When the fan is to be stored in my bag for transporting, All I have to do is pop on two 120mm finger guards on both sides of the fan and use rubber push pins to hold them down until I take my fan out again for use. Since the U3 uses an array of large circular holes, similar to the Zalman NC-family of notebook coolers, airflow restriction is reduced by ~35-40%. In the desktop world, that is a big hit, but when compared to other notebook coolers, or even the mesh grills covering the main fans on my W870CU, that is very generous. It even beats out the NZXT's Cryo LX's slotted "and" meshed grill (yuck), and CM's latest creation, the SF-19 Strike Force, which uses thousands of tiny circular holes that destroys airflow. Cooler Master got this right with the Ux series of coolers, it's just that they used small and crummy fans. Most notebook coolers, including the NC-family, the Cryo LX, and the SF-19 use CFM optimized fans, which are made to push large amounts of air and only that; they have abysmal static pressure at their rated CFM, which is needed to break through high air resistance, else the airflow becomes scattered and only creates turbulence and negative backpressure as discussed in my previous posts. Because of the amount of airflow resistance imposed on the fans by the grills, the fans cannot move the rated amount of CFM through the holes. A pressure optimized fan like the P12, or any other fan suited for high resistance situations like for desktop CPU tower heatsinks, can retain a large quantity and focus of CFM through the grills. Why do notebook cooler manufacturers make the grills unoptimized? You tell me. Whether it be for structural integrity or cosmetic design, pairing it with a "case fan" is poor engineering. But why do we here of the Cryo LX being at the top of the mountain for store bought notebook coolers? Name one other top tier cooler that has large fans near the rear of the notebook. That's why.

Am I going to attempt another suicide run like I did a few pages back? Hell no. Only a madman would do such a thing twice. But can I expect my temps to be even lower than before with the twin 80mm fans? Definitely yes. Is it better than the houstoned approved Cryo LX? By a landslide, yes. The personal touch of being able to power a premium quality Noctua fan on two power sources for maximum cooling power or for silent and casual operation, and the ability to remove it from the extremely portable U3, as well as place it in the most optimal location, and the convenience of easily cleaning the fan, makes this the number one notebook cooler bar none.

 

Thats interesting about the fans... my giant server blower is like 12v 2a or something ridiculous. It wont spin up at 5v either. I don't know if it will run period at 5v. I don't have anything 7v laying around to test it, 9v works, but I want something quieter if its going to be the main fan in my laptop.

I don't understand how PWM works with fans... obviously it isn't necessary. Can you use PWM at different frequencies to run fans at very low speeds and voltages? Not that this would explain the 3rd wire which some people say is PWM.

 

Those Delta's and ebm-papst fans need more than just a high start up voltage. They also require a hefty start up amperage since there is so much rotational mass from the steel impeller that the motor has to accelerate. If it doesn't get what it needs, the motor will either stall or not start up at all. But for your typical lower powered fans, you only need to worry about startup voltage. Just pick up a low amperage DC power supply with adjustable voltage and test for any fan's start up voltage. Noctua's S12B and a handful of other 120mm fans have start up voltages as low as under 3V. Most 92mm and smaller fans can start up on 5V just fine though. If you run your fan naked like I do, just give it a little jump start with your finger. Though, I wouldn't do that on a Delta, haha.

PWM is useful for fans because it is efficient. Only the frequency of VCC input is adjusted to control fan speed while on a typical linear voltage fan you need to adjust the voltage input (within the accepted voltage range), which requires more on-motor hardware (resistors, diodes, heatsinks). Seagate uses PWM on the Momentus HDD motors. The only downside that I see to PWM is the fourth pin. 4 pin PWM connectors aren't as abundant, if not available at all, on most boards, which is why most people stick with 3 pin and adjust fan speed via software by utilizing the I/O on the RPM wire, or regulating current manually through a rheostat. You can plug a PWM fan into three pin sockets, but you lose fan control and the board will just be sending the full duty cycle to the fan.

 

It is a cold, cold night here in San Francisco. After that thunderstorm last night, and that rush of cold front sweeping all of the coastline, my room temperature has dropped to an ice cold 11.9*C as I type this. Unless I spend more money on my electric bill to start up my heater to get my room temperature back to testing range, there won't be any tests in the near future. But I am happy to report that my battery pack has toasted my buddy's PSP. I love it when people mess with my stuff without my consent and think they can recharge their portable devices whenever they see some form of battery with a USB dongle on it. Should I put a warning label on my battery pack that says "not to be used for charging"? Or should I keep it incognito and bask in the guilty pleasure of knowing that more people are going to pull the dummy card and try to charge their devices off of non USB compliant chargers? The latter is more fun, so I think I'll stick with that.

 

OK, so what is the USB port for then?

 

For data and charging. He has the 3000 model that supports charging from either the USB port or from the DC input on the bottom right. If you ask me, it probably just needs a traditional reseating to turn on again. Either that or wait for the front VCC capacitors on the USB controller to discharge themselves.

 

Sorry, I meant the usb port on your battery pack that fries other peoples stuff.

 

I did not install a buck circuit on my battery pack to step down input voltage to 5V as that would be inefficient and null the reason why I made this project in the first place. He plugged his PSP into my pack via his USB cable and tasted a painful 12V, 500mA draw from my freshly topped off cells for a good five minutes or so before I noticed. It is meant only to power my fan because I want to have both the cooling power from 12V while still keeping compatibility with 5V sources.

 

Hehe, sounds dangerous...For other people

 

This post is for all the curious users that spammed my inbox since the debut of my Notepal U3 project. I sound like a broken record copy pasting the same responses to each one of you in PM so I'll just consolidate it here to save myself time and effort.

It seems that I have underestimated the demand for a wall powered solution over a self-powered one, and of course a more store bought approach as opposed to therapeutical DIY jobs. For that reason, I will help you all with a little "shopper's guide" so to speak.

Going for an AC powered cooler is really simple. For maintaining the incredible versatility of the Notepal Ux series, all you need to do is buy a fan(s) of your choice, a small 12V PSU, a 3 pin to 4 pin molex adapter, and rubber mounting pins. Like I said before, the array of holes on the Ux coolers can accept any standard fan size whether it be 60mm, 80mm, 120mm, 140mm, etc. Just use the rubber pins to mount the fan to the cooler. Fans with ribbed holes will need the longer mounting pins, which are also readily available. However, all of the fans mentioned in this buyers guide are all using flange holes, so no worries there.

There are a vast assortments of fans out there. Since I am modeling this shopper's guide off of my own project, I will only go over 120mm fans. In my world, there are three "tiers" for 120mm fans, and they are categorized by noise. The quiet tier comprising of less than 30dB at one meter, standard tier from 30-45dB, and performance tier being anything over 45dB. In each tier I have my number one fan pick.

For a quiet solution, the Noctua NF-P12 takes the trophy. You will not find any other fan that cranks out that much CFM with a decent amount of pressure and also be dead silent. The acoustics for the P12 is a near inaudible, low pitched hum at 12V when placed next to my ear. Nobody uses a fan next to their ears so that passes as silent in my book. The P12 also comes as a kit so it already comes with four rubber mounting pins, a 3 to 4 pin molex adapter, and voltage adapters if you desire a lower speed. The P12 uses the "SSO bearing," which is just Noctua's fancy name for a fluid dynamic bearing. This makes motor noise non-existent, increases motor lifespan dramatically, and ensures consistent operation. Compared to every fan on all store bought notebook coolers on the market, including the touted Zalman's, NZXT's, Cooler Master's, etc, which all use crummy sleeve bearing fans, the P12 is the king of the hill. More about this is explained later on below.

For the standard tier, nothing gets better than a Scythe SFF21G. This was originally going to be my fan of choice for my U3, but again I did not desire for that much cooling. More importantly, the 30-45dB range, moreso around 40dB and up, begins to draw near my noise tolerance threshold. Nonetheless, at a rated 35dB at 12V, the SFF21G also has a low pitched hum like the P12 so it is not as bad as low quality fans or high pitched "whiny" fans like Cooler Master fans. The SFF21G pumps out a large amount of air and holds at one of the top spots for static pressure. I still use this fan when building desktops for my clients and I have yet to find a fan in it's noise class that can beat it. Like the P12, the SFF21G uses a fluid bearing so it reaps the benefits listed above. The 35dB noise is from the ends of the fan blades approaching transonic speeds. The SFF21G also comes with a 3 to 4 pin adapter, however I would recommend getting the adapter in the list below as the third wire (RPM wire) is not needed. The SFF21G also has a built in feature that shuts down the motor when there is an obstruction in the fan blades and will power the motor again a few seconds after the obstruction in removed.

At the top of the mountain for 120 x 25mm fans, for that niche of one time benching, e-peen stroking, deaf leopard pack of users is the Delta FFB1212EH. Ladies and gentlemen, it does not get better than this. If you want a portable aerospace wind tunnel, or a notebook that floats on your desk, this is the fan to get. It should be illegal for this fan to not ship with a finger guard. Bordering near 60dB, if this fan does not get your maximum stress temps under 70*C, then you must be running your notebook with the heatsinks removed. The FFB1212EH, as well as all the other current production Delta's, use double ball bearings in their motors. Technically, they consume less power than fluid bearing fans, but they still produce more noise.

Since each user has his own needs and tolerances, the fans can be regulated. If you don't need the fan at max speed all the time, purchase a fan controller or a hardwired voltage reducer. For me, I only need one speed, and that is always on, as my P12 is inaudible to my ears, consumes so little power, and pushes enough air that my notebook's fans no longer turn on when the system is idle. I originally was going to purchase the SFF21G for my project as that fan's noise levels are almost the same as my notebook's fans at idle at ~35dB at one meter. Since I frequently leave my computer on at night, for torrents and other network traffic, I want to minimize noise as much as possible for my beauty sleep. However, I say this lightly as I am used to sleeping with ambient noise from my computer, my external hard drives, my neighbors, and other urban noises common for the sixth most densely populated city in the United States, so having a <20dB Noctua running through the night instead of my notebook's fans, the Scythe, or the Delta, does help. Taking my battery pack into account, power consumption and performance at 5V is much better on the P12 than the SFF21G; my battery would only last a little over 12 hours before hitting 3V on each cell, which is too fast of a voltage decline for me, and the fan would barely push any air at 5V.

As a side note, if you plan to use a 120 x 25mm fan towards the front of the notebook as opposed to the rear (for whatever benign reason) with any of the Ux coolers, you will need to look into a slimmer fan as a 25mm deep fan will not fit underneath the front end of the Ux. There are plenty of 20mm and 12mm deep fans available. However, smaller 80mm fans would be better suited as whatever needs to be cooled in the front of the notebook really doesn't need that much cooling to begin with, and it also leaves room for putting the big fans in the rear of the cooler.

All notebook coolers have their fans in the horizontal position (with the exception of a select few such as the NC2500). Because all notebook coolers ship with low quality sleeve bearing fans, this is detrimental to performance. Not only do the fans have to deal with negative pressure from being close to the table as well as covered with some form of mesh, but also negative backpressure from being covered from above by even more mesh or some form of finger guard, and the bottom of the notebook itself. Like I said before, this is a lot of turbulence and opposing pressure for these fans to work through. To top it off, because they use sleeve bearings, they suffer even more from being in a horizontal position. Sleeve bearing fans will run slower than their rated speed (in free flow) when operating horizontally. The oil that lubricates the sleeve will leak out of the drive shaft and impede performance. When in a standard vertical position, the weight of the fan blades and the rotor hub is supported by the bearings inside the sleeve, then transferred from the bearings to the fan housing. But when in a horizontal position, the weight of the fan blades is no longer transferred from the bearings to the fan housing, rather from the fan's blade structure coming in direct contact with the housing. The oil that lubricates the bearings in the sleeve now acts as a lubricant for the two direct sliding surfaces instead of rolling surfaces. Simple physics in action, the oil heats up faster due to friction and is pushed out of the housing faster as the oil pressure increases. Because the lubrication oil isn't returning to the shaft due to gravity, the fan will falter a lot faster and eventually die. This is why we see a lot of notebook cooler fans out there that start to whine and grind over time and make these annoying ticking sounds due to the shaft and the bearings becoming "dried out." Double ball bearing fans and fluid dynamic fans do not suffer from being in the horizontal position. Unfortunately, I have not seen a notebook cooler on the market that ships with dual ball bearing, or even fluid bearing fans. Manufacturing costs play a big role here for companies that produce notebook coolers. Guess which one is cheapest to produce.

Below are the links to all the fans and hardware I described in this guide. This is tailored for North American customers so it is up to you to strike a deal with a different seller if you cannot purchase from North America. For domestic readers, the links I have provided are just from some of my favorite sites I regularly purchase parts from. If you find a better deal, then good for you. I did not cover eBay sellers this time around as the market prices are constantly shifting this season. You and I know that there are quite a few good deals on eBay anyway so use the shopping list below as your guide. I own or have owned all of the products below so I'm not giving you any false recommendations on products that I have not tried personally.

Cooler Master U3 (U2 also available)
Amazon.com: Cooler Master NotePal U3 Notebook Cooler with 3 Fans R9-NBC-8PCK-G: Electronics

Noctua NF-P12
Noctua NF-P12 120mm Low Noise Case Fan w/ Soft Fan Mounts 54CFM 19dBA at SVC.com

Scythe SFF21G
Scythe SFF21G S-Flex Fluid Dynamic Bearing Case Fan 75CFM 35dBA at SVC.com

Delta FFB1212EH
Delta FFB1212EH 120x25mm Extreme High Speed

AC to 12V DC PSU (models for higher current loads are also available)
http://www.svc.com/pa-ad-ul-12m.html

3 pin to 4 pin molex adapter
http://www.svc.com/3pinto4pinad.html

Silicone fan mounting pins
Acousti AFM02B Ultra Soft Black Noise Reducing Silicone Fan Mounts (Pack of 8) at SVC.com

Fan controller (controllers for multiple fans also available)
http://www.coolerguys.com/840556089537.html

Voltage reducer (cables for single voltages available)
http://www.svc.com/fsa-75.html

Dlink four port USB hub (seven port model also available)
Amazon.com: D-Link DUB-H4 High Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Hub: Electronics

Again, to each to his own, this is only a guide based off of my own mileage. For the W8x0CU, one 120mm fan is really all that is needed. Both the W870CU and the W860CU can use the U2 just fine. For the big boys such as the X7200 or the X8100, you may want to get three fans and three of the 3 pin to 4 pin molex adapters to link them all together.

Overall, purchasing the U3, a Noctua kit, and a PSU will cost you no more than $60 shipped. Compare this price to some of the other big name coolers out there like the Cryo LX, the NC3000, and the SF-19. Along with the bigger price tag comes a bigger and heavier cooler. The U3 doesn't come with a USB hub, but then again not everyone needs one for the road, and for at home you can pick up a cheap one for $20 such as a Dlink H4. But if maximum performance is your style, creating your own cooler is the way to go.

It's your cooler. Customize it the way you want it. The possibilities are endless.

 

For a pure USB powered fan, you can try this 120mm fan from Coolerguys. For a 5V fan, it actually has fairly good performance. Pressure at 44CFM is not bad at all and it is just as quiet as my Noctua. And to my surprise, it is a dual ball bearing fan. I was about to call bollocks on it as the price is a bit steep at $13, but this is a great quality fan for the money. It also comes with a black finger guard so you can swap it to the intake side of the fan to prevent damage during operation or transportation. From the looks of it, it uses ribbed mounting holes so you will need to pick up a pair of rubber mounting pins for this type of mount, which I have also provided below.

Coolerguys 120mm USB fan
Coolerguys 120x120x25mm USB Fan with Grill

Silicone fan mounting pins for ribbed holes
NEXUS Silicon Fan Mounts / Case Fan Vibration Absorbers (4)

This is an excellent replacement to the Ux fans if you wish to stay on a dedicated USB power source.

 

Hey, I just stumbled across this - thanks for the links; this is fantastic!

Do you think you could throw up a pic or two of your cooler setup?

 

I don't have pics of my final design, but I do have pics of my drawing board. This is one of the very few times that I share whats behind the scenes for my projects before the final product is released and published. These were taken around the first week of November (around the same time I conducted my suicide run) in my garage at night so the lighting was pretty harsh on my camera. My apologies if the quality isn't up to par this time.



This is the Scythe SFF21G mounted underneath the U3 with the rubber pins. I took one out of the box of SFF21G's that I have in inventory for when I use them to replace fans or build desktops for my clients. It takes no more than a few seconds to install and remove the fan with this setup. Note the position of the fan in the pic: not only is it the most optimal position that I have placed for my W870CU (right underneath the CPU and GPU), but that is also the farthest (minus one row) the fan can be positioned from the rear of the cooler before there is no more room underneath the cooler. As I've said in the guide, you will need smaller or slimmer fans if you want cooling near the front. Sorry guys, I am slowly turning into the Macfag that I once used to bash with a passion. I bought an iPhone off of eBay for a killer deal and I am loving it. Yes, you heard me. I am tenderly loving it so. Good night sweet Motorola E8 and iPod Classic.



This one is a little bit off topic, but this is a comparison of the 120W and 180W PSU's. They are the same height and length, but in width the 180W one is wider. Though not shown in the pic, the 180W unit has my heatsink upgrade under the hood as mentioned before.



This is the Nexus voltage reducer that I was talking about. This one has three 3 pin connectors for 12V, a 7V equivalent, and 5V. However, the 5V line cannot be utilized since the AC to 12V power adapter can only output 12V; the 5V line on the 4 pin connector is disabled. The "7V" rail is a 7V equivalent; there is a 56ohm standard axial resistor on the 12V rail that burns current to a power equivalent of a 7V rail drawing the same current. You can make the 5V rail work if you have a real desktop PSU, or by wiring a 100ohm resistor into the 12V rail.

On the SFF21G, the 7V line brings it's performance to that of the SSF21E. As I've said before, performance at lower voltages (~8V and below) is inferior compared to the Noctua NF-P12 at 12V. Not to say that the SFF21G's performance at a lower power input is bad, at 7V the noise is around that of the P12 but performance is poorer, but for my usage that does not need a strong external fan, the P12 wins. Without my U3 or my Noctua, the original cooling overhaul that I've done on my W870CU still keeps my temps in the low to mid 70's (with my latest clocks) in the absolute worst stress test conditions, comfortably far away from anything dangerous. In short, there is no pressing reason for me to get a more powerful and less efficient fan to get a few more degrees lower in temps. However, having the strong fan like the SFF21G gives you the option of cranking up to the full 12V while still having decent performance at lower power.



And a few shots underneath. The rubber pins do their job of holding the fan in place. You can pretty much pick up the cooler upsidedown by the fan and shake it around and it will not come off. And yes, I have confidently tried this myself so you guys don't have to.



Here is the AC to 12V power adapter and an old OEM fan I've pulled out of a random desktop that I converted into USB.



And a bunch of Notepal Ux fans that I scavenged from the Fremont tech warehouse that I frequently visit. Having friends that work in these places is like having a VIP pass to all things tech. I am still open to offers if anyone wants them.

My fiance has had my camera for over a month taking god knows what shots so no new pics for any of my projects here on NBR or on the other forums for a while. But you get the idea on how an AC powered approach would turn out. It's as simple as getting a few parts for $60 or less.

 

Wow, thanks for uploading that - I really appreciate it.

I built an oak lapdesk to accommodate my future x7200 and I'm planning to insert a couple fans into the top of it. I remember reading your post a couple weeks ago but it took me a couple hours to find it again (I had to go back in my browser history to figure out where I saw you post this DIY). I'm going to model it off of your setup - thanks again for posting the info. +1 rep.

 

I've seen your lapdesk in the other thread, http://forum.notebookreview.com/6943548-post2098.html. Lumber makes for a good platform to make your own cooler. Since you have a lot of space to work with, you might as well pick up the best fans. These are thicker 120 x 38mm fans made by Panasonic's fan division, Panaflo. They are high quality fans just short of the insane performance from Delta fans.

Panaflo 120x38mm Ultra High Speed FBA12G12U1BX by NMB-MAT
Panaflo 120x38mm High Speed FBA12G12H1BX by NMB-MAT
Panaflo 120x38mm Medium Speed FBA12G12M1BX by NMB-MAT
Panaflo 120x38mm Ultra Quiet FBA12G12L1BX by NMB-MAT

All of these are the same fan, except the motor is restricted to set speeds depending on your noise tolerance. My route would just go all out and pick up two of the Ultra High Speed models and controlling their speed with the stepless fan controller I linked in my guide. Though if you know if you're never going to crank the fans that high, you can pick up the slower models and maybe the voltage reducer for a little more flexibility. But since they are all the same fan and are all the same price, go for the fastest and just regulate the speed.

Since you plan to use a pair of them (or three), you will have no problem stringing them all together. From the wall, you start with your AC to 12V PSU (purchase a larger PSU if you go with more than two fans, or two of the Ultra High, High, or Medium speed Panaflo's), then the fan controller, then to two 3 pin to 4 pin adapters. They are pass through so you can daisy chain as many fans as you need. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6931311-post12.html

And here is the PSU made for 2,000mAh in case the total current consumed by the two fans exceeds the 500mAh capacity of the original AC to 12V adapter I linked in my guide, AC/DC 12V/5V 2A Power Supply Adapter with 4-Pin Molex Connector at SVC.com. A 5,000mAh model is also available but I doubt you need that much power unless you are going all out with Delta's.

Lastly, you will need to protect yourself from your fans since you are using a lapdesk. The impellers on these Panaflo's are heavy and spin fast, so always safety first and pick up a finger guard for the intake of the fan, http://www.svc.com/54562.html. Other choices are available. You might be getting hard one night from watching the slow mo scenes of Megan Fox in Transformers 2 and your manhood gets diced up in the fan blades and then splatters in a combination of blood, semen, and genital flesh on the bottom of your notebook. Always safety first.

 

There are a lot of those Panaflo NMB-MAT fans at my local surplus store, pretty sure I have one of those 120mm ones.

I think they're about 5$ each if anyone would like me to spread the wealth around.
They are the same as Matsua, Minebea or whatever.

Woah dude! LOL

Yeah I'd be REALLY unhappy if that happened to my... notebook

 

excellent, thank you!

Ordering some parts today - I've been doing a fair amount of reading to get up to speed with basic electrical stuff (i'm an anesthetist, i don't do much in the way of wiring), and I burnt out a couple old fans I had laying around during the learning process. All good now, thanks for the links and detailed instructions, I really appreciate it.

 

@Soviet,

Inspired by this thread, I did some mild cooling mod on the CPU HS of my 8740w. Even with the space limitations, single fan cooling approach, small radiators and very thin heat pipes, adding an extra link between the heat pipes and the copper plate (thermal adhesive) and also an extra copper plate on top, was enough to lower the CPU load temps by 6-9C.

Thanks!

 

Hello hardware modding community.

I come to you as a stupid gamer-foremost walking like a sheep in the fold asking for simple aid. Please do not cringe at my lack of knowledge because I am just a simple man, with simple needs.

I recently did a bit of cleaning in my Clevo M860TU running a geforce GTX M260.

While trying to figure out how to remove the heatsink, I found the spot marked red in the picture. It looked like something I could apply my shiny new thermal compound to, so I unscrewed it and did just so.

When I managed to remove the heatsink I found my GPU to the right on the picture and on the left I'm pretty sure it was the CPU.

My question is this: What is under the red circle ? What exactly did I apply my thermal compound to ? I'm just curious. The computer seems to be working fine and has dropped 20 degrees celcius under stress, in some cases more. I had to remove a thermal padding to apply the compound btw.

Thank you!
/Cyrox

 

It's the motherboard chipset.

 

I'm planning on performing this mod(at least to a certain extent, probablyt not as much as soviet) on my p150hm coming in a week or two... Soviet how much time did it take you to only do cpu+ gpu and if you could give me pointers on the it'd be greatly appreciated (I don't think my temp will be critical enough for me to do the heatmod on the hdd, ram, etc. but apparently the cpu from the p150hm runs at 90 and the gpu at 95(both in celsius obviously)

 

That could be bad. I think you need some thermal filler for your chipset heatsink here, otherwise it will not make good contact.

Also you are probably not monitoring the chipset temps. You need to get something like hwinfo32 and make sure its not overheating.

 

Those temps was not with the fans on max speed.

 

Okay, thank you both for this information, it makes perfect sense. I'll get some app to monitor my chipset temps today, what kind of a temperature should I be wary about ?

EDIT:
I found this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/301572-full-clevo-m860tu-review.html

And this picture in the thread.



Great thread/review btw.

Compared to my own idle temp it looks fine.


So I should be safe I take it!
Thanks for your help everyone and I'm sorry I "hijacked" the thread.

 

It eventually took me less and less time to do as I blueprinted how I was going to proceed with it. There are several factors you need to consider when preparing to modify your heatsink. One of the major ones is ceiling clearance. I originally wanted to do this on my M38AW almost seven years ago but it turned out that the internals were already constrained for space and I did not have the liberty of doing any "hard" additions apart from changing the thermal paste on my Pentium M 780 and GeForce 6600 Go. I've been modding desktops, routers, modems, ever since my old man still handled a computer repair business before he dropped it to fully focus as a general practitioner in law. But my first time modding a notebook was back in 2000 on a ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) issued Micron notebook with the ancient Pentium MMX from one of his friends in the Bureau. The Micron, as well as every other notebook made back then, was much thicker and much studier than the notebooks today, but this one probably skimped passed QC as it was overheating. The aluminium plate that screwed onto the CPU had come loose. Back then, the variety of thermal compounds did not exist, so my dad had me use a generic brand, or atleast what I thought was generic as I don't remember the label on the tube. After that, I used a sheet of thin thermal sheeting to bridge the CPU plate to the steel keyboard base directly above to get optimum heat transfer to a much larger surface area. The notebook was alleviated from it's thermal problems and ran just fine again. I was 12 years old at the time. With the help of my dad it probably took me a good two days to figure out how to proceed before gathering the materials needed. Obviously this is on a much lower key compared to my first major halmark project on a notebook that took form in the M570TU. I knew there were already projects like this done on notebooks out there, but none of them went against a few of my design philosophies: one they were not practically achievable for the end user, and two they were ineffective. Through my months of preparation and numerous trials and errors under secrecy, I released my first finished project candidate to the public in this post. http://forum.notebookreview.com/4737862-post231.html. This was the most practical and user friendly project for a Clevo notebook and eventually the final design held as the cooling running 17 incher that can hold out on it's own cooling. When I got my W870CU, I stepped up the bar to simple power tools and better materials for modding. I've already learned so much from the original M570TU project so I didn't need to beat around the bush as much. Had not school and my other obligations interfered with my time, I would have had this done in about a month. But the end result was an extremely well polished design that not even the P170HM can touch with a 10 foot pole. And 90% of the time and effort spent was solely for the CPU and GPU just like on the M570TU. So it is really up to the individual user's abilities and intellectual fortitude that will define how long, or how far, one will go with his notebook project. I've already done everyone a big favor by publishing this article as a foundation for people to start off from. The keyword being foundation here as I still want users to use their heads and think and not copy a step by step cookie cutter guide to modding a notebook. Some users in this thread, and outside this thread, have done so or are in the process of doing so on their notebooks beautifully, and the results shows.

That is your northbridge. If you want to put thermal paste on it, you will need to use a copper shim and make a paste sandwich.

 

Hi Soviet,

Firstly: Respect! - You cooler mods for the cases and the U3 are awesome!

I haven't received my Notepal U3 yet and I'm looking at different options for fans.

Is it even remotely possible to shoehorn 2 x 180 mm fans on there?

- I've been looking at the silverstone air penetrator fans which have the air-focusing vanes on them. If I could squeeze 2 of those on there I could get a serious hovercraft-thing going.

I'm waiting for my P170HM and work without air-conditioning so summer is likely to be pretty rough on my notebook. (I nearly cooked my dell notebook last summer.)

 

You cannot mount 180mm units onto the U3 because the frame of the fan nearest towards you will not have enough space underneath the U3, unless of course you want the far end of the frame to stick out the back and somehow keep it mounted on the cooler with rubber bands. You're better off using multiple 120mm or smaller fans. Remember, bigger doesn't always mean better. Two 120mm's should be more than enough. Just make sure you clean the fan rotor and the holes on the U3 as I found out that dust started to collect in the holes after a few months of neglect, though it's nothing that a few cotton swabs can't fix.

I have reached a pivotal point in my life where I am/will be starting a new chapter towards being a mature individual and a contributor to this great society. I've been really busy with life lately leaving my activity on my regularly subscribed forums for another time after I settle down. This is my graduating semester before I apply to go for my MS in engineering, so my hands are full right now. In lieu of the recent disaster in Japan, the company that I have licensed my design patents for a low cost solar wind turbine is taking action and producing another batch of units to aid with the struggle overseas. Keep your eye on the IEEE forums for more news. In a few short months I will be marrying my life partner and perhaps starting a new branch in my family. I have been hired by the SFPUC as one of the service and quality design managers and am currently developing an automation system for civic and corporate structures to enhance energy savings and backup. Depending on how the near future works out, I may stay or I might apply for a different job.

Though I have come onto the NBR forum less and less, I managed to pick up two new computers to stay up to date. I have sold off my W870CU and my 1201N for a handsome share of income and replaced them with the elusive P170HM and 1215N. Both are maxed speced to the gills and the big one has been overclocked nicely, yet mildly. I have no plans to mod either of them as my daily schedule will not allow me to. But it does overclock very nicely and the 300W PSU really does help. It's quite an amazing piece of hardware. The U3 helps a bit, albeit I still only play Source games, which are not very taxing as some of the more recent blockbusters.

I may not be able to respond much to this thread, but I'll still keep tabs on it, and many other threads that I am obligated to. Just post what you need to in the thread, and if I don't respond within a reasonable timeframe, drop me a PM to get my attention so I can view it. But I still remain certain of my current "upgrade" options for the CM Ux series as you can shape your cooling needs the way you want it.

 

How big is the difference between the U2 fans and the Noctua? Anyone have som benches or first hand experience?

Also I was wondering whether it would be possible to power a 12v fan from the firewire port. I can't find a 12v molex adapter, and I am putting off making one myself if possible.

But foremost, how much of a difference does replacing the U2 fans make (in degrees celcius)?