Improving P170EM 7970M GPU cooling performance (foiled)

Yesterday while struggling to get better performance out of my Arctic Silver 5 repaste I noticed that the GPU fan was sucking hot exhausted air and blowing backwards quite a bit.

So I ended up doing two things:

1. Made sure that the heatsinks of the GPU are closely and evenly (as much as possible) lined up with the GPU fan. (you can change their angle/elevation when the screws are loose)
2. Sealed up the gaps between the heatsinks, the fan including the large gaping holes on the sides of the fan with aluminum HVAC tape/foil.
   This helps to maximize the airflow from the fan. Note that the intake of the fan has large gaps, but this is an important design element and should not be altered with seals.

Before foiling:
100C in Kombustor after 12 minutes, and continuing to rise slowly with fan speed = MAX


After foiling:
89-93C in Kombustor indefinitely, fan speed between 2nd and 3rd highest!


You can get the Aluminum HVAC foil/tape at any hardware store, like Home Depot. The thinner the better for this, and use as little as possible. It's not expensive.

So there you go, a temp drop of 7 to 10C (or even more) and 1 to 2 fan speeds lower with a small amount of care and tape.

 

This looks like a doable fix for these mad temperature spikes, definitely keep us posted how your performance goes long-term.

I'd be interested anyway.

 

Great , thanx for the tip, will try tommorow and report if it help in 150em
+rep

 

Great, please as per usual be careful when moving the GPU cooler; if you plan to reseat/reposition it, it is best to reapply paste. Anyway reseating shouldn't be necessary once tape is used.

 

Good job. I had to do the same on my P79xx to the CPU as there was a huge gap from the fan to the sink where air was just escaping.

 

Yep, had to do a similar thing to my D900F a while back, it also ran a bit quieter (cooler) as a result. In terms of the P170EM, I am surprised myself the temp difference was so drastic. But if you look at the fan exhaust and the radiators (heatsinks) they are totally out of alignment... so that might explain it.

 

very good thank you!

 

This is really a great post. It should help a lot of people who are having heat issues. 100C is definitely too warm.

 

Interesting, not unlike engine cowl baffling in an air-cooled engine...

 

Another design defect that should be considered to fix while one has the hood open, is to block the channel that runs along the side of the fan. Exhaust air will reciculate through that path also. In fact it can recirculate all around the radiator, as it is not sealed agains the exhaust grill. A smooth heat tolerant flexible seal can be added between the perimeter of the radiators and exhaust grill (back-wall of the chassis) to eliminate any potential exhaust air backflow within the laptop assembly.

If I recall, on my P170HM, the exhaust grill did not fully span the length of the radiator. So the air stream through the last few fins of the radiator were partially hitting a "wall" on their way out and then had that nice channel along the side of the fan to be sucked right back in the intake from within the laptop.

Also the overall aperture area of the exhaust grills is most likely smaller than that of the radiator and given that the aperture geometries dont match-up, there is most likely enough impedance to promote some exhaust to intake recirculation. It's probably better to make sure the entire exhaust path is sealed all the way out of the laptop...

 

alienware seal that gap with foam

 

Sorry but I am confused how this mod works. How does it improve airflow? I don't know how the cooling system works which is why I am confused.

 

It stops air leaking back inside the case which means more cold air can be pushed through the heatsink fins, it looks like a sweet mod, think I'll give it a go as soon as I can source some of that tape..

 

look how alienware seal gap betwen fan and heatsink

 

But where does the cool air cool the GPU then (in alienware, the foam is not conductive, so the air no longer can cool the heatsink?), and after it cools the GPU where does the new exaust air go to get out through the vent?

 

he did not cover rear vent !!!! jesus man wake up

 

I still don't understand where the air goes to the rear vent and how/where the air cools the GPU.

 

Just open it up and look. It's SELF EXPLANATORY.

I still think the real issue is the heatsink pressure. 93C highest for me down to 73C. All I did was add slight more pressure to the heatsink. Be nice if we could find a mod to do this safely. Can't clip or clamp heatsink down without having to take the entire motherboard out. My way not the safest way right now.

But yeah, I'll be picking up some of this tape to tape up the heatsink/fans also. Maybe I can get it to be under 70C.

Spoiler

 

Ok, the air is drawn into the chassis from underneath by the fans, then goes through the heatsink fins/ vanes out the back. The heatsinks are meant to conduct the heat to the back. By blocking the holes, hot air is not drawn back in and cold air is not expelled out anywhere but through the heatsink vanes.

 

Wouldn't the blockage keep both cold and hot air from crossing? I must be missing some passage way here.

 

Doesn't matter, just do the mod and you should see improvements. That's all you need to know. If it's beyond your grasp of understanding from all this explanation, then just forget about it and just know it works...

 

Dude, you are kidding me right? There is one simple thing about the air flow I cannot see and am asking simply where the cold air goes if this mod blocks hot air from coming back through the vent. Are there two passages leading into the laptop through the back vent? It is not beyond my grasp; I keep asking the same question and none of you can answer, so obviously it is out of all of our grasps.

 

It's a seal to ensure all of the hot air exhausts through the vents when it passes over the fins, and some of it does not mix with the room-temperature air being sucked in due to air movement inside the heatsink.

 

Am I correct when I say that this tape is not covering the passage way, but merely placed on top of the gaps? I originally thought the tape was being placed between these gaps where the air flows. That was how the OP described it in my eyes, so I took it that way. Going back I now realize I misread his post, and/or thought the pictures showed tape being wedged in between the gaps, not on them. With a new picture of how to actually apply the mod, it makes perfect sense now.

 

DUDE, YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT? COLD AIR IS SHOVED THROUGH THE RADIATORS. THE RADIATORS AND VENTS AREN'T BE BLOCKED. HOW CAN YOU NOT FIGURE THIS OUT?!?!?!?
- THE RADIATORS ARE HOT, CAUSING THE AIR TO GET HOT, THE TAPING ENSURES THE HOT AIR ISN'T LEAKED BACK INTO THE MACHINE, AND ALL THAT HOT AIR OUT THROUGH THE VENTS...
- AGAIN, WHAT IS NOT TO UNDERSTAND?

 

Wow dude. Really? Go back and read the previous post. I miss understood how the mod was applied and the whole time I wasn't corrected.

Anyways, for the sake of your reputation I'd get rid of the all caps.

I hope we can be cool after this.

 

are You really a idiot or just playing with us?

 

Lol if I hadn't figured out I misunderstood the application of the tape I would have literally went insane seeing that picture XD. Like I said, originally I thought tape was covering that passage way and not just on top of the gaps, and showing the arrows go that way in my past mindset would have been hysterical. It's like showing some one a brick wall and explaining how air flows directly through it XD

 

i did this to cpu as well. this really works thanks!

 

Ok fellas I think he's got it lol. Actually the picture fantomasz added cleared it up for me too.

Cheers!

 

Ok I did this mod with some electrical tape, re-pasted with Prolimatech PK-1 and bent the GPU heatsink arms back just a tad so that it applies a little bit more pressure and Furmark now sits at a very cool 73 degrees. Nice, +rep!

One thing I did notice is that my heatsinks are very much more in align with my fans than the OP (P150EM vs P170EM).

 

does this indicate that p170em have a bad chassis? should i cancel my p170em order? cuz i ordered one with 7970m

does this indicate that p170em have a bad chassis? should i cancel my p170em order? cuz i ordered one with 7970m

 

I think the best way is really for you to look at yours. Imagine a regular fan blowing into a pipe that's equal the diameter of the fan. The further away the pipe is from the fan, the bigger the gap between them, the less chances the fan can blow the air through and out of the pipe. If that gap can be closed by some aluminum tape, then the fan can effectively blow through the pipe, pushing all the hot air out instead of some out and some bouncing back in.

EDIT: Oh, he got it.

 

No, I have a P170EM and the highest my temps have ever gone was when running 3DMark11 and playing games at 62*-70* C. Not all laptops are made equally. Some, like me, got lucky. Also, I use NotePal U3. I'll still open mine up and take a look though just to see if there s a noticeable gap in mine.

 

You can use the same foil to seal up the grill to radiators as well. Yes as I stated and can be seen from pics the radiators don't line up with the fan duct, so there is a gap on one side and extra radiator on other.

 

Some people's chassis certainly are not ideal and that's due to how this was designed for the most part, and probably a small part is manufacturing of the heatskink radiators which is out of spec by ~3-4mm. They're not entirely bad just could be designed BETTER and it's something you can have fun with by improving yourself. (in the grand scheme of things this is not a big concern)

Most laptops and systems are similarly designed on the exhaust side, with gaps. Dell was smart to add the seal on top and think about it a little more apparently.

Nice diagram, can be noted though that air enters the fan both from above (top down) in this pic, and from the sides, to cool the GPU/mainboard directly and not only at the radiators.

 

I don't have my laptop yet (I should receive it in 2-3 days).This will be my first mod
I just pick up a roll of alu tape .It's pricey.

 

It should be $4 to $10. Guess depends on where you look.

Nashua Tape322 1-57/64 in. x 150 ft. Aluminum Foil Tape-3220020500 at The Home Depot

 

just did mine with electrical insulation tape (not sure how long that will last, but it's all I've got here), and wow, I would say this has had the same result as the other thread about applying more pressure, I'm thinking of getting a machinist to do some metal work to help clamp mine down some more, and applying this mod should keep it running sweet.... shame the fan profiles are so bad tho..

 

Re: iaTa (post #31): Not sure at what point along the length you "bent" your GPU heatsink arms to increase pressure onto the GPU... I think people want to be careful with that, as it could have unforeseen consequences on the GPU mount over the long haul. But I am NO EXPERT, so just a thought.

Anyone else with before and after numbers after realigning and sealing the fan duct/heatsink gap?

Is increasing heatsink contact pressure even NECESSARY for most people, given that this simple misalignment hopefully is the only issue for those with Clevo heating problems?

Any numbers on CPU benefits for HVAC taping the gap there as well?

 

it's definitely not the only issue, mine was still hovering in the low 90s after doing this

 

what temps did you have b4 modding?

 

Anybody know if the foam is available for sale or do you think the tape works better?

 

this modification lowered my temps by 4C after 4 minutes of kombuster dx11 @1080p i was hovering at 85

 

See my furmark result attached.

 

That's awesome Meaker. What were your temps before?

 

Awesome!
Today I went to the store and bougt that aluminium tape.And here's the result


Before the foiling it was after 5 min. of msi kombuster burn in test at the same settings around 95 C and was still rising.But yeah today its a bit colder, its like 25 C , and yesterday was realy hot around 32 C. But I dont think It'll make much diffrence. Also noticed that fans werent at their max speed like before.
This time I was even more precise with the repaste job, and aligned the two radiators better. Btw I used an arctic mx-2 paste which I was using for a year and was giving me good results.
Thanks again for the aluminium tape idea

 

Hey glad to help, even if it drops 4 degrees for some people it's certainly worth it IMO, at least for the lower noise levels and power usage if not for extending the GPU life even more. We've got enough hassles with having to wait for better AMD drivers/Enduro to not have to worry about heat too.

I'll also have to see in time about blocking off the radiator to grille as was suggested. And somehow applying more pressure as was mentioned in the other thread; safely without overdoing it as the whole radiator and pipe is supported by the GPU screws...

 

Hey bn, did you just seal the top and sides with the tape, or somehow the bottom too? Or is that not necessary?

I'm looking to do this when I get my P170EM later tomorrow, because that really seems like it should have been a better design decision on Clevo's part. Can't believe how much space is between the radiator and fan in some of these pictures.

 

Some of its due to productions tolerances, so it's gonba vary from machine to machine..