Performance of 640M LE and accessibility to fan on VAIO S15

So I'm strongly considering getting this laptop, but I have some questions I was hoping anyone could answer first.

1. [solved] Is it possible to gain access to the cooling fans? On my current laptop I can't do that (at least not easily), which means that I have to send to repair every time it begins to overheat just to clean some dust. This is something I would prefer to do myself, as I don't want to pay for that kind of repairs when warranty expires.

2. I heard the 640M LE has good overclocking potential, but how is it in practice. Would the average 640 LE be able to run constantly on say 640M levels without taking damage over time?

 

2. Only if you have Windows 7 as the OS.

 

Would it be reasonable to expect a hack for win 8 in the future?

 

What? This is certainly not true, the BIOS mod works independently of the OS.

The BIOS mod only works for the S1511 versions (June model), at the moment there's no working mod to the S1512 versions. So if you want a working core OC you'll need to get the older version. They're basically identical in build and hardware, so there's no loss and you can upgrade to Windows 8 for 15$ anyway.

The 640M LE doesn't run constantly at full clocks unless you spend all your time gaming, and idle clocks don't change so most of the time it'll run at normal idle clocks. The chip wear levels depend from unit to unit, but if running at safe temperature it shouldn't be a big concern.

To answer nº1, opening the laptop up to reach the cooling unit is simple and complicated at the same time. There's a video on youtube (and in these forums) showing how to disassemble it, as you'll have to fully disassemble it to reach the cooling unit. Good news is, if you're half-handy with tools, you'll have little trouble opening it up. As long as you're careful with the ribbon cables you should be safe.

 

@ bolt.pt
Found the video, looks easy enough so thats good. I already bought the S1512 version though. Are there currently any other OC tools one might use?

 

You can use MSI Afterburner to OC the RAM. Core clock isn't possible until someone cracks the BIOS's security encryption. There's a thread here in the forums where you can keep up with news regarding that issue. You can also try slv7 in techinferno forums, he is the original modder but until now there's no news afaik. Best bet is to get the older model.

 

the S1512 comes with Windows 8 whereas the S1511 models come with Windows 7. so the BIOS mod doesn't work on the latter due to the Secure Boot/Secure UEFI feature(!) which prevents flashing the modded BIOS.