my M14x R2 "experimental cooling mod" success!!!

[thanats007]

So after gathering different ingredients i did my first "experimental cooling mod" for the M14x R2. The idea was to use this awesome formfactor powerful toy at full performance without disturbing fan noise, too high temperatures and extreme wear off effects.

My first idea was to repaste it with better thermal paste since alot of people did this with great success. i used MX4 before and now in this mod IC Diamond for both CPU and GPU. Then i did a PCH cooling mod you can find details about in my thread :

http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m14x/1874-my-m14x-r2-pch-cooling-mod.html

The next step was to cut alot of fitting peaces of 2mm thick 1 w/mk adhesive thermal pads for all voltage converters / chips on the upper mainboard side since heat dissipates upwards and there are alot more surfaces on the upper side of the board (not the GPU / CPU side). Since overclocking also raises temps of these chips and converters + the fact that wear off due to heat is a big issue in all electronic components i thought this wont be a bad idea.

After this i cut pieces of 0,5mm thick Phobya 7 w/mk thermal pads for the CPU and GPU so the heat can dissipate also horizontal and reaches more surface of the heatspreader downside. I also added 1 layer for the PCH as an addition for the PCH cooling mod.

Then i tried to stick as much copper heatsinks as possible on the heatpipe / heatsink to add more surface as a passive cooling addition. However success was not too great due to the highly compressed vertical design and i ended up only sticking 2 of my bought 16 copper pieces on the heatsink. It wasnt possible to reassemble the chassis with more than these 2 pieces attached to the heatsink or pipes. So i used bigger parts of the 2 mm 1 w/mk thermal pads on top of the CPU end of the heatpipe since it can be pressed to 1/2 of its size.

The most trickiest part was the many small thermal pads on chip / converters thingy since you have to be very patient with all the tiny pieces that stick to everything but not the surface you wanted it on.

The result of my mod is very good. Now i can use my M14x R2 with Turbo on without the horrible hair dryer mode and no 80 C + temps no matter if i do OC or not. GPU stays at max 62 C in stress tests / 59 C while gaming. CPU never reaches 80 C anymore and stays in the mid 70´s C. The only downside is that the temps do climb down slower now but i think this is a small tradeoff for the fact that i can use Turbo all the time now without noise and heat problems anymore. Plus the fact that my system can survive much more years as with temps of 80 C +.

Here is the step by step with result comparison.

1. Preparations and Ingredients

2. Disassembly

3. PCH mod addition

before

4. Thermal Pads 1 w/mk 2mm thick upper mainboard voltage converters and chips

part 1

closeups:

5. GPU thermal pad 7 w/mk mod + GPU layer mod + IC Diamond Repaste

before:

6. CPU + Heatsink mod thermal pads 1 w/mk + 7 w/mk + copper heatsinks (note the upper piece marked in red doesnt fit!!!! check pics and dont try this at home!!!)

(Here is a pic just to make sure where you can see which heatsink doesnt fit!) (also note that the liquid metal you can see on the CPU was removed before reassembly and exchanged with IC Diamond)

Result comparisons:

temps before this mod using Turbo + max OC + PCH cooling mod part 1

temps after this mod using Turbo + max OC + PCH cooling mod part 2

The 9900 rpm fanspeed is a bug i dont know why but the max fanspeed was 4200 rpm at 74 C but mostly it was max at 3800 rpm which is very quiet compared to before 5400 rpm hairdryer mode.

Before my first repaste and without this mod it even reached 89 C and the fan hit 5800 rpm which was extreme disturbing.

So i can say this mod was very successful in addition to a simply repaste and my PCH cooling mod. Im looking forward to use my M14x now for years without the need to open it again.

Pros

+lower temps and noise even when extreme OCing

+better longlivity

Contra

-temps go down slower but not very significant

I hope my results help you to figure your own awesome mod out that helps you with your system to achieve max performance gains by a DIY way.

edit: as always this is my way to contribute for all the helpful work of svl7, mw86, StamatisX and all the productive, competent and helpful users in this forum.

[StamatisX]

That's awesome! Very nice work!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

[Brian]

Nicely done, I had done something similar when I owned an Asus G53 notebook back in the day. I bought a dremel and cut a hole in the bottom panel and then fit in a metal grill to keep dust and other debris out. On top of that, I put copper all over the existing heatpipes to increase the cooling surface area. When all was said and done, I think the overall CPU temps dropped by 5-6C which was my aim. Eventually I was going to add in another fan by splicing it to the USB port internally but I ended up selling the notebook and moving on to Alienware

[mw86]

Thanats007 you did an amazing job. I am very impressed by the temp drops you gained by this modding. Great work on the PCH and regulators I also think that is a great plan to increase the longevity of your systems life. You done a fellow enthusiasts proud I knew the M14x could be used with full turbo and you were just the right person to pave the way for others. Keep up the amazing work Thanats007. Your cpu and gpu must be very happy... I bet it even feels snappier since it maintains full speed where in the past it probably throttle back some.

[thanats007]

Thanks man! xD

Too bad the converters and GPU memory having no sensors for heat measuring since this was the biggest part of my mod. Only the PCH is clearly proven running cooler. I think its all together what makes the CPU running cooler. The tiny copper heatsink maybe some %, the many converter pads, the layer ofc and a little bit the IC Diamond. In the end its a longlivity mod with a great side effect of a cooler running CPU which was the main reason i felt motivated to do any mod at all.

The GPU is not running significant cooler than with my MX-4 repaste but i guess the high class pads for the GPU memory is a nice advantage that gives me unmeasurable advantages specially in OCing.

I never had throttling since i repasted my M14x R2 right after i got it but now the GPU runs even a bit cooler than with the first repaste. However thank you all for the kind words. If anyone else has any questions or suggestions feel free to ask me - feedback is very welcome.

[iPhantomhive]

just wondering , no noise even in gaming?

[thanats007]

just wondering , no noise even in gaming?

Ofc there still is noise but its alot lower since it doesnt turn on hairdryer mode or cap the 5k rpm like before the mod. Still working all good so far.

[irongoat]

How long did the process take? From open to close.

[thanats007]

How long did the process take? From open to close.

Well the longest part was the cutting and fitting of the pads for the many voltage converters and chips. Im very used to this notebook since i did alot of repastes / upgrades etc on the M14x R1 and R2. Id say alone for the pads customizations 1-1,5 hours. All in all 2 hours. I didnt count the time so its a raw guess. The disassembly is pretty fast id say 15 min. The reassembly maybe 30 min. But time shouldnt be a factor at doing this.

Id recommend taking all the time needed just to be careful and do it precisely. Check every cable 2 times since you dont want to open it again and again. And dont be afraid of the beeps after first startup. Its normal for the M14x that it only starts loading at the 2nd restart.

[flinte]

respect, Great work!

cant wait for my new M14xR2 to proceed it, too.

UPS means, delivery tomorrow.

what do think about cutting out a Little part (15mm) of the Fan. so a part of the airflow can stream over the PCB and heatsink. i believe it will be help for cooldown Phase.

cheers

Flinte

[Quix Omega]

respect, Great work!

cant wait for my new M14xR2 to proceed it, too.

UPS means, delivery tomorrow.

what do think about cutting out a Little part (15mm) of the Fan. so a part of the airflow can stream over the PCB and heatsink. i believe it will be help for cooldown Phase.

cheers

Flinte

That would decrease your overall cooling efficiency, the heat pipes are already servicing hottest components so you're best off cooling the fins on the other end. I'm also hoping you mean the fan surround because cutting a fan is a really stupid idea. It would unbalance it and cause it to rotate unevenly. That generally ends with more blades breaking off.

[thanats007]

Sorry for the delay im not too often in this Forum anymore since all issues are solved and im just enjoying my M14x R2 now.

Quix is right it will decrease the cooling effect on the fins and therefor the heatpipe. The only sense for this Kind of mod is when you are using additional heatsinks that get cooled that way. In my opinion the loss/advantage of cutting a hole in the fancase for airflow inside is not worth it.

The PCB dont need cooling and direct cooling of other parts of the heatpipe is against the cooling system of the pipe where the acetate which get cooled moves into the other direction where the hot acetate comes from. Only the chips/converters need cooling cause they are the components where the energy goes thru and heating takes effect. (sorry for my english)

By cooling the fins as Quix is mentioning the cooling system of the pipes would be improved and needs less active cooling = less noise. Maybe this would be a new idea for an even better mod.

Heating is the only wear off effect so decreasing or controlling is the way to increase the life of your notebook. Thats why i even did a "every-single-chip/converter-mod" since all of them are affected and add up to overall temperature.

[Dgvr4]

The thermal pads you put in the upper part of the mother board are in contact with the palm rest? so the heat is dissipated by the pads from the voltage converters to where? Also the copper shim you put in the PCH is in contact with the palm rest so how the heat is dissipated?

[thanats007]

The thermal pads you put in the upper part of the mother board are in contact with the palm rest? so the heat is dissipated by the pads from the voltage converters to where? Also the copper shim you put in the PCH is in contact with the palm rest so how the heat is dissipated?

No the pads have no contact to anything. The idea is to spread the heat to a bigger surface not to let it dissipate somewhere to. The copper shim of the PCH is connected to the lid and the lid has only little contact to the backside of the keyboard metal surface. Some heat may be spread on this big surface but most stays in the shim and the pad. It takes a little longer now for the PCH to go down in temperature but it also rises slower and mostly stays at lower temps than before. If youre using your M14x at high TDP output and switch to lower output phases alot this mod is not too good i guess. But im using it mostly in office mode and with turbo disabled even.

[Dgvr4]

oook I understood, other question. How thick are the stock thermal pads from the gpu and how many thermal pads are from factory? Im preparing to do this mode so I want to be very clear.

[thanats007]

oook I understood, other question. How thick are the stock thermal pads from the gpu and how many thermal pads are from factory? Im preparing to do this mode so I want to be very clear.

I used Phobya XT 7w/mk 1,5mm pads for the 4 GPU chips and 1x 1mm for the GPU`s PCB surface. Good Luck and be careful!

[angelsguigui]

Would the thermal pads you attached onto the PCH work for m14x r1?

[Dubdout]

What thickness were the heat sinks used ?

[9kyuubi]

Hello thanats007, I just came accross this cooling mod and am really interested in undertaking something similar. When the gpu and cpu are under a lot of pressure my m14x thermal throttles like a bitch and it sucks. How much extra hard out graphical intense use time do you get before throttling kicks in with this mod?

[dermosi]

Hey thanks for this tutorial and its a good idea, i have the unlocked Bios and i think i should replace the original cooling paste the ni read that here.

A another question is what are this mod costs completly ? I ask while i have artic cooling mx-3 at home but your cooling mod are a better idea and i dont want to open the mx14r2 two times.

[nickurey]

I have the M14xR1 and the right palm rest overheats a lot since it is where they place the HDD, I tired to take out the DVD drive and the battery to provide more ventilation but nothing changed. So I replace it with an SSD, and left if "hanging" (I didn't screw the drive to the bay, just connect it to the port. Now it's better, but it'll be nice if someone has a better solution.

[aap010101]

Maybe an idea, instead of cooling pads use peltier elements ?!

Thermoelectric effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ozwald]

I have the M14xR1 and the right palm rest overheats a lot since it is where they place the HDD, I tired to take out the DVD drive and the battery to provide more ventilation but nothing changed. So I replace it with an SSD, and left if "hanging" (I didn't screw the drive to the bay, just connect it to the port. Now it's better, but it'll be nice if someone has a better solution.

I keep mine on a dual-fan cooling pad & the difference in heat is huge. It's not really all that practical for mobile use, but mine doesn't leave my desk all that often.

[Vesago]

Hello All, I know this thread is dead, but I did this mod on my M14X R2. I printed out your photos in 11x17 paper, and used 3 different thicknesses of thermal pads to make everything fit as snug as possible. I did this at the same time I used IC Diamond, upgraded the CPU to  3840QM , some badass ram, and a 1tb SSD (heat reduction). Problem is when I turned it on, temps soured to almost 100 deg. I don't think these temps are just from the upgraded CPU. any thoughts? I'm thinking of removing the pads from the voltage regulators to increase interal air flow, but wondering about the pads around the CPU too.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Vesago

[MR20807]

I will try this and report back. Thanks.