Alienware 13 R3 Thermal Testing - Should you cool your PCH with mods?

You should read, but TL;DR, yes, the PCH is a part that requires cooling. The conclusion is located on Page 4.

So when playing games I would notice the performance of my entire system suffer despite the CPU and GPU being in very safe temperature ranges. This would manifest as sudden drops in CPU clock speeds for up to 10 seconds at a time. I would get results like the following:




So warranty came out to swap my motherboard and the technician ruined the computer. It failed 3 days later. But during those 3 days I was able to play games and get the same results. After the computer failed, a replacement came to me. I also got the same results. That makes for a total of 3 different motherboards all with the same results. I decided to investigate as to why this was happening and why Dell considered the computer to be working despite this behavior.

It became clear that the PCH temperatures were alarming; anything in your system that has performance that is sensitive to heat typically has a temperature sensor that can be monitored. Yes even SSDs can throttle. The PCH is a very important part of the system and has a huge effect on the system’s performance; it replaces what we used know as Northbridge and Southbridge. I speculated that this chip might not be connected to any cooling at all. I took the computer apart and located it, and sure enough there are no heatsinks or fans attached to the thing. Ok fine, so why does Dell think it’s okay to have it passively cooled? Probably because everyone else leaves it passively cooled, its probably within spec…except their competitor’s computers are larger than the svelte for a gaming laptop Alienware 13 r3. I needed to be more rigorous and proper with my testing.

In order to properly test thermals you need to eliminate as much variable behavior as possible. This means for the Alienware 13 r3 you need to hop into the BIOS and enable CPU and Fan Performance modes. In Windows you need to prefer the Nvidia GPU, set it to prefer maximum performance, and then set Window’s power plan to high performance. The result is a stable test platform where clock speeds for the CPU and GPU should never fall below base clocks during idle and the Nvidia GPU stays on when no intensive graphics are running. Furthermore, the fans stay at maximum speed and never variate.

To illustrate this here’s the baseline that results once all those options are ticked. That means that the screenshots from here on out are the best results possible for a stock machine since the fans are never allowed to rest. To keep my testing accurate, all parts are stock except my choice of memory and storage and no re-paste has been attempted:



I also shut down unnecessary background applications to get real idling. Yup. Clock speeds never drop below base and my fans are roaring. After each test, I give the system a chance to return to this base state.

So my first test was to do what the Dell remote technician did for me over the phone. He simply ran a CPU stress test. Here’s my version of that same test but using OCCT for the CPU load:



With these results the technician was ready to tell me there was nothing wrong with the system. If all your computer has is a CPU then yeah sure that’s probably true. Notice though that an average temp of 89C and a spike of 93C would be a huge cause for concern for many people but look at the actual CPU clocks. The average was a multiplier of 32x which indicated the computer was well into Turbo Boost territory with short minimums down to 28x which is the base. The computer simply could care less that its 90C or it wouldn’t be on Turbo. You might get your lap burned but your computer doesn’t care about your feelings

Now let’s look at another test in vacuum. The GPU only. I used Unigen Heaven for this. Dell uses Valley, but the tech never used it he declared to computer to be working with the CPU test only. Here are GPU-only results:



There are a few notes about this result. First Unigen Heaven is a highly variable test, in order for me to keep the GPU load at 100% I had to pause the camera movement. I also max out all the detail settings so that the GPU load stays at 100% regardless of whether or not the CPU is being taxed. Tessellation and its associated sliders are maxed out in the 3D window’s interface; they aren’t available in the menu.

The GPU under load is less hot than the CPU is under load. However the PCH is doing something very different here than it does in the CPU test; it climbs all the way up to 83C whereas in the CPU test it only went to 77C. It isn’t possible to directly target the PCH with the tools I have.

[continued below]

 

For the next test I do the CPU and GPU combined using OCCT + Heaven. It is important to set Heaven to what I’ve specified preceding this because the introduction of a CPU load can limit the graphics load if the CPU isn’t giving the GPU enough to work with. You’ll find lots of simultaneous tests like this out on the internet where the GPU load is as low as a few percent when care isn’t taken to ensure the GPU always has work; this is variable and the results are unreliable. So here are my results:



These results are telling. For the majority of the test system performance is relatively stable with the CPU and GPU clocks variating slightly but always above base clocks. Its very clear that the chips are aiming for 90C as their performance target and throttling isn’t ever happening. However towards the end of the test, not even 10 minutes in, the PCH temperatures have run away. The CPU drops a full 300 Mhz below its base, still not thermal throttling however, at least not from the CPU’s perspective and HWINFO’s throttle indicator confirms this. The GPU however has a massive valley in its graph. Its temperatures are also nowhere near dangerous nor are any thermal throttle flags raised by HWINFO. The way the PCH works isn’t as transparent to me as the CPU and GPU but I believe it is unable to service the CPU and GPU when its own temperatures run rampant which causes the performance drops. I had already seen enough to know that the PCH, without a heatsink or fan, was going to continue to run away and I didn’t want to risk damage.

For the next test I do real world. Let’s play some Ark! Here are the results:



I ran this test for over 30 minutes because I was frankly surprised to not see any throttling. PCH temperatures are still going rampant though. CPU load averages 31% and the GPU averages over 91%. It would seem to me that despite the high PCH temperatures, it is able to continue its work in this situation because the combined load during Ark is still less than that of OCCT + Heaven. Obviously it brought a smile to my face to see my game stop throttling.

But that wasn’t good enough when I play Ark I don’t just have a 31% CPU load. I have browsers in the background to access the Ark wiki, I have Discord to chat with my tribemates, and I have Crashplan running because I backup the private server we play on. Here are my results with those things running:



So the CPU load is only slightly higher with all those things running, wow the 7700HQ is a beast! But the PCH has gone up a few degrees. This isn’t slight; every degree increase is in heat is not a linear increase in work. But still the combined load isn’t enough to choke the system.

Here’s what I think all this means. I think it means that in the best case scenario the Alienware 13 r3 can in fact handle insane loads without any user intervention provided that you have your fans on full blast at all times and you set your system up with all the performance options I’ve listed at the beginning of this article. It only starts to choke when you have a true 100% load on BOTH the CPU and the GPU when it is configured this way, and even so, its only when the PCH temperature begins to run away. Were the thing cooled, you could probably run indefinitely at 100% loads.

But that’s not the real-world. In the real-world you let the entire system manage itself; fans are variable and so are clock rates. Sure enough when using the machine as Average Joe might use it, I see this:



And I’ve seen this on my first machine, its replacement motherboard, and the full system replacement I have now. Is it any wonder I’m surprised that you guys are getting such variable results?

When you’re designing a computer and you go down the list of specs it’s easy to target for a situation where all the multipliers and fans are locked. Once you get it into the hands of the users who real-world use cases require variation in clock speed and fans you get a whole different ballgame. This is why we as users need to be more precise in our testing; when someone quotes a massive drop in temperatures because of a re-paste job more often than not the before and after tests are as variable as the choice of paste itself. We can easily mislead each other.

[continued below]

 

So where do I go from here? Well I’m going to attempt to actively cool my PCH similar to what fellow user LM64792 has done as shown here:



It’s an elegant mod that uses a graphite sheet to tap into the system’s active cooling. When I’ve done my version of his mod I’ll post those results. Will it work? Maybe. Maybe not. Is it worth my time? Definitely!

So should you demand that your gaming laptop be able to handle a simultaneous CPU and GPU stress test? Yes! Will Dell demand that? Maybe not! Will Dell honor the warranty if a simultaneous stress test kills your computer? Maybe not! But you should still demand more, eh?

Don’t worry, this is fun for me.

[end article]

 

Its hard to tell from the picture. Is the fan using a regular 2 pin JST? If it is then the micro fan mod should work with a Y splitter


https://www.amazon.com/Crazepony-In...UTF8&qid=1495138943&sr=1-28&keywords=2pin+jst

Would you say there is about 5mm of space for a micro fan?

 

My makeshift graphite sheet heat-pipe should be arriving soon so when that arrives I'll have my computer opened. While I don't plan on mounting a micro fan at the moment I am more than happy to help you take the measurements and look carefully at the fan connector while I'm at it. Do you know the dimensions of the fan and how you plan on mounting it? Where does the airflow go? Probably a bunch of other things that need very careful consideration that I haven't even thought about yet; I'm currently thinking about the graphite sheet mod so that's kinda consumed my brainpower at the moment.

 

I would remove the square box part of fan with dremel. Mount passive round center directly to PCH with double sided thermal tape (same stuff used to mount raspberry pi heat-sinks). Wouldn't modify the case till I saw results of this, the in case air flow may be enough.

Just theory crafting here though. Mine is at the "It ain't broke, so don't open it" phase
Only things I would need to know is if the current fan connector is 2 pin JST connection and If there is at least 5mm clearance over PCH

 

Oh I see. So you'll need 5 mm of vertical space just for the fan? The thermal pad is going to make it a little thicker won't it? I'm visualizing your end result its gonna look like a traditional CPU fan on a desktop that sits directly on the chip right with pad instead of heat sink? I will also take a clear look at the fan connectors and provide that information as well.

Yes I agree opening the laptop if its working ok really won't help but make the fit and finish worse especially since modern laptop designs are over-reliant on plastic tabs that get worn down with each snap and unsnap cycle. So to save you the trouble I will remember to help you take measurements since mine will necessarily have to be open very soon.

 

Yes, 4mm fan 1mm pad (ideally the 2.5mm fan, just can't find it for sale). Just like a CPU desktop fan, just tiny.

These things are crazy to open up now. Just did a re-paste on a Vaio Z Flip I picked up the other day (50% off retail). was like 30 screws and the snaps were tiny but all around, also had to take the rubber feet off to get to screws. Brilliant little laptop though.

 

I would say more like 2.5-3mm, taking into consideration air flow distribution

 

That mod will pretty much not do anything...

@iunlock did a better solution. Use heat resistant 3M elictrical tape and tape of the green substrate part of the PCH. Then use a fairly thin heatsink but more wide than the chip die itself and use a glue gun to glue down the heatsink onto the elictrical tape. Thus you can remove the heatsink after if needed but until then you have a solid connection between your heatsink and PCH.

 

Well if the mod won't do anything I'm willing to show those results too...

Do you have a link to iunlocks mod?

 

You got an $1800 laptop for $900? Who did you have to assassinate to get that!?

 

there is a seller on ebay selling them as New open box. They are probably used, but not a mark on mine, seemed brand new. Was $1300 for the top of the line model with 16 GB ram and 512 SSD and i7 (normally $2400 + tax on Vaio website)

They have a 30 day return policy, unusual on an ebay store. Figured can't go wrong with that

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VAIO-Z-Flip...826976?hash=item33cefa1120:g:myQAAOSwImRYi4uY

 

I wonder if those micro fans can handle the output of volts compared to the larger fans. I mean 5700 Rpms on larger fan is totally different for a micro fan I would believe and it will
Probably burn It out rather quickly. Best to add a resistor between the connection if you were to bridge the wire to fan connection with a y adapter

 

After two hours of gaming I couldn't get my PCH to get hotter than 67.5c and normally it is even cooler since this was without my usual undervolt, using the default 180w PSU instead of a 130w one, and without the cooling pad I usually use.

 

That's because they keep sending the faulty ones to my door

 

Dell offered to send one more replacement after the tech support session I had with them. My part for the mod is in but I'll be waiting for the replacement machine before starting. I'll be running the same dual stress test on the new one when it arrives.

 

As @rinneh had mentioned, the purpose of the electrical tape is to cover the little transistors and also so the glue is glued onto the tape for easy removal later if needed. Just put a dab of glue on the very tips. The height should be about ~4mm as the black plastic cover frame will also keep it nice and snug. ie... it "ain't" going anywhere...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5r3-disassembly-repaste-guide-results.797373/

 

Looks good! I'll add it to the list of things to consider. Its a different laptop though so I am wondering have you noticed the PCH influencing behavior the way I've documented? My guess is that the 17 can get away with the chassis just from being so much larger I doubt you saw PCH go over 95C the way I have on the 13.

Any results for simultaneous 100% loads on GPU and CPU?

 

I have pretty extensive flight time with the AW13 and will be getting in one in about a week again so I'll be adding more data to what I already have now.

I'll report back with the findings with some new mods/tweaks I have mind.

 

Just received my final replacement. It is by far the worst one. The keyboard is bulging and the screen is missing some magnets so when the lid is closed there is a nearly 1/3 inch of a gap. I will be keeping my current one but I'll be taking the battery out of my replacement. My current one shows a battery wear of 15%!!! Replacement shows wear of 2%. So really what I've gotten at my doorstep today is a new battery I will not be keeping the rest of the machine. Simultaneous stress tests is below.



Again the results are exactly as expected. You will notice that once the PCH reaches critical temperatures the GPU shuts off for a split second while the CPU tanks. We see peaks up to 94 for a only a moment with averages below 90C. Full throttling behavior isn't exhibited here which bodes well for a repaste and PCH mod.

The cooling system is very potent this is a stock machine with a ridiculous load it could very well run this test indefinitely if the cooling solution accounted for the PCH, alas it doesn't. We're looking at a shared heat pipe design here it is more critical than in traditional designs that this passes a test with simultaneous 100% loads. The mod I am about to attempt will add one additional chip to the heat pipes so it will be very interesting to see if a repaste gives me enough room for the added load. The PCH itself doesn't generate heat that is outrageous, so I think it will be safe. It is only reaching the demonstrated temperatures because it has no cooling of its own. If the PCH were to drop under 90C I have high hopes for this machine being able to run this test indefinitely, though of course, I you should know you're doing this at your own risk; we are in fact looking at a design flaw.

So the ball isn't in Dell's court anymore, I've had them send me replacements in hopes of finding PCH behavior different from this. I will be making the promised measurements for PCH height for anyone who wants to attempt a different kind of mod and I will also upload the pictures of the fan connectors for those of you interested in micro fan mods. If the graphite sheet heatpipe mod doesn't work for me I will also post those results. Stay tuned!

EDIT: actually I checked for the magnets on the lid they're there...there is something else that's causing the lid to be at a high angle when closed. Oh well, I'm not keeping this one anyways.

 

Pretty close I just measured the top of the IHS on the PCH to the plastic and it is at most 2mm of clearance. Looks like micro fans and large heatsinks won't be possible without cutting, although cutting the plastic base without impacting rigidity seems very possible.

If you wanted to go nuts and get around 3-4 mm of extra airflow in you could probably cut out the majority of the plastic base hahahaha. Its really only there for Dell to protect you from yourself, but we already know what you !@#%^ are up to on this forum anyways

 

So the fans appear to be 4 pins and you have about 2mm to work with between the top of the PCH and the plastic base. I have pictures on my camera I'll upload those soon.

 

Unfortunate there isn't even room for a normal aluminum sink. Best you can do is fit in a copper or aluminum shim. get an extra wide one and make it into a thin sink by cutting in grooves. Not sure how much that would help

 

Well, I finally got it.
Hopefully will have enough time to install and test around this weekend

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMttgyDkZ5Wiuiv2zlXXvC6eZ9fuuZAcHH4=

 

here are the remaining pics

 

One other thing

I'm seeing a tremendous thermal impact on CPU/PCH end when a game is launched while I have Chrome/IE running in a background [10+ tabs and/or RAM @ 50%+ load] ... I mean, we're talking about 10-15c degrees difference

 

I wonder how much this would help, if at all ..

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMttgyDkZ5Wiuiv2zlXXvC6eZ9fuuZAcHH4=

 

Thanks for all the comprehensive info shadowyani.

I actually am interested in seeing if my mod even helps at all, especially in comparison to other alternatives suggested to you.

The games I play simply don't stress out the laptop the way you see it, so my AW13R3 is actually fine even after hours of playing games. My tests definitely aren't as comprehensive as yours, and my real job keeps me far too busy to spend more time testing out the before-after of my mod, so thanks in advance for testing it out.

To be honest, I got my PGS over a 1.5 years ago since it was so inexpensive and I needed to order some other things from Digikey anyways, so I had it laying around unused. I'd find it pretty shocking if the PGS was 100% useless, considering how Panasonic's target buyer is actually mass electronics manufacturers and not small consumers like us, and OEMs would be willing to save a couple of dollars if it did nothing/too little, since for mass volumes a couple of dollars per unit would really hit one's bottom line. But you never know, so I look forward to your results either way!

 

I've actually kind of hit a snag with my attempt. I'm using an admittedly older tube of Artic Silver 5 and I'm getting worse results than the stock paste. I tried a different heatsink and the same. No issue cooling the GPU but that has a larger IHS and is easier to cool than the CPU.

I'm just gonna get a different compound at the store just to make certain.

EDIT: Okay so thermal paste has a shelf-life around 2 years...there is no use by date on tubes of AS5 so make sure to pour it out after 2 years unless you want to have a bad stomach ache. Think of your kids!

I went out and got some Thermaltake TG-7 at the closest local store and its performing okay, better than my old tube of AS5 and better than stock stamp paste; I spent so much on my Alienware 13 that I can't afford the paste made from unicorn horn shavings so I'll be posting my test results with this.

 

Okay! So I'm done and I'm playing some Ark...errr "testing".



So this is recording at 25 minutes in, but its been about 1 hour of actual gameplay. Previously PCH-related throttling would happen at about 10 minutes in.

LM64792's mod does work. I maxxed out at 82.5C and came back down too. Previously it would just fly away and away over 95C and my game would begin to stutter.

I undervolted by .14 to make aditional headroom in order to account for attaching the PCH into the shared cooling system; however this isn't cheating this is the same .14 undervolt I used before the mod which still had throttling.

LM64792 congrats man looks like your mod can conquer Ark: Survival Evolved. PGS is an impressive material. I held it over an open flame and it immediately coiled up and got very hot it does very much move heat into the existing system.

Should you cool your PCH? Yes. Yes you should if you have the dexterity for the surgery required. PGS was an insanely tough material to work with and so easy to wrinkle. Look forwards to hearing results from other mod methods.

But now can it conquer a simultaneous stress test? Stay tuned!

 

Now here's my double stress test results. Results were captured with CPU and Fan performance modes on in the bios. Prefer Nvidia GPU and Prefer Maximum Performance. Windows Power Plan set to High Performance.



Temperatures hot yes, but both the CPU and GPU stayed at turbo clocks through the test until PCH-related throttling occurs at around 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Now before you jump down my throat and say that 90C is death you will notice that the system in fact stays at Turbo Clocks (multiplier higher than 28x) until 95C is reached. Once at 95C the system dials back, but never below the base multiplier of 28x, indicating absolutely no thermal throttling. It appears that the cooling system is tuned for 90-95C; when the fan controller is set back to normal with fan performance mode off you will notice that the fans do not go full blast even at 90C. You will see a lot of multiplier and fan oscillation happen at this threshold.

However this result is an improvement because when the PCH throttle happens the PCH temperatures do come back down before climbing again, resulting in an oscillation. Previously the PCH temperature would run away never to return. Absolutely no CPU or GPU throttling occurs. The throttle is PCH related. In a single stress test this will not happen and it doesn't happen in games either.

I suspect that since we're sharing the cooling system this is probably likely to happen when doing a simultaneous stress test since this is the absolute limit the cooling system is designed to handle. The only way to "win" this kind of stress test on this system is to have the PCH independently cooled and not tapping into the existing pipes. However, in games and real-world usage the problem is in fact fixed.

So what's my conclusion?

Well if I had more time I'd try a different mod that doesn't share heat pipes, but since I'm only seeing PCH-related throttling in this simultaneous stress test I can live with this. I can now play all the titles I had trouble previously playing.

Your PCH only has to be under 90C to avoid throttling so a micro fan mod is probably overkill. You should absolutely undervolt if possible, you also need to be very certain the undervolt is sticking because its a software-based undervolt.

So now what?

Would I keep this computer. Yes.

Would I recommend it to others? Absolutely not.

Average Joe is going to have no idea why games like Ark are throttling and nor should he be expected to know how to repaste, undervolt, and mod his PCH cooling. We are in fact looking at a design flaw, that the PCH is covered by an IHS should make it quite obvious that this chip requires cooling.

For me this case is closed. I can survive now in real life and on Ark.

EDIT: After a curing time, an undervolt of .15, and 1 more piece of PGS (the PGS heat pipe is now 4 layers thick) the computer can pass OCCT + Heaven.



10 minute burn in on CPU and GPU together and no multiplier lower than turbo of 29x and PCH no higher than 78.5C.

 

Here are my results for Gears of War 4. This one was another PCH pain point before the mod. Results are with default settings across the board but with a .14v undervolt.



Look at that smooth gameplay...*ahem I mean graph*

The drop-off at the end was when I closed the game that's not a throttle.

 

Good test analysis and documentation shadowyani! I'm happy to hear it's helped you for the primary use case of the laptop (unless your idea of fun is running crazy stress tests =P ).

It lines up to my own observations as well, in that the mod causes the PCH to be tied to the rough average temperature of the GPU and CPU, since the cooling system is shared. The graphite strip transferring a good amount of energy is also apparent because the heating behaviour is 2-way: the GPU and CPU can and will heat the PCH up to nearly the average temperature between the GPU and CPU.

This does also reflect in how the PCH temperature fluctuates very rapidly during sudden switches between full load vs idle load, meaning the strip is again transferring a fair bit of energy (else you would see the temps not changing much).

Since the mod calls for very little of the inexpensive graphite sheet to be used, you can make many mistakes in building the heatpipe, and still have lots left over for other experiments. One other thing you could try is to route some PGS heatpipes to the aluminum bottom cover, and then cooling the aluminum bottom cover with a laptop cooling pad. That way, it'll act like a large externally cooled heatsink.

 

Haha yes the stress tests and modding was fun but I learned more about Alienware than I wanted to in doing so. Yup games are working absolutely great with your mod. Minimum temperatures are up but maximum temperatures are down, a classic case of equilibrium in the system.

I did consider attaching the PGS to the bottom cover but between frying my legs and needing to reapply it after removing the cover, the original solution was superior. I don't know how far the PGS can carry the heat but I suppose someone else trying the mod could attempt to transfer the heat all the way out to where the fan meets the heatsink to avoid sending the heat through the CPU and GPU first.

That said, what I have now is working just great. Thanks again for your suggestions and especially the choice of material!

 

Didn't screenshot it but wanted to say that a dual stress-test with Heaven and a non-AVX CPU test like XTU or Linpack can in fact run indefinitely at turbo clocks.

 

Ok here are my final results. Went down to .15 undervolt and made my PGS heat pipe 4 layers thick. I am happy to confirm that my Alienware 13 is no longer conditionally stable, it is actually stable.



Oh that calming feeling knowing that my machine will run everything I throw at it without exploding. You know, the way it should have beenn out of the box

 

better if you use an aluminum block, no need to use fancy stuff when something simpler works

 

Glad to hear the mod is working. Will try to implement it as I am also getting high pch temps.

 

Do you have results for your AW13? I would be very interested in those results too.

Akimox went with the sink route but it required cutting but got results. Shortest heat sinks I could find were 2mm which would touch plastic which is a no no for me. Micro fan was discussed but easily overkill.

Regardless i am very happy with the results using PGS. It is literally thin as tape and I can definitely recommend it. Mine looked like this when I was done and it works fine even though my workmanship wasn't perfect.

 

I'm looking to get an aw13, I tried aluminum on previous 15r3 (exchanged) and now the 17r4 kabylake/1080.

It works well, the pch is under 70c even at the worst scenario where the back of laptop isn't raised and there's no coolerpad.

Maybe with 13r3, you would need to hand fit the aluminum so they are shorter.

How much did that tape job cost you? From what I've read, the materials are quite expensive?

 

I bought it straight from LM64792's link he provided in his guide

https://www.digikey.com/product-det...ic-components/EYG-A121802DM/P14965-ND/2781074

it was $14.86 shipped.

I did pretty much exactly as his guide except I ended up with 4 layers to get to my final posted temperatures. No need to raise the laptop or use a cooling pad whatsoever to get through an OCCT + Heaven stress test, with AVX. Definitely feel safe running anything and everything now but I'm certain whatever you try your PCH and overall CPU and GPU temperatures will be higher than what you found in your AW15 and 17 so get ready for that. There is no vent that the PCH can directly breathe through on this chassis.

Wouldn't recommend AW13 to anyone not comfortable with tinkering it definitely failed miserably in Ark and Gears 4 out of the box lol.

 

considering that a pack of 20+ heatsink from china costs 6$...

I'll have a try of what you recommend, just curious

 

Yeah it was more of a fit thing than a price thing. I couldn't find something short enough to avoid touching plastic. That being said you could make several heat pipes with the amount of PGS that was shipped.

If you do find a way to do it with aluminum though I'm sure that info would be helpful to the community. More than 1 way to skin a cat and such.

 

I believe it is easily possible with aluminum heatsink, but it will not be connected to the main heatsink.

But if you think about it again, the TDP of pch is around 3-5w, usually a lot less than that. Fear that heat might not flow from pch to heatsink, but from heatsink to pch since the CPU/GPU pushes a lot more heat.


That sheet, possible to use in vertical orientation? Or only connecting heat sources horizontally?

 

CPU/GPU temps maxes out at about 90 degrees as shown in shadowyani's test. As mentioned, you get slightly higher average temps amongst the CPU/GPU/PCH, but the end result is that no single component becomes a bottleneck since the PCH doesn't endlessly build up heat and then fail on you.

I think his comprehensive evidence speaks for itself, if one goes by a facts-based approach, that this is a valid solution. I'm sure that all owners would definitely be interested in a comparison, cost/effort/aesthetics/other factors included, so they can decide which method they want to pursue. It's too bad shadowyani achieved his objective right away, else he could've done the heatsink and fan approaches as well as part of his methodical testing that's directly comparable =P

Here's the documents I followed when designing the original solution, you can learn more about how OEM engineers are taught to utilize graphite sheets, and what properties they have:
http://electronix.ru/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=98555

http://www.electronicdesign.com/cir...hite-sheet-evolves-meet-tough-thermal-demands

http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data Sheets/Panasonic Electronic Components/PGS_Br.pdf

 

Just a thought. can we use this material to seal the gap between the CPU and heatsink, replacing thermal paste altogether and fix the CPU core temperature differential issue once and for all without modification to the actual heatsink shape.

 

When I looked at the brochures for PGS it definitely alluded to such use cases including as a stand in for TIM but I am not too certain it is meant for such TDPs. Its going to require either some really brave testing or someone with an engineering background to enlighten us before said brave testing.

But yeah from my hobbyist tinkerer perspective I think your "just a thought" isn't without merits if that means anything lol. The material certainly can be stacked and would have the rigidity to "support" a heatsink in some desired position whereas paste would just ooze out the sides.

 

I saw from the links, there are SSM form of the PGS, and the thermal conductivity is far higher than LM and can withstand over 400C temperature. But you are right, i didnt notice anything about thermal density for that matter and whether it can sustain continuous high TDP and still pull heat away is something we all would love to find out.

Imagine if this thing works, traditional paste, the highly dangerous LM, they will all be obsolete. No more pump out issue, thermal paste drying up, or thermal paste not filling gap properly etc.

 

You'd probably still want to tint and paint your heatsinks with a super super thin layer of paste because I think a tape-like structure will likely be worse for the micro gaps. Part of me wants to get some of the other more exotic forms of PGS just to play with, cause it has been undeniably entertaining for reasons I can't pin down. I do have CPUs and boards I consider expendable and enough PGS leftover for maybe a single test.

It will probably explode gloriously and my blood will be on your hands. If it was that good we'd probably be all using it by now. Weekend project here I come? Lol.