Before you jump into your AW 15R3/17R4 to "Unlock" the cooling system

First off, this is my first forum post on NBR and I apologize if I have broken any sacred protocol of forum posting (I'm a newbie as my badge suggests. ).
This thread is a result of hours of reading (Yeah, I haven't started it yet) multiple threads, guides, etc and getting very informed and befuddled at the same time. I wanted to basically compile a "before-you-do-it" checklist so that people can ready all their tools and equipment before getting their hands dirty.
This is especially for people who don't live in the states and/or away form @iunlock & @Mobius 1 , who have assisted many in their endeavors.

1. Disassembly & Repaste by @iunlock http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5r3-disassembly-repaste-guide-results.797373/
   • This guide pretty well written! Kudos to @iunlock on mentioned all the required tools for the 17R4. But some details/steps are different for the 15R3. I'll list the necessary and optional equipment (taken from the above thread).
   • Liquid Metal TIM - Thermal Interface Material - 1 Tube (Smallest quantity available)
     • Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut - 73 W/mk or,
       
     • Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra - 38.4 W/mk or,
       
     • Coollaboratory Liquid Pro - 32.6 W/mk
       
   • Or, Traditional Thermal Paste - 1 Tube (Smallest quantity available)
     • Gelid GC Extreme: 8.5 W/mk or,
       
     • Grizzly Kyronaut: 12.5 W/mk or,
       
   • Iso-propyl Alcohol (90%) or ArtiClean - >20mL
     
   • 3M Super 33+ Tape (Only, if you go for LM) - 1 roll
     
   • PH-1 philips head screwdriver - video by @iunlock ()
     
     
   • Plastic pry tool (Old debit card will do)
     
     
   • Anti-electrostatic discharge gloves (Optional)
     
   • Soft Surface/ Working mat/ Big mouse Pad- to do the entire operation (Optional).
     
2. Thermal Pad Replacement by @iunlock http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5r3-disassembly-repaste-guide-results.797373/
   • You will require all of the above tools, except the TIM.
   • The number of pads needed will vary depending on the model of your AW. I hope people who reply on this post to help with this regard.
   • @iunlock has already posted the required number of pads for the 17R4 models. Could someone Please post required number of pads for the 15R3 model/s?. Here's the brand mentioned by @iunlock -
     • Fujipoly Thermal Pad 100x15x1.0 mm (Number required: 1-3, vary with model)
       
     • Fujipoly Thermal Pad 100x15x0.5 mm (Number required: 1-3, vary with model)
       Image for illustration-
       
     Mentioned by @Mobius 1 (more economical)
     • Arctic Thermal Pad 6.0W/mK (1mm & 0.5mm thickness)
       
3. PCH Heatsink Mod and NVME disk HS Mod by @iunlock http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5r3-disassembly-repaste-guide-results.797373/ and @cope123abc http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...vme-memory-heatsinks-usb-hub-worth-it.801425/ and @judal57 http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/pch-heatsink-mod-alienware-15.794484/
   • You will require aluminium or copper fins of the sort shown in the picture. And probably a file to scrub it down to proper thickness.
     • 
     
   • Traditional Paste (Shown in Repasting section)
   • 3M Super 33+ (Shown in Repasting section)
   • Some Glue (To hold it on the tape)
   • @iunlock mentions that the thickness needed for the 17R4 is around 4-5mm. What is the thickness needed for the 15R3?
4. Fixing Core Differential Issue by @alexnvidia http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-temperature-differential-issue.805062/page-2
   • Refer to the posts thoroughly. It's a WIP mostly.

Some questions for the forum elders -

• How many thermal pads for the 15R3?
• What thickness of HS mods (which will fit the case) for the 15R3?

 

Take off ICD from the list, that's just garbage.

The aluminum heatsink, needs to be under 4mm for both of them, ideally you would hand fit them, there's no "ideal" thickness.

Thermal pad, you can also use the arctic 6/wmk for economical reason.

 

Thanks for the input! I'll edit the list.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

nice job

do ppl leave the tape on when reattaching heatsinks with LM and if so why?

xD

 

Yes, you do leave the tape on. This is to safeguard the electrical components from shorting, in case there is some liquid metal pump out. The tape acts as a barrier between the liquid metal and the metal contacts present around the CPU and GPU die.

The main thing you need to note is that the tape should be thin, so that it doesn't prevent the heatsink from sitting flush with the die.
The second thing is that the tape should withstand high temperatures for obvious reasons.The most suitable one which I found was 3M super 33+ which is very thin and withstands upto 105 C.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for this! I've been looking for a basic guide for all the mods for the AW15 R3. I just bought one, and it'll be arriving next month. It's an i7-7820HK/1070 8GB/16 GB 2667 MHz unit.

It will be my first time trying to OC things, and I would want to keep the temps as low as possible. I've asked @iunlock before, but I know he's probably too busy to answer my questions.
The disassembly and repasting should be easy, but I've never done heatsink mods. Where do yo buy those fins? If I'm not mistaken, the other thread mentioned that aluminum is better than copper. I also like the specific questions you've pointed out. I hope this thread gains more traction.

 

@Aman Krishna the thickness for the 15R3 is ~1mm less than the 17R4.

Cheers

 

Yep because of it's placement and the lack of airflow these must be aluminium because the thermal properties of this versus copper is to dissipate heat faster.

Those Arctic pads you recommended are awesome. So much easier to work with than fujipoly but I also found them essential for the VRMs to prevent GPU stutter because they're a little bit squishy also.

Yep but now there are two versions of this tape as well folks and they both look identical. One is rated to 80C and the other is 105C. Just check the small print inside if you can

Yep and also make sure you buy the ones with fins which span the whole length of the sink without being cut up (i.e. not the reddish, copper ones you post a picture of) and to place the heatsink so fins are horizontal across the board to maximise the small amount of airflow there is.

 

Should I just go replace all of Dell’s stock thermal pads? I’m not quite sure if iunlock listed the thickness for all of it though. I’ll have to check that again.

Also, can you give me an example of such heatsink? I was going to buy this. I was thinking the one with horizontal fins will be fine, but I might still have to file it.

 

Yes definitely replace Dell stock pads. What you really need to do is balance heatsink, then assess what pads you need by using @iunlock 's guide as a first cut, then assess what gaps you still have and fill them with thicker / additional pads. For any that look touching but can still be wiggled with a tweezer I used a layer of some K5pro of about 0.1-0.2mm to fix that

I bought these and then shaved 2mm off

 

How do you stick it in place? iunlock mentioned glue, but is ther a better/easier way to do it?

 

Having the heat sink stay put with minimal points untouched is the best, in order to prevent obstructing the surface area for maximum heat dissipation. This is why I've recommended the 4 corners.

::iunlock::

 

Thanks! So, if I understood it correctly, I have to tape around the PCH like the CPU/GPU and just place the heatsink on top of the die? What type of glue do I have to use?

On an unrelated note:
1) I got my repasting stuff today (surprisingly). The problem is, I don’t have thermal pads (no Fujipoly in Canada) ordered yet. Should I proceed repasting?

2) Pea-sized drop/horizontal line/X-mark, which one should I use for the Kryonaut on the CPU/GPU?

3) Will the 1g be enough for, say, repasting both three times?

 

You can use super glue on the corners. Just a small dab as it doesn't take much to keep it in place.

I would wait to get pads before proceeding.

Spread the paste when repasting laptops. Always. The dot, criss cross and all that funny business is for high pressure mounts on desktops.

1gb is sufficient for a few repastes yes.

Good luck! Take your time..

::iunlock::

 

Okay. Regarding the thermal pads, what’s an alternative to Fujipoly? I saw people recommending the silicon-based Arctic thermal pads. I could buy that over Newegg Canada, but I’m just curious if there’s a better one since I can’t get a hold of Fujipoly (I think Amazon US have them).

So yeah, I’m taking my time.

EDIT: Is eBay reliable? I didn't think of checking it over there right away. Will it be better to get the XR-m version (17.0 W/mK)?

 

If you've not done it before then I highly recommend you don't use fujipoly as it's a pain in the arse to work with and has less tolerances. Of course this is recommended for the absolute best results but I've used the 17, 14, 11 and 6w/mK Arctic pads on separate repastes and noticed no difference if you do it right.

if anything, perhaps keeping a bit of extra heat on the VRMs and MOSFETs and not on the heatsink is better overall? Who knows!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

+1. Arctic thermal pads are soft and aren't as hard as Fujipoly. Like @Pete Light said, if done correctly thermals will be under control. If I was @iunlock I'd use Fuji because every degree of temps on CPU and GPU matters when OC'ing. IRL, I'm not @iunlock so Arctic is the best one since you can get in bulk or in cheaper rate then Fuji.

 

Like I mentioned in another thread, I ended up ordering Fujipoly X-e units because Arctic didn’t have a stock of the 1.0mm variants. Bummer. It’s hard ordering some stuff here in Toronto.

I’ll make sure to document phases of my work when everything arrives.

 

Buy 0.5mm arctic and stack them.

 

@iunlock Hi, I seen your posts everywhere and was wondering on what opinion you would have to give me. I'm looking for a gaming laptop that will play games well, with as little issues as possible. I'm an alienware fan as I just think they are built better but I'm a little concerned with temps on them. I'm looking at a 17 r4 or an 17 r5. Which would you recommend? I'd like to keep it in stock form but if they are just to hot would you recommend these thermal mods? Which would benefit from them the most? I'm not looking to overclock just want a good reliable cool running machine. Thanks

 

Look at MSI laptops. If you want to mod alienware then buy older gen 17 r4 and follow iunlocks' posts. Even iunlock uses 17 r4 and he said he'll wait for couple of newer gen AWs since 17 r5 is plagued with thermal issues.
You can look at hidevolution.com with mods applied out of the box on razer,AW,MSI,Clevo etc...

 

Pains me to say it but I agree! Out of the box with no work done to it the cooling is superior in the MSI laptops. However for a little effort under the hood, most Alienware units can be sorted for stock use if you're prepared to repaste

 

Stock use? Would it handle games and vr?

 

Well my opinion from all the units I've seen is that if they are not overclocked and are undervolted then they are close to being ok for this completely stock under any kind of load. However after a year this may degrade with cheap **** paste so A little kyronaut repaste and repad done well will ensure everything is the case but the repad is what takes the time believe me!

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

Bought the alienware 17 r4. Gonna give it a go untouched. If temps are good I'll leave alone, if not I'll RIP that thing open

 

You can return it and look elsewhere say, 8700K and GTX 1080 based clevo's on your lap instead of the usual desktop.

 

or just fix it yourself

 

Ive got the 15r3, i cant figure out what pads i need... ive had the board replaced twice under warranty. Someone please inform me

 

I posted my results in the repaste thread. But put some effort in it and measure them yourself for the best results. There are multiple heatsink variations and different pad sizings. Also sometimes the pads out of the box are too thick. Also put some effort in reading the threads. People already have put a lot of effort to share their findings.

Buy a large sheet of 0.5mm pads and 1.0mm pads. Measure, check, and keep doing it till the temps are perfect.