Thermal Pad Guide for Alienware Area-51m (9900K + RTX2080)

For Alienware Area-51m desktop replacement laptop, 1, 1.5mm and 2mm are used (3mm only on one place). Best way to measure what your particular machine needs and avoiding any manufacture related inconsistencies is to take the stock pads out, measure them against your original ones and put in the same thickness ones that you took off. Or you can use a pressure measurement paper to see which pads give you the best contact. Here is my setup that should help you getting started with the repad on this machine:


In the above image, where I've written "1 or 1.5mm", only go with 1.5mm if you have REALLY soft and supple pads. If you are using firm pads like FujiPoly or other similar pads, I'd recommend going with the thinner 1mm pads instead. Also, the 3mm pads are needed on 2 mosfets that are hidden under that silver beauty cover. You'll have to cut it on that edge to expose them and put thermal pad on them.

On CPU side:


Sorry about the pots in the background as I took this picture in my kitchen where I have mounted my ultrasonic cleaner.

Original post was made here, but as per request from a lot of people who are finding it difficult to locate this information, I am posting this as a separate thread.

 

Please add that the thickness of thermal pads may vary with different hardware and heatsink since Not all hardware are created equal.

 

Thanks m8!

 

@S.K what is this delidding tool I see referenced to?

 

I see this tool. https://rockitcool.myshopify.com/products/rockit-89-i9-9900k-delid-relid-kit

 

Is there some where in the owner's lounge where I can read more about this process. I am sure this is done to repaste. I'd like to know more about it. I'm sure the lid goes back on, right?

 

This is only needed for CPU. The GPU cannot be delidded.

 

@S.K I am guessing the copper upgrade lid will not fit the the 51m internal profile. Is this true?

 

It will throw off the heatsink with the gpu. Might be able to make it work with balancing it with pad thickness. I’d suggest a normal delid with stock lid.

 

@S.K I was wondering what you are using for thermal paste these days. I read a post where you said you were going to switch over to Gelid GC Extreme from Thermal Grizzly Conductaut. Is that what you are using now?

Anyone else switched from Thermal Grizzly? They say not to use it on aluminum.

 

thermal grizzly kryonaut can be used on any surface. COnductonaut however cannot because it contains galium which affects aluminum.

 

I'm using Phobya Nanogrease Extreme now as it performed better than Kryonaut for me. Here are my test results: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-1317#post-10925885

 

Hi SK, there was a pad u mentioned somewhere in the forum that is your goto pad now that can squish to any size u want for thermal padding the 51m ? Please could u reshare the name again. Thank you

I remember u said with this pad “mm” size doesn’t matter since the pad can compress perfectly to any required spacing , if my memory is correct ?

also what thermal compound do u recommend ?

 

Here you go: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-1307#post-10924973

I'd stick to the factory sizes on and around the GPU just to achieve a tighter fit because the heat sink mounting pressure isn't that high. But, around the CPU, you can use 2mm everywhere without any problem. That's how my current setup works actually.

 

Thank you SK

 

I'll be testing thermal grizzly carbonaut this weekend on my Area-51m, will make a video.

Probably won't be able to do repad yet but the carbonaut can be reused so we'll see.

 

Try the warsher mod while you're at it. Carbonaut does better with increased mounting pressure.

 

I was just gonna apply hella pressure while tightening it. What's the "warsher" mod? I assume you meant washer lol

Also you got a pic of that 3mm thing you mentioned in first post?

 

Nope, I meant warsher, not washer. The thing is that those screws have a bumper above the thread which prevents them from going any tighter and the only way to increase mounting pressure is to take them out, install tiny warshers under the top spring and then put the c-clips back on. Or you can use replacement screws that do not have that bumper at the bottom and will allow you to tighten them as much as you want (without breaking anything, of course ). And here is a picture of the DGFF without beauty cover (This is how it came from the reseller with undersized thermal pads. The beauty cover was also torn). You can see those 2 mosfets on top left.

 

Hi SK

instead of pad; anything stoping you from using paste in all areas pads are needed?

pros and cons pls

thank you

 

U mean u will replace the paste with carbonuat pad, For both cpu and GpU ?

 

You could do that, but it's a big hassle to clean that stuff off in case you want to repad/repaste and thermal conductivity of Panasonic pads is on the higher side as compared to other pastes that are available in the market. Plus they are reusable so I tend to lean more towards these as compared to pastes. Plus, it's a cleaner build with very little mess.

 

I wish amazon sold them , cos digikeys shipping to Nigeria is $180 that’s an arm and a leg probably a kidney too

 

Wow, that's too much! Don't you qualify for free shipping for above 50 dollars worth of goods though? I always get free fedex shipping on all my orders.

 

Free means they use USPS, I may as well goto the moon and back before the local courier that handles USPS orders brings it in.
It’s either fedex, ups , Dhl or assured 3rd parties , everything else is prayers

I will go with alphacool 17wmk and manage that in the mean time

 

Nope, it's Fedex for me. (I'm not in US). I received all my orders via FedEx priority shipping that was free!

 

Ok let me try and populate and order and see why it says at the tail end of checkout , will revert

Same $180

 

Yes, Carbonaut is a thermal paste replacement. I have 25x25mm for GPU & 32x32mm for CPU ready.

 

Pls let me know result , so I know whether to go with that pad instead , thank you

 

I'd go with thermal paste. The pad was very thin, I was expecting it to be thicker. The results aren't very good. My friend also tried in a desktop with a quad core Ryzen 3 and had similar results.



Go to 3:40 for results

 

Your the man , thank you

 

@S.K :

This is a snap of the underside of my 2070. Which are mosfets?



Center row on the right? If those are the ones, wouldn't those small stick on aluminum heat sink be a better alternative in this location? There is nothing for a thermal pad to sink heat to there.

And, that silver beauty cover as you call it, I believe that is a heat sink. Or maybe an RF shield.

 

@S.K

I saw a post by @Ultra Male in the Owners Lounge which confirmed the location of the mosfets on the bottom of the card. They are the NCP 303150's. The remaining questions are still a concern.

 

I also had asked about thermal padding that area. On the bottom of the GPU card where the mosfets are, there does not seem to be anything for a pad to sink heat to like on the top side. I also had asked if the stick on heat sinks might be a better option on the bottom.

 

There is a heat sink mount there (2 screw holes with one half silver and the other half black). It comes with 2080 only however I've seen guys purchase it separately as well. It will fit right on there with a thermal pad underneath that directly connects all the mosfets to it. If you can't find that, those tiny stick-on heat sinks should be at least a half decent alternative. However, stick a couple of them on and install the board back to see if there is enough clearance for them behind it. If it's fine (and I think there should be enough clearance), you can put them on and call it a day.

 

@S.K
Are you changing your recommendation for thermal pads to the Fujipoly Extreme? I saw post in the Owners Lounge that seemed to suggest that.

 

Nope. I like panasonic thermal pads but for those rear mosfets, i like fujipoly due to 17w/mk conductivity and don't mind them hardening up because it's a one time job on there. For all other places that might need reuse of pads, panasonic are best (13w/mk).

 

I am still trying to decide between the stick on sinks or thermal pads for the bottom. Which do you think will dissipate more heat?

 

Factory heat sink will be better but stick on heat sinks will be at least better than using nothing.

 

So I managed to get the 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 pads from the links you had which I thank you much for, but the 3.0 one was out of stock until next month so I'm not sure what to do. will the stock pads do fine on the spot where 3.0 is needed or can I possibly stack a 2.0 and 1.0 together carefully? I just really Want to get my laptop up and running tuesday when it arrives. I'm also moving out of state in a week so time is super limited.

 

Panasonics are a very well rounded pad choice. They have great heat dissipation but also have a consistency that is easy to work with.
Fuji poly's have a more clay-like consistency and more difficult to work with. They require more care and have less room for error etc.
Also, I personally suggest not reusing them. I have been working with Fujipoly's for many many years but have been using Panasonics ever since SK showed them to me.
Just random opinion/thoughts.

 

I would like to share the measurements I took from my device when I got it, and the current re-paste and re-pad:

 

Either these measurements are highly inaccurately taken or there have been some changes made to this machine. The guide at the beginning of this thread was established after almost a dozen tear downs on 3 machines.

 

I do have quitte an experience in measuring equipment, and I confirm these are good measurements.

My unit was ordered late September 2019.

Enviado desde mi GM1913 mediante Tapatalk

 

That could very well be a part of the problem right here with these machines. Those 2 vertically aligned rectangles on either side of the GPU dye MUST be 2mm AT LEAST otherwise they'll not make contact with the RAM chips. And that VRM pad must be NOT thicker than 1mm otherwise it'll add at least 3-5 degrees to the GPU peak temps because it won't allow the heat sink to sit tightly against the dye. And, those 2 on the left above the CPU side of heat sink must be 1mm. This setup will perform the best. Try this on your machine and you'll notice improved thermals, guaranteed. So far I have seen a lot of inconsistencies in this department in these machines from Dell. Until now I believed that it was just due to reseller fault. Also, you need to cut that beauty cover near the ribbon connector to enable good contact with the 3mm pad. Where did you buy it from?

 

The laptop was purchased directly from Dell. The shown dimensions are what is included from the factory, except for the missing pads on the chokes where I deducted that 1,5mm is the adequate thickness, although 1mm could also work.

I must disagree with the thickness proposed for the chokes for the GPU die. 1mm is not thick enough to guarantee contact between the top chokes and the heatpipes.

Seeing the imprints on the stock thermalpads, 1,5mm thickness is enough to guarantee contact on the GPU memories.

However at the end of the day each user should evaluate what is happening on his device and decide if dimensions should be changed.

For me it has been more important to change the layout of some of the pads so they actually cover the items they intention, like the MOSFETs of the CPU and GPU.

I don't know if this is a popular procedure or not, but I use thermal paste on both sides of the pads to fill in potential gaps and increase heat transfer. My device is doing very well thermally.

 

I agree that everyone needs to decide for their particular machines in order to make up for any manufacturing inconsistencies and choose the best sized thermal pads. This is the key! For me, all the machines that I took apart and 3 GPU units that I replaced on my machine, one after another, (just cherry picking parts ), the chokes on the GPU made GREAT contact with 1mm pads. I have confirmed this with pressure paper as well and there was no problem. Also, the ram chips on the GPU didn't make contact at all until I switched to 2mm on the sides and 1.5mm on top. I have all the stock thermal pads saved in a box for reference from 2 separate heat sinks (one that came with the machine, and the other that I bought separately for experimenting with the setup). It also matters a lot how squishy the thermal pad that you are using actually is, because the harder it is, the tighter the tolerances will be. I determined these measurements using FujiPoly Extreme pads that are usually the least squishy among their class. However, the Panasonic pads that I recommend could potentially be used without much difference but I'd stick to the measurements that I've taken irrespective of what pads I'm using, and everyone should double check with their specific hardware what they are following in this matter.

Regarding thermal paste on top of pads, I don't think it makes that big of a difference because in my case, Panasonics are 13w/mk while FujiPoly are 17w/mk which is more than most of the thermal pastes out there. But it is personal preference. Thermal paste could make a difference (potentially) in case of cheap pads but high quality ones don't need it.

 

Whats pads did you use? What size are the ones on the GPU?

 

Indeed, using thermal paste with the pads works best is the thermal paste has higher thermal transfer rating than the pads itself. However, the idea is to increase contact and heat transferring efficiency of soft pads, which have less contact pressure than stiffer pads. This increases the contact pressure and contact homogeneity between the GPU/CPU and the cold plate since the pads are not pushing away the heat spreader, which in turns improves heat transfer.

I did the re-padding using Artic Thermal pads (0,5mm and 1,5mm) and Cooling Junkies 5W/mK 2mm (what I have available on my local Amazon).

Best is to see what came with your laptop and evaluate the contact prints to determine if the thickness is adequate.