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

I used mod on back for mosfets using previous heatsinks/tape from an old Morpheus 2 mod and added fujipoly pads. You have to get the ultra low profile heatsinks due to clearance issues. It works fine though - temps are great.

 

I think it's more simple by just inspecting pads and seeing if there's contact (indentation in the pad). If not then it's too thin. You can eyeball it - a 2 is clearly bigger than 1.5 as an example just by putting them side by side. Also - good to inspect pads for qc issues - because one of the factory pads that was installed did not have the film taken off of it (that's a pretty bad oversight). Replaced that one right away.

 

Has anyone used the Thermal Grizzly Minus thermal pads ??
I live in Brazil, and here it is difficult to find other brands.

 

They are Ok. Thermal pads, the more conductive, the stiffer they are. But Thermal Grizzly pads have a checkered pattern to make them more compressible. This is good overall, but specially for laptops.

 

"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."

What does this mean exactly? Do I need to cut the silver beauty cover and if so how?

 

Hi will I need to manually cut the silver beauty cover to expose those mosfets? How?

 

Nope. Gently rip it off.

 

What is the silver beauty cover made out of?

 

Dell use mylar tape.

 

So just to clarify before I do this.

Am i removing all the original padding stuck to the heatsink? The purple ones etc

 

Yes, and you are replacing them with new ones.

No, you don't have to rip of the heat shield from the GPU.

Enviado desde mi HTC One M9 mediante Tapatalk

 

Hey guys!!

I want to share my experience with you about repasting CPU and GPU and changing the thermal pads based on the guide @S.K shared. I own an Alienware Area 51m with a Intel Core i9-9900K CPU and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, stock and last bios for both (1.10.0 and 1.0.0.5).

First I want to say that I live in Costa Rica, a tropical Central American country. We are currently at an average of 26 degrees Celsius per day. I have experience as a technician in disassembling computers and this kind of stuff. I am a software developer and this is my first post ever in this forum. Please excuse me if my English is not 100% perfect.

Before doing any change in my laptop, I did some benchmarks to have a starting point to compare after the repaste and thermal pads change. The benchmark tools I used were: Cinebech 20, Unigine Superposition, Unigine Heaven, Unigine Valley, LuxMark 3.1, Anno 1800 benchmark DX12, and Red Dead Redemption 2 benchmark test. After getting the results, I proceeded to disassemble and here what I found:

The original pads thickness:



As you can see, some of the original thermal pads I had in my laptop were slightly different than the ones on S.K post. I measured many times using a micrometer gauge, some of them were a little squashed. There were 2 pads missing in the area below the CPU, next to the GPU.

Here some photos of the most squashed original pads:




As you can see, the lower GPU pads were more squashed on the right side of the image (red border, 1st image). On the other hand, in the CPU the difference was greater in the lower area (green border, 1st image). Also some CPU pads were very misaligned (green border, 1st image). The most surprising thing was that some pads on the top of the CPU were extremely crushed (red border, 2nd image).

I proceeded to clean everything and remove the original pads, then cut and place new pads with some thickness adjustments, and cut the silver cover in the GPU to expose the mosfets. I used the Panasonic thermal pads from Digi-Key store (ordered them in many sizes before starting the repaste/repad process):





Then I assembled the heatsink again, without using any thermal paste on the CPU and GPU, just to check the pads were making good contact. I removed the heatsink after a while and took this photo (with new thickness adjustment applied):



I confirmed the pads were making good contact. Some of them did not stick to the heatsink but I did not forget them , they were sticked in the electronic components on the other side (no photo).

Finally, I used the Thermalright TF8 paste for the CPU and GPU and assembled the whole thing again. I did the benchmark tests again but I had the exact same results. My computer is running fine with no problems but I think there should be an inprovement since the Thermalright TF8 paste is way better than the stock paste Dell uses. I can't repaste again because I ran off thermal paste, I'm planning to disassemble again when I get some more paste, but I would like to know what you think about the process I did and if you think I can inprove something to get better results.

 

The only thing that made a significant difference with mine was doing as someone suggested and replacing the screws with ones that don't have the built in springs/stops like the dell ones. I used m2x6 screws for the GPU and they seem to be working well for the day or so they've been installed. You could also remove the stock screws, set a small washer in the hole in the top of the heatsink and then put the stock screw back in and this would also slightly increase your mounting pressure in a little bit safer way (less chance of cracking the GPU die if you tighten them too much/not all together.

 

I'll try the washer mod you mention soon, I'm waiting for the new thermal paste to arrive, I ordered Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut this time. I want to check if my CPU clamping mechanism is loose or something like this guy mentions ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-1622#post-10963837). As soon as I get my order I'll repaste again and post the update here. Meantime I appreciate any other suggestion from you guys.

 

I confirm. Replacing the screw on the CPU (yours was the GPU) have reduced temps of mu CPU by 6C (i used m2x6 but i will need washer or warsher because the screw almost goes thrue the hole). I wish i could find the correct write up about it, but that really made a big diffrerence. I am now ordering correct washer. Also i only used the pressure of my thumb and index for the correct torque, not too much just tight.

 

Are the pad sizes for the late 2020 version the same ? 10900k 2080super first time adding pads wanna make sure before I get anything.

does adding pads make a big difference in temps?

 

Oe`

Open it up, measure them and go from there. And yes, if done correctly and with the right pads, it can improve both thermals and stability.

 

Hello. I have followed this post to change the pads of my area 51M r1, as I wanted to improve the quality of them (and some where also dry or just broken).
I purchased some Panasonic pads and followed the measurements in this thread. I had repasted a couple timesin the past and wouldn't get past 50° in most games (I do not play at full quality and actually own a 2060), but now, it goes over 50° in the most demanding games.
I'm wondering if I either did something wrong or if these pads are just not the best to use.
Also, I am wondering if there is a need for a VRM heatsink for the gpu (that you find usually on the 2080 models).

 

There are a lot of variables involved. Press the heat sink rightly into position and give it some "bake in" time and the temperatures could reduce overtime. However if you place a wrong sized pad somewhere where it needs to be thinner, or you used a thermal paste that doesn't work as well, you will have problems. I used Phobya Nanogrease Extreme but Gelid GC Extreme also works great. Both of them work better than kryonaut hands down in all tests.

 

I always give it a bit of time after doing some repasting, and I made sure that the new pads made contact. There didn't seem to be any problem (like no contact or pads being too thick)
I don't think the paste I use is a problem since I repasted before and it was fine, the temps became "worse" after the new pads were applied.
I checked a second time also and added pads behind the gpu (even if the 2060 doesn't have any heatsink behind) and repasted but the temps were just the same, going above 50° when it was slightly under before with a strong use and performance ventilation profile.

 

There is obviously something messed up. Otherwise the temperature should drop, not rise.

 

From what I can see, only the gpu seems affected by the changes. The cpu is roughly around the same temps as before (still can get a bit higher but since I had a deffective gpu before I know that the cpu gets impacted by the gpu's own thermal issues).
Could the pads alone, if I didn't put a good enough thickness, change the temps so much ? We're here talking about 5 to 10 degrees more since the change.
If it does, could you advise me on which pads to look into first ? (maybe I don't need to change all of them, I hope)

 

Absolutely. If the pads are too thick, the thermal paste will not get in firm contact with the GPU and temps will go through the roof. The memory chip thermal pads need to be absolutely perfect in thickness.

 

If this was the problem, wouldn't the heat be focused on the gpu itself ? Right now I can even feel the gpu vent being quite hot which makes me think it does transfer heat to the vent, but there's just too much ? Not sure to be honest.

 

I suspect that the VRM thermal pads are not making good contact with the heat sink which is causing them to overheat and once those parts overheat, their output voltage no longer remains stable and there can be high noise spikes in the waveform which can lead to overall higher temperatures. I'd suggest to take it all apart again and do a very meticulous measurement of everything before you put it back together. And watch out for any hair/dust particles that stick to the pads before you put the heatsink down. I personally use a clear plastic or pieces of plastic covered paper to cover the pads until I'm all done with cutting and unwrap them at the last moment. I also let a hot shower run at full speed in the washroom of the room where I am doing the operation and leave the door open so that the dust particles in the room can settle with the steam. That might sound a bit too much but it actually helps control the dust and flying dirt specs. This is something that you don't need to do very often so do it once and do it right imo.

 

I will check it all again, it's clearly obvious that there is a problem on the gpu side. I kept the stock pads so I'll measure everything again and try again. I had checked before if all came into contact and it felt like it did but maybe it's too thick too.
Also, I would like to ask. The 2060 doesn't have every VRM the 2080 has. From dell's installation, there were pads even on the empty side, and I just put one there just in case. I believe it is useless but would like to have confirmation.

 

2060 runs a lot cooler and is a lot less power hungry so it doesn't need all that added beefiness. I suggest that if it didn't come from factory that way then you can leave that part alone.

 

Hi, guys. Could someone provide links or model numbers for panasonic pads please? There are so many on digi key, I have no idea which are the right ones. Also what would be a good size fit for washer mod? Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks for this post OP helped me massively. This really Is a dog crud laptop though, had it two weeks, thermal throttles no matter what I do (I've changed the pads / paste five times in two weeks, spent almost 200 gbp on paste / pads alone) Thermal grizzly, liquid metal, Gelid, Thermalright, I've tried It all.

I've tried the pad sizes In the OP, the pad sizes by the guy later In the thread, the pad sizes that I've measured and done myself. Nothing, no change. Undervolted, dropped the clocks. I've tamed the 9900k alright but the 2080 just has none of It. The GPU hotspot will hit 100c no qualms even before the GPU hits the 79c cap. I've had to resort to 80 fps hard limit and .750v at 1560mhz.

Owned Alienware laptops since the 2006 M9700. Had the M11x, M15x, 13 R3, Auroras, the list goes on. Thought It would be the only laptop brand I'd ever buy but I'm never buying It again after this.

If you are reading this and considering an Area 51m. Steer well clear. I paid just 800 gbp for this with a 9900k and a 2080 and I feel like I've been ripped off.

Thanks again OP and sorry to rant In your thread.

 

As stated above I've spent over 200 gbp on thermal pads and paste, tried all different manor of sizes, ones suggested In this thread, same as the laptops dimensions, etc. Five times I've re-applied new pads. Hell I even tried liquid metal.

Anyway I'm all sorted now. I can not get my GPU to go above 74c even after 20 minutes of firestrike extreme stress tests. What I did was put the stock thermal pads back on and only changed the paste, makes no sense but It's working for me so I'm sticking with It.

 

Hi S.K

thanks a lot for the guide, i followed this guide and got decent temp when i first bought the laptop back in 2019
however, recently when i play certain gpu demanding game like red dead redemption2, my gpu got up to 90degrees and start thermal throttling so i thought ok it maybe because of the thermal paste dried out, i was using thermal grizzly kryonaut so i thought maybe i should do a re-paste after all it has been 2years already, i run out of thermal grizzly kryonaut so i switched to Phobya Nanogrease Extreme, after repaste, the gpu still run out of the roof, i tried some other games like cyberpunk, before i reaches around 82 degrees max, now its like 86 at Max, i re-paste it one more time and its still the same, wondering what causes it, i have also further undervolted+underclock my gpu, previously was [email protected] now its [email protected] (im using 2800+I9 9900K)
thermal wise it should improve a lot but its still going much higher than before
the cpu did also went high, up to 87 at one point in cyberpunk
however on some lower demand online games like guild wars 2, it stays the same as before, around 60 degrees
some games like need for speed heat the gpu temp just non-stop going up to 90 and thermal throttling, cant play until i lower the graphic but it feels silly that i need to lower the graphic not because of the fps but its the temp...
and it was only sitting around 80degrees before
any clue what is happening on my machine? thanks a lot

 

There are many factors involved. When was the last time you cleaned out the air ducts? A layer of dust can settle on the inner part of the fan housing along with the cooling fins which limits the amount of heat that the coolers can get rid of from the machine. Clean them thoroughly with a bunch of Q-tips and alcohol. Also, make sure that your mounting springs are firm enough as they can also degenerate overtime. A bunch of washers under the screw heads would be a good work around to increase the mounting pressure just enough to ensure a good surface match. Plus, the more squishy the thermal pads are that you use, the better the results will be. Try these tips and it should definitely help.

 

Omg you are absolutely right, turns out it is the fin underneath the fan that was blocked by dust, plus the washer mod I just made now the temps are even better than before
GPU now sitting at 63 degrees at full load
Plus 55 for CPU
Thank you so much!!

 

Glad to know that you were able to tame the beast! Happy gaming!