Opening the GPU/CPU fans on the M18x R2

Hey guys - just a question regarding the GPU fans on the M18x R2. The secondary GPU's fan is making a ticking sound when it's either speeding up from a cold boot, or once it is slowing down when shutting down. I haven't noticed any heating issue, but I'm afraid there's something getting in the way of the fans. At least, I assume it's coming from the fan, since it's making a sound from the left hand side of the laptop (when it's facing me right side up and opened in normal use). Is it possible to open the fan case? I don't know how to remove those washers securing the screws, never seen those types before.

Even more importantly - should I be concerned about this "ticking" sound? Thanks

 

Its worth checking out, especially if it doesn't sound right to you.
It's very easy to do.
Just take out your battery, take off the 4 screws to remove/slide-off the bottom cover.
You'll now be able to see and access all 3 fans.
From here you can either blow or suck out the dust and junk clogging things up (most likely the problem) or investigate things further by removing the fan screws and fan power cables, then gently lifting them out from their bay. Give the heat sinks a clean while you're there.

I Hope that enough to help you

 

The washers are actually C-clips. They slide off the screw. You should see an opening on one side. You should be able to see a couple of small slots on the opposite side of the opening. You can use a tiny screwdriver or an awl to pry the washer away from the threaded part of the screw. When removing them be careful or they will fly off (spring steel) and you might lose them. To put them back on they slide onto the threaded shaft of the screw and will snap into place.

Other than being an annoyance, the ticking sound may not interfere with the function of the fan. It would be a good idea to investigate it and see if there is something you can do to stop it. If you are still under warranty, perhaps Alienware will send you a replacement fan. Replacement fans are generally available on the internet for around $30-$40.


The fans in the photograph above are M18x CPU fans. (Click to enlarge.)
Notice the CFM rating of the fan on the right versus the other one. :thumbsup:

 

Where do you buy the higher CFM fan? Are the fan mounts compatible for the AW 18 too? Quick checking shows that they can be swapped.

Is the one on the left from R1 and the one on the right from the R2?

Ok, I found your post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...re-your-knowledge-opinions-4.html#post9418735

But what about the GPU fans? Is there 11CFM GPU fans too?

 

I don't think so on the GPU fans... I'm not aware of any. You might have to mod something on the 18 to swap the CPU fan, but it should be doable. I have not investigated that yet.

About the GPU fans, I don't really need any higher CFM fans for the GPUs. The 780M SLI runs very cool in the M18xR2. It only runs hot in the AW18 because the GPU fans rarely ever work. So, higher CFM won't help if the fans don't run, LOL. And, in the rare instance that they do run, the max is gimped to about 500 RPM less than what their max speed is... so they never get cooled as well as they could be. If the AW 18 had a reliable way to control the GPU fans manually, that would likely be more than ample GPU cooling.

 

Great help as usual Mr. Fox, thanks later on yesterday I heard that spring washers are quite fiddly to put back in, which was why I hesitated before removing them. Maybe I'll just give the fans a good bit of compressed air treatment and see how that goes. Vacuuming had never worked on properly cleaning the fans out. So far the re-paste job I did a couple of months ago is holding out quite well, but you know... unless everything is going along perfectly well, we AW owners are never quite satisfied

Those higher CFM fans are quite tempting... I guess they present no problems if you use a normal 330W adapter right?

 

It is only the CPU fan with 11.7 CFM and it works fine with a single 330W AC adapter.

I very rarely need to use the dual AC adapter. It's only necessary for the most extreme overclocking... only need it with the CPU cranked up hard with the GPUs overvolted and running beyond 1.0GHz on core. Running with stock GPU voltage at the max stable GPU overclock and something mediocre on the CPU, like 4.3GHz, there is no reason to use more than a single 330W AC adapter.

 

You can literally splice a single wire on the GPU fans and tie it to the cpu fans, making them all run at the same speed, no ? has noone tried this ? If you run a particularily hot cpu too, its gonna be great on the gpu's. It is easier to control the CPU fan then GPU's at least on the m18x-r

Anyways, you could easily hook a 5v wire from mpci-e thats rarely used, or a sata slot's 5v to the fans too, and add a potential meter somewhere to control them, or literally add a small cirtuit like arduino to control them with via the pci, and hide it inside under the chassis.

 

I'm looking for a store for those cooling fans with high CFMs. I'm running 680M SLI highly oced and would be great to have an extra cooling power. If you find them, do you mind to post the link over here? Thank you
Offtopic: Mr.Fox I couldn't try your drivers mod yet.