M11x R1 Heatsink Mod

pretty much what the title says. i did this to get lower temps for a couple reasons.

the R1, as most of you might know doesn't run hot to begin with. but having the fan kick on less often will save on noise and battery life. not to mention the much better temps under load when gaming.


PARTS LIST:

the most awesome thermal tape EVER!

eBay - SEKISUI 5760 THERMAL ADHESIVE TAPE PAD 8 x1 25 pack, Similar items search

copper shims

copper shims | eBay

heatsinks

Newegg.com - Enzotech MOS-C1 C1100 Forged Copper Heatsinks only

RAMsinks

Newegg.com - Sunbeamtech Copper Notebook Memory Heat Spreader Cooling Model NMHS-C RAM Heatsinks only



before:



after:



under the hood:






FINAL PRODUCT: http://forum.notebookreview.com/7616224-post24.html

 

holy crap, thats very impressive. +rep =)

 

thanks.

on a table @ idle temps were 28c after 30min

also i was couch surfing last night for about 6 hrs with my M11x sitting on top of a couch cushion. the highest i ever saw was 41c, avg temp was about 35c. being that i never hit 45c my fan NEVER came on during this time.

room temp was about 74-78f.

ill try to get some load temps later today.

 

You going to make a kit to sell to the rest of us r1 owners?

 

Well i guess i could but it wouldnt look like mine. unles you cut the bottom frame that is. if you look at the pics you can see i cut a nice portion out of the frame around the heatsink area to make some extra room for more copper.

I think i might dremel some grooves down the solid copper shims i put in there ontop of the NB. I doubt it will make a huge difference but it will look soo much better.

 

Dude, you're mega much to much.

I can get those temps too, but it gets lonely inside a fridge with the lights out and the glow of a blue keyboard.

So, next you'll put a USB 3.0 daughter card in it, go on you know you want to.

+1 rep now and another when the USB 2.0 card is swapped out.

 

thanks Dr.

so yea, i had to perfect my mod. so i went back in there and did some more work.

hit up with a wire wheel



then i re attached the heatsinks after roughing them up too






then i figured why not lap and polish the contact surfaces





much better



just got done with a few rounds of TF2 and my GPU never even hit 50c? (23c room temp)

 

Beautiful just barely touches what you have done with this machine. I wish I could do the same. O_O

 

thank you.

I can gather a parts list for those that may think they might want to do this too.

Just let me know.

 

i may be interested, and not even 50c on the gpu? WOW. maybe you can hit slightly higher clocks?

 

Was waiting to see someone do this. Nice. Should really be done on a R3 as well, since from my understanding it's the model that gets most hot and have the highest temperatures and fan noise.

 

I hear ya. ill get a parts list together. It wasnt too expencive. i got the thermal tape off ebay for like $6, the small heatsinks were like $14 per 10 pack and the copper shimms were only $6 for a 10 pack.

I have one more idea that may make a pretty big difference when the fan is active. i was trying to think of a way to add a second fan to cool the extra surface area i added. but im pretty sure i can get the one fan in there to cool both the regular heatsink and the added heatsinks with a little love from the dremel....

Ill see if i can get this done in the next few days but may have to wait till next week. there is a Dieselboy/Dj Craze show im going to this weekend and i need to get some things in order.

 

@someguy, you will get a new fan... think of a battery mod too, you might get 12 hours out of that thing!

 

12hrs could happen with 2 batteries in parallel.

 

Lolz that's R1->R4

 

Wow Amazing..
Parts list will be great!

 

updated first post with parts list.

 

awesome, as soon as i start getting some work and bringing in some extra cash, this will be on my to-do list after the 2ghz mod =D

 

"notebook deity" indeed. Any chance you're surgeon?

 

Lol no, just an engineer with steady hands and a modding addiction.

 

Wow, nice mod. I would do it if i had the guts , but I feel I could ruin my m11x if I try to do this mod.

 

Thanks.

Its not hard to do at all. in fact the only tools you really need is a philips screw driver to take your laptop apart and a pair of cutters to get the heatsinks down to the size you need. i just went a extra mile and messed with some other stuff. the raw and dirty methond (first set of pics) should give basiclly the same temps.

 

too bad, were you one, I'd like to ask some operating tips..
keep modding (and post the results to us mortals)

 

got the mod finished!



FINAL PRODUCT:







And here is a nice lil vid to show my temps (sorry for the cameraphone quality)

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Anyone know if this would work with the r2 i7 model?

 

the idea would be the same.

just buy some of the heatsinks and trim them down to the size you need.

 

gorgeous... +1 rep

 

So do you think the RAM really gets that hot that it needs heat spreaders? If anything I might pick up some of that thermal tape. Seems I always have a need.

If you happen to find a fan and a way to mount it, I may give it a go, although my temps usually remain below 60C, which is remarkable to begin with IMHO. In any case, amazing what a little extra copper can do!

 

thanks.

i don't think the heat spreaders are needed for most RAM but mine was running warmer than i like. with everything the way it is now this thing runs super cool, including the plamrest.

the hole i cut in the fan shroud really helped things a lot. the air that now comes out of the internal side of things acting like a second fan flows across the new heatsinks i added and the RAM as well. then escapes out of the vent on the underside of the laptop from what most ppl would call the holes for the speakers. i also ripped out the little black fiber cloth that was sitting on those vents to lower the air flow resistance.

the bottom side of the laptop stays much cooler now with the new air movement inside the laptop. the noise is lower too for 2 reasons. the fan now never kicks on when surfing and when the fan is on during gaming about 25% of the flow is directed out of the new low resistance hole and not forced thru the very dense fin array of the heatsink which is where most fan noise comes from. not the actual fan movement its self.

the temps as you can see from the video are flat out awesome even with out a laptop cooling pad. i had to take the video because i thought a lot of ppl would call BS on temps around 45c during gaming while OCed like crazy. i was running native rez, highest settings, on a loaded server. i assume running games like Brink and Crysis will make the temps a little higher but still MUCH lower than i was running before.

the best part is i can now stop messing with my laptop and start gaming! as now i don't think i will have any reason to open it again and mod anything.

 

Wow. I would have never considered a heatsink mod on the M11x because it runs so cool compared with my 17" @ 80C+

But if it reduces fan noise, it might be worth a look.

So only parts of the machine that you modded were the slots in the bottom cover and opening that side of the fan by added copper heatsinks? Well, removing that black fiber stuff too?

To be honest looking at that, wondering why Dell didn't investigate something like this. It seems like they could have made it elegant and wouldn't have been that hard to implement.

 

Yup.

Yea, totally. all they would have had to do is change the shape of the mold used to cast the heatsink. maybe would have added a few more grams of aluminum making it basically cost the same. i can understand why they didn't need to do this with the R1. but this config would be very useful and practical on the R2/R3 the end cost would barely be touched and would have reduced quite a few returns/repairs due to bad temps.

So yea Dell. if your reading this, PM me a job offer. ill save you some money.

Whats funny is the GPU idle temp is 40c....

The CPU seems to run 10c higher than the GPU under load. still not high tho @ around 55c...

 

Well guys, IV sold my m11x =/ bought a viewsonic gpad, and going to build a nice monster desktop to go with it.

 

I have a monster desktop I was actually thinking about selling.

PM if you're interested.

Back on topic -

I just ordered the parts to cool down my M11X. Thanks for the ideas OP!

 

Word

What rev are you modding? R1, R2 or R3?

 

I'm running an R3, came from the R1.

It runs a bit hot to be honest. I'm guessing the biggest help will be the copper shims.

I have no problem opening this thing up (again) and taking a dremel to some of the frame if needs be.

I'll post my before & after temps.

 

Sweet! if you can, take pics too that would be awesome to help other R3 owners.

Cant wait to see the results on a system that runs hotter.

 

Rep from me as well! You think you could make me a heatsink for the rear engine of my DeLorean? That gets hot too lol (A/C is broke, heck on earth)

I just played some Alice Madness Returns with the Physx on high on my R1, crazy lag! Now my hands feel unusually warm too

 

Lol sure. im actually about to mod a 12v fan into my car audio amp. im running it tad harder than spec (who would have guessed that? ) so needless to say my modding addiction goes way beyond just PCs.

 

I am currently using a kitchen trivet tile to keep mine cool. I have it on the dining room table and the tablecloth acts as a laptop smotherer. Sometimes I'll stick it on the flat end of my futon's bed frame where the vent can just hang off into the air. I let my fiancee borrow my cooling pad with the fans for her 17" Toshiba...now I miss it

 

thats funny. i do the same thing if i game on the couch. i put a upside down drink coaster under the fan intake so it has room to drawing in cool air.

 

Too...awesome..can't look..my eyes are ..melting..!

what a wondrous achievement you have made Some-Guy good sir!

+1 rep for you

 

newegg is OSS on the ramsinks, anyone know were I can get some?

 

Thank you wizard!

Jabtech
svc
Petras
frozencpu

 

nope...

I can only find the desktop versions...

 

Petra's has them for $10

Petra's Tech Shop

 

looking for these...

Newegg.com - Sunbeamtech Copper Notebook Memory Heat Spreader Cooling Model NMHS-C RAM Heatsinks only

 

I'll be sending you mine when I get back from Chicago.

 

just did i quick search and found these. dont know of any of thsese stores, never ordered from them before

Sunbeamtech Copper Notebook Memory Heat Spreader - Google Search

Sunbeamtech Notebook Memory Heat Spreader

SWEET!

 

if you don't mind me asking.. could you describe a bit more on how you cut out a portion of the fan casing?

very tempted to perform the same mod and i think i got all parts covered except for the fan casing.

also, a new thermal paste application might be in order, i'm just curious on how you applied yours?

i found this online, and i can't help but wonder what's the best way of applying the thermal paste on a rectangular surface like the graphic chip on the m11x.

thanks in advance!

 

Looking at getting some of those sunbeamtech ram heat thing-a-ma-jigs, but did you run into the same problem these guys did when installing them?

Sunbeamtech Notebook Memory Heatspreader Review | Notebook Cooling