I lowered my GPU temp by 10C - 2 min mod and $3 cost.

Hey All,


Perhaps someone can send to the Admin or Mod to make a sticky.

This works, no lotions or potions. No BS. I am actually shocked that I dropped 10C for 2 minutes of effort.
Why don't the manufacturers do this....oh right they want your laptop to fail so you buy a new one in a year after the warranty is over. This method also helps avoid landfill. Give your older laptops to kids or school clubs to learn and use.
I do this with my kids to learn about Linux etc...Just a thought to pay it forward.

I have a Gateway M6874h.
Intel Core 2 Duo 2Ghz
ATI 512mb HD2600 GPU

I came about learning the importance of cooling your laptops after my fan died. My pc never really had an overheating issue but once I started keeping 30+ tabs open the fan would go and wow the hot air coming out was surprising.

I learned about the HP NVidia overheating problems too with their DV laptops. We modified one those also and that GPU now runs at 40c (with 5 Firefox tabs open) and Idles around 30C. The CPU on both machines idle at 30C.

***If you have dead laptops or parts that you are not using, please pm me as I can use them for school projects***

So for my GPU this is what I did:

1. I am using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste
2. Remove your CPU fan/GPU heatsink unit
3. Remove all stickers from the copper and metal areas use rubbing alcohol give it 1 min to soak in then scrape off with credit card if it does not come off with a Q-tip. Remove stickers from the ram chips and wifi card too.
4. Remove all old thermal paste from CPU/GPU and heatsink with rubbing alcohol and q-tips.
5. Apply light coats of thermal paste on those items in a thin layer. I use a credit card to spread.
6. THIS IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FOR ME - I removed the thermal pads from my GPU and my Southbridge.
On my gateway I have 3 chips that the heatsink unit covers/cools so your goal is to cover all of those on yours.
I used copper shims with thermal paste on both sides. If you are working upside down or it shifts around then let it dry a bit before putting on the chips. Do NOT use a copper shim on the CPU.

7. If your shims are too thin then double them up or use the thermal pad between the shim and the heatsink. Apply thermal paste to both sides. The thermal pad will do 2 things as it will take up the gap and also keep the shim in place. I had to use a thin thermal pad left over to keep the shim in place on the HP. Clean shims with rubbing alcohol first.

So the results are this. I had the same 35 tabs open in Firefox and the same apps that load up.
I did nothing different. I went from 60-62C IDLE to 48-50C IDLE. I am at 50C as I write this now. CPU temps are 35-38C right now also

8. I have drilled more holes into the bottom of my case for better cooling. The holes were before me adding the shims.
Add some holes by your wifi card too. I added holes around wifi/cpu/gpu/ram.

DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN ANYTHING.
If you crank down on the screws you can or will crack your ships.
Just test fit things and take your time. For some of you using thicker shims which is better you might need to use taller longer screws for the heatsink to connect back to the board.

My touchpad stays cooler too therefore it works normally.


You can get these shims on Ebay for $2 or so. I had a buddy cut a small piece of copper pipe then flatten what I needed.
I also polished/sanded it down to get rid of residue. Make sure that the shims are FLAT. You can buy what you need on Ebay. The trick is to make sure you are using the correct THICKNESS. Get a ruler and measure the thermal pads you took off. A little thicker is okay as long as your screws catch and lock back down.



Just look on ebay or make your own from a piece of copper pipe.
You want COPPER so make sure who you buy from.
Just type HP DV6000 (your laptop) copper shims into Ebay and you will find them that way also.
You can also just buy a piece of copper flashing or something or find some and trim what you need with a dremel.
Most places would probably help you for free since you just need 2 or 3 little squares.


My next mod is to add this tiny fan on top of the GPU are of the heatsink. I measured and I have enough room to do it. I will probably also add a micro on/off switch for it too $3 for 10 of them on Ebay.
Hey for $6, why not...lol
1pc Sunon GM0501PFB3 8 5V 0 2W 20mm X20X10MM 2010 Mini DC Fan 3pin Connector | eBay


Pic below of what the shims look like.

Google Image Result for http://www.tofriends.com/ebay/Thermal%20Material/Copper%20X5%20THERMAL%20INTERFACE.jpg

 

Re-pasting and getting rid of thermal pads is nothing new. Honestly anyone who is half way good with computers already does this. I've done it on some notebooks and gotten much better than 10C results. I use IC Diamond for my thermal paste.

 

I added copper shims. That made a HUGE difference.

People with HP laptops and Nvidia cards will better understand what I posted.

 

Thanks for sharing! I've bookmarked this to try later.

 

Well, changing thermal pad to copper shim make your gpu and chipset become extra heat reservoir, which may or may not be good thing depending how those chip are build.

And 10C drop on a old machine is not a big surprise.

 

You can also bring down the temps by 10-12 degrees with RM clock.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/235824-undervolting-guide.html

 

Yes, but with improving the cooling and undervolting, you get even more benefit than either one of those alone.

 

@m6874h
Hi, I wanted to PM you, but couldn't figure out in time, so I decided to reply to your thread. So, I have a question, you know how you have a HD2600XT graphics chip. Could you tell me how it is attached to the motherboard? Does it plug in with a wire, slide into a slot, or is it integrated with your motherboard? I was wondering, because I have a project computer (it is broken, and I wanted to fix it and use it for work) and the HD2600 would be an awesome graphics card for my needs (a lot of CAD, video editing, and photo editing). It is a Gateway M-1624. I wanted to gut it, then put the motherboard of an Intel M Series laptop like yours and also have a HD2600. Would simply buying a motherboard pulled from a Gateway M-6850FX do? (As you know, pretty much all the Gateway M series laptops share the same chassis) I cannot find any separate HD2600 for Gateway laptops available online, which is why I am asking if it is integrated with the motherboard. Then, all I would need would be the motherboard, a supported processor, some more RAM to max out 4GB, a new battery, and maybe a few cosmetic modifications (namely the FX series palmrest and button board and a glossy black lid). If this was true, then my total would only be around 180ish, which I can sort of afford.

 

What a improvement! I'll definitely re-paste the thermal compound and put some copper shims on my new G750 notebook. I hope I can get a big improvement like you.

 

copper shims don't always work. if you have to use it and it works it's just because the cooler wasn't making a good contact with the chip itself.
actually using copper shims can increase temperature if you already have a good contact area filled with thermal compound.
the huge differences that people claim are because of many factors. namely because removing all the dust and dirt will help a lot but also because the stock thermal compounds suck and because most notebooks have a very poor chip cooler contact.

 

Nice! I think I might have to try this when I get a chance

 

you did all this in 2 minutes??

 

I just came across this while I was getting ready to post a thread about a heat issue. My ASUS K50ID-X3 GPU temps are ridiculously high after I did the upgrade from a Pentium T4500 to an Intel Core 2 Duo T9600. While the upgrade is not directly related, I noticed that my GPU temps skyrocketed as soon as I removed the heatsink. When I checked the pads, they were rock hard and not worth a damn. So I ordered new pads and the heat issue got even worse. Exceeding over 100C at some times, just with Firefox open.

So what I'm wondering is if this will work if I just use Thermal Adhesive on the copper shims (heatsink side) so it stays in place and then just use the tube of Arctic Silver 5 I have? It works fairly decent for the CPU, but I'd really like it to stop idling around 60C as well.

This is a screenshot of the temps I had... ON IDLE.


Thanks to this issue, I can no longer play any of my games, let alone browse the web for a long period of time. I have to literally shut my laptop down to get it to cool off.

 

Same thing I did ad I got the same results as you . I noticed that Toshiba left a huge gap between the gpu and the heatsink . No wonder the best was'nt being conducted away, the trapped air makes it worse.

Sent from my MT11i using Tapatalk

 

Metal shims for the gpu when there is no contact, remove all the plastic tape on the board and any labels on the cooler. Scrub the cooler and fan manually with a brush and only use the best non metal compound on the market then temps will seldom reach 80c tops when gaming. For older laptops ditch the dial-up modem and cellular modem if not in use for a little help cooling wise. Thermalpads are the worst for active chipsets (igp is in use) and any gpu.

 

nice...checkout my 3 fan video card mod - HD3850 Triple Fan Solution - Pc Hardware - Ben's Hardware Blog

 

Spam much?