So i upgraded R480 I3 330m To I7 620m

hi there,

i just replaced my i3 330m to i7 620m cpu.

but the temp is serisouly high.

idle 40 degrees to full load 90 degree for cpu.

and 46 degrees idle gpu and 90 + degree for gpu full load.

is it because the cooling solution in r480 isn't good enough for i7?

 

They are both nominally 35W parts so there should not be much difference in temperature.

I would redo the thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink. This should be the thinnest possible layer subject to getting good thermal contact. If this is the cause of the problem then the fan will be blowing out air that is much cooler than the CPU temperature.

John

 

thz for the reply
i already redo the thermal paste thing.
i add a bit more onto it and got much better idle temp
50 degree to now 40 degree

however, the full load stay the same like 80-90 +

 

Ok i ll add my impression than just temp here.
i will only give Games performance impression
since this upgrade is only for better fps

I7 620m
gt 330m 1024mb nvidia
4gb ram
windows 7 64

So after moving from i3 330m to I7 620m

instantly tried bf bc2 everything max , native res, shadow low.
i get much smoother gameplay .

NBA 2k10 no lag at all constant 50-60 fps.
SF4 it used to lag when i do ultra combo. but no the lag is gone


so i think going from i3 330 to i7 620m is worth it.
However the temp is really scary...


windows 7 score
proccessor 6.8
ram 5.8
gpu 6.5

 

The thermal paste should be a very thin layer that is enough to fill the gaps between the two metal surfaces. Any greater thickness will reduce the heat transfer. I suggest that you try again with a thinner layer.

There are also difference qualities of thermal paste. For best results use Arctic Silver or similar.

John

 

at first i tried very very thin layer, and got 50 degree idle
but a bit thicker layer got it down to 40..

i think the thermal paste is about right now , since the air that came out of the fan is really really warm

 

@wc326

Any update? Is it still functioning? jk

*will be waiting for an update - idle and stressed temp*

 

Where did you buy the i7 620 from?

 

any directions on how to upgrade this laptops CPU?? this could be very useful for all the R480 users.

 

yea i hope i could do a guide to take apart the r480 notebook.
i bought the cpu from ebay.

I did it more than 3 times.
First time it was really scary, and i was trying to put the i7 820qm in there,
after all the hard work. To only found out that this notebook doesn't support i7 820qm . no boot even with latest bios.

so return the 820qm for a i7 620m which works perfectly. However, the temp is really scary at times. Even crash wheni play game such as bf bc2. for long time.

And yes heat is the main issue now. other than bf bc2 i can play just about anything without getting ridiculas heat and temp 90degree c .


it won't be easy for first timer to take apart the notebook. even tho i have experience on other notebook. taking about the r480 was not an easy task.

Escpecially taking apart the top cover where it holds the keyboard in the middle.
You don't need to break down your lcd monitor, if you are trying to break it apart and replace the cpu.

Step by step without photo, since i am not going to take it apart for photo.

1st unscrew every screws on the back of you notebook.

Take out the battery, and you will see 3 more screws there.
Take out the DVD drive and you will see 2 more screws there. (very important since i missed those 2 screws at first i was stuck 2 hours staring at the notebook dind't know what the heck to do next.

After you unscrew everything from the back (or buttom of your notebook)

The next thing you can do is to remove the keyboard. There will be 3 holes on top of F1 and F5 and F12 keys .
you can put a screw driver in there and pull the screwdriver toward your body(remember don't push the screwdriver toward the monitor).
After you sucessfully remove the keyboard, you will see a flat cable plug onto you notebook. You might have to remove to tape to unplug the cable on this one, which i did.


That wasn't the hardest part of breaking apart the r480.
the next part will be hardest part since after you remove the keyboard, harddisk, Dvd rom, Ram etc. and all those screws.
You might think the notebook will be falling apart already, But the answer is No. the notebook is stiill attaching from bottom to top like glued all together.

Now turn your notebook around and look at the back of it, from the battery slot. you can clearly see there will be 3 holes where the front part of the notebook (the faceplate where the keyboard has been placing in the middle).

To remove that front faceplate will be a challenge since you really can't just use your power to remove it(ITHINK)], if you do things might break. Of course you will still need some man power to force it open.

I really not sure how to tell anyone to do that step , since i was stuck in that part for 2-3 hours. And trying to figure out what to do to take it apart without breaking it.

after you take that apart, you can then remove the faceplate and unscrew few more screw that attaching the motherboard to the case it self.
THere will be 2 more screw from motherboard to case

At last remove LCD cable , Power Cable, what ever cable that is attaching to the motherboard.
This is a must since you won't be able to take out the cpu if you don't unplug those cable. Because you will need to turn the motherboard and take it away from the case.

All cable that needed to remove is done then, you can unscrew the cpu heatsink and gpusink screws.

Clean up the heatsink and put the cpu inside.

i recommend you to test the system first before putting everything back together.

you only have to plug in few cables LCD cable)and of course the heatsink . aswell as power cable to see if the system boot or not.
if you see it boot then you are good to go.

sorry this is a mess up guide, however if i have time in the future i ll take some photo and make a better one

 

edit: wc326, you got a PM @ Nvidia Forums