Arctic Passive Cooling Laptop Modification

[Space Lynx]

so. I am getting awfully sick and tired of seeing my cpu and gtx 1070 reach 95 celsius in gaming (it needs re-pasted I think, but I can't do a re-paste cause the screws are stripped too bad, but even with re-paste it would still be doing 80ish)

I was thinking. these new fanless coolers from Noctua. NH-P1. they come with nt-h2 paste, so I could remove the back panel of laptop, put some paste on the current heatsink where cpu and gpu is. buy two of these coolers. and then cut some wood of same height as the cooler - and boom not only should temps be insanely good, I'd probably be able to oc fairly easy.

so... my question is. could this work? or am i not understand physics properly (keep in mind, I don't use this laptop mobile... its battery is long dead, and mainly it serves as a desktop unit for me, connected to external monitor/kb/mouse

I already have the laptop back removed, and its laying directly exposed to a 4 fan cooler, this used to help it enough, but no longer does it work. it def needs a re-paste. the flimsy little heatsink this laptop comes with is garbage, I have half a mind to experiment, take it off completely and directly connect it to the noctua nh-p1's (and no i have not bought them yet lol they are not in stock anywhere to my knowledge) ---problem is once i pop off that little heatsink i better be damn sure this frankenstein cooling idea works, because i won't be able to get it back on (one of the screws last night even broke off inside the heatsink screw hole... there is simply no getting it out.

but these coolers are heavy enough even without mounting... i can prob flip my laptop over (no wood cutting needed) and just stand both towers on their respective cpu/gpu with a bit of paste... and let the heat travel up the cooler...

@lexluthermiester @R-T-B @TheLostSwede have I lost my mind or good idea? LOL


edit:

how about two of these? with powered usb bank/fan converter cable only costs about 7 bucks for the cables.

again can't mount though... might not be heavy enough pressure wise, unless i sit the laptop on top of of them upside down... with wood blocks cut to balance it all...

edit 2:

here is final plan... remove the crappy laptop cooler in full.

buy two of these. flip laptop upside down - place both coolers DIRECTLY ON THE CPU AND GPU screw that tiny heatsink its coming off.

buy the fan adapter for usb conversion

then buy these for the vram on gpu

pics incoming, temps, as well, before and after!!! screw the NH-P1 im going to do these $50 ones instead!

only issue I have left is how will i turn on the laptop (cause it will be flipped over with lid closed ).... just need to turn it on once and leave it on though, so I will figure out something. lol

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yeah, that's a bad idea. You need a proper desktop PC instead of a laptop hybridized into a desktop. Top marks for creative use of what you have, but you need to put together something proper and go from there. See PM...

 

[Space Lynx]

Yeah, that's a bad idea. You need a proper desktop PC instead of a laptop hybridized into a desktop. Top marks for creative use of what you have, but you need to put together something proper and go from there. See PM...

I am just being budget minded at the moment. but I seriously want to do this project... seems like a lot of fun... lol

plus I want the satisfaction of seeing that 95 celsius hitting like 40...

 

[lexluthermiester]

I am just being budget minded at the moment. but I seriously want to do this project... seems like a lot of fun... lol

plus I want the satisfaction of seeing that 95 celsius hitting like 40...

Ok, fair enough. It's still kinda crazy though. You'd have to build a custom frame and mounting bracket. Given the work and expense, would it really be worth it?

 

[Space Lynx]

Ok, fair enough. It's still kinda crazy though. You'd have to build a custom frame and mounting bracket. Given the work and expense, would it really be worth it?

no mounting. no mounting bracket needed. the weight of the cooler should be enough once i push down on the nt-h2 paste, if the laptop is upside down, i can simply paste direct die... and sit it on top of the laptop. total price should be around $129.

i just will have to be careful to not move the laptop ever. lol

 

[lexluthermiester]

no mounting. no mounting bracket needed. the weight of the cooler should be enough once i push down on the nt-h2 paste, if the laptop is upside down, i can simply paste direct die... and sit it on top of the laptop. total price should be around $129.

i just will have to be careful to not move the laptop ever. lol

Reading that made me cringe.. Good grief man, don't. What converted laptop are we talking about? Take pictures and let's see if we can find a more practical solution that won't be janky as hell...LOL!

EDIT; given what was said in PM, have fun! Take pictures!

 

[Space Lynx]

Reading that made me cringe.. Good grief man, don't. What converted laptop are we talking about? Take pictures and let's see if we can find a more practical solution that won't be janky as hell...LOL!

gtx 1070, i7-7820hk.

the heatsink is just crap ever since i bought it in early 2017. always had to undervolt it underclock it... i paid $200 to repair place once to fix it, they said this is a common problem with Eurocom laptops and it needed "shunts" but the shunts didn't do crap, it still overheated.

LET ME FRANKENSTEIN IT!!! IM REMOVING THE ENTIRE HEATSINK AND PLACING BOTH NOCTUAS DIRECT!!! ITS GOING TO BE GLORIOUS!!!!

 

[lexluthermiester]

gtx 1070, i7-7820hk.

the heatsink is just crap ever since i bought it in early 2017. always had to undervolt it underclock it... i paid $200 to repair place once to fix it, they said this is a common problem with Eurocom laptops and it needed "shunts" but the shunts didn't do crap, it still overheated.

LET ME FRANKENSTEIN IT!!! IM REMOVING THE ENTIRE HEATSINK AND PLACING BOTH NOCTUAS DIRECT!!! ITS GOING TO BE GLORIOUS!!!!

Have you tried some of your MX-5 on that beast?

 

[Space Lynx]

Have you tried some of your MX-5 on that beast?

no if you read my original post. i can't replace the thermal paste on this. i tried a couple nights ago. one of the screws not only stripped off, it broke down in the screw hole... there is simply no getting this laptop fixed unless i buy a new heatsink.

i have hated this laptop ever since i bought it. i mean it works if i underclock everything... but ever since the paste needed re-done (which i only realized a few days ago) temps used to be 80 now they are 95+... and the heatsink isn't staying on as tight... yeah its worse than ever. i won't say I hate this laptop... it did allow me to play hundreds of hours of Final Fantasy XIV when i was away at grad school and it would only do like 80 back then.

this $129 isn't about the money anymore. its simply a last hurrah, and placing a flag of victory over it (in fact i may add a little flag on top of the noctua's). I'm never buying a gaming laptop for as long as I live.

also, I do need something budget wise to game with since I sold my desktop recently.

this little project will give me a decent little gaming setup again with great temps. I'm going to go for it. $129 isn't too bad. if i remove the heatsink in full, then add both noctua's direct to cpu and gpu... this plan should work.

 

[lexluthermiester]

no if you read my original post.

Ah, you did an edit. Didn't see that.

one of the screws not only stripped off, it broke down in the screw hole... there is simply no getting this laptop fixed unless i buy a new heatsink.

Ouch. Yup, you're in a bit of a pickle...

I'm never buying a gaming laptop for as long as I live.

No, no. Don't say that! There are plenty of great gaming laptops out there that don't overheat and are a delight to use.

 

[Space Lynx]

Ah, you did an edit. Didn't see that.

Ouch. Yup, you're in a bit of a pickle...

No, no. Don't say that! There are plenty of great gaming laptops out there that don't overheat and are a delight to use.

yep my only option now is to remove the heatsink in full with no intention of putting it back on. and place the noctua's direct on CPU and gpu... i am hoping even with no mounting pressure, the weight alone will be enough. im excited for this mod honestly...

im very curious to see the temps i get... going from that flimsy piece of crap heatsink to this... LOL two dedicated noctua's... its going to be glorious

also side note, i have a second laptop that is smaller with intel graphics i use for work and travel now (and it does a great job playing like stardew valley with integrated intel graphics, etc)

im really hoping i can get some serious crazy temp droppage on this gtx 1070 laptop though and OC the crap out of it. and have a decent little at home gaming setup with external monitor, etc. in 2-3 years I will build a new desktop. but im in no rush... especially if this frankenstein project works out

 

[lexluthermiester]

i am hoping even with no mounting pressure, the weight alone will be enough. im excited for this mod honestly...

Have you thought about using thermal adhesive? As long as you get it mounted right, once set it doesn't come off. Would make things work much better!

Amazon.com

 

[Space Lynx]

Have you thought about using thermal adhesive? As long as you get it mounted right, once set it doesn't come off. Would make things work much better!

Amazon.com

i did not consider that. i might use that someday, but that is very pricey... if I am wrong and dont get good temps after the regular frankenstein mod in all testing... than maybe I will consider this. but that is very pricey. this is meant to be a screw you to this laptop that took so much money from me over the years (repair people, etc). so spending $43 on that is counter productive to what I want, which is ice cold temps as cheap as possible. since im not mobile with this thing anyway. it should be a non issue... once its done, i literally won't be touching it ever again anyway

 

[lexluthermiester]

i did not consider that. i might use that someday, but that is very pricey...

There is this;

Thermal Grase Paste Compound Fast shipping, AA-Grease 04, 1.5 grams | eBay

It is grease like silicone material, heavily filled with efficient heat conductive zinc oxide and a binding agent, this combination promotes high thermal. This thermal paste is resistant to ozone and ultraviolet degradation and has good chemical and solvent stability, good.

www.ebay.com

I've used that brand before and it's thermal performance was inside of 4% of the Arctic brand.

 

[delshay]

Not a good idea to break-up such a nice laptop. I had thermal issues with my laptop & I was thinking of changing Artic Silver 5 paste, but I got my compressor & blew air down the air vents. Lots of dust came out. Laptop restored back to normal temperatures, no need to change the paste which is around 5 years old..

If you want it to run cooler, then you need to improve the heat transfer. A good starting point is 17W m/k thermal pads & very good quality thermal paste.

Don't go breaking your laptop & turn it into a true brick with the crazy things you have posted.

 

[Vya Domus]

You could just remove the panel and put a fan blowing on top of those heatpipes as they are and you'll more or less achieve the same thing.

 

[Space Lynx]

You could just remove the panel and put a fan blowing on top of those heatpipes as they are and you'll more or less achieve the same thing.

im doing this now. and getting 95 celsius -102 celsius on both gpu and cpu. i have a 4 fan laptop cooler its sitting on bare with no laptop back. it used to work. doesn't work anymore.

if you read the above posts you would understand... the screws are all broken.

Not a good idea to break-up such a nice laptop. I had thermal issues with my laptop & I was thinking of changing Artic Silver 5 paste, but I got my compressor & blew air down the air vents. Lots of dust came out. Laptop restored back to normal temperatures, no need to change the paste which is around 5 years old..

If you want it to run cooler, then you need to improve the heat transfer. A good starting point is 17W m/k thermal pads & very good quality thermal paste.

Don't go breaking your laptop & turn it into a true brick with the crazy things you have posted.

can't change the paste without buying a new heatsink. some of the screws are ripped off inside the screw holes (not just stripped at top). this is my only choice. even before that though, the laptop was overheating brand new. etc. i tried shunts, thermal pads, you name it. over the years... its time to frankenstein it. it won't brick.

 

[delshay]

I'm currently posting with my laptop sitting on a small box, not blocking the intake vents.. It allows the bottom intake vents to suck-in more air.
Runs perfect in this hot climate here in the UK.

..If I place it on a normal table flat, it's going to run very hot & throttle as ambient temperature is currently vert high in the UK. .

 

[Space Lynx]

I'm currently posting with my laptop sitting on a small box, not blocking the intake vents.. It allows the bottom intake vents to suck-in more air.
Runs perfect in this hot climate here in the UK.

..If I place it on a normal table flat, it's going to run very hot & throttle as ambient temperature is currently vert high in the UK. .

again... has nothing to do with context of my laptop.

 

[Mussels]

If you cant mount it securely with high pressure, a heavy heatsink is a bad idea. You need something low profile you can stick on somehow

 

[delshay]

again... has nothing to do with context of my laptop.

It's to do with extra cooling, is that not what you want? overall lower temperature that what I'm getting LIVE as I'm posting this. That is what you should be doing instead of breaking up the laptop..

It's possible to fix all the issues with the screws. It sounds to me like you have mounting pressure issues, reason for high temperatures (missing screws)..

 

[Space Lynx]

If you cant mount it securely with high pressure, a heavy heatsink is a bad idea. You need something low profile you can stick on somehow

would a wraith prism cooler work? i am trying to think of something that won't tilt and fall over as easy as a vertical noctua.. plus this is more just for experimentation... so cheaper the better... might try to see if i can get some used prisms's.

It's to do with extra cooling, is that not what you want? overall lower temperature that what I'm getting LIVE as I'm posting this. That is what you should be doing instead of breaking up the laptop..

It's possible to fix all the issues with the screws. It sounds to me like you have mounting pressure issues, reason for high temperatures (missing screws)..

there is no way to get the broken off screws from inside the heatsink, without going to a repair person and Im never paying $60 an hr again to someone for this laptop.

 

[Mussels]

wraith prism is relatively flat without a huge ass to hit other components, but its designed to clip on to the AM4 mounting pegs - how are you securing it?

just sitting loosely on top wont give good contact, nor good temps

 

[Space Lynx]

wraith prism is relatively flat without a huge ass to hit other components, but its designed to clip on to the AM4 mounting pegs - how are you securing it?

just sitting loosely on top wont give good contact, nor good temps

i know it won't be ideal. but im not securing or mounting it, that would be impossible with a mod like this to my knowledge. something heavy on top of the wraith prism possible to help push it down some more. don't know yet.

that's why title thread was originally noctua nh-p1, cause that fanless cooler is heavy enough... to push down enough on direct laptop die. to negate need for mounting

 

[delshay]

would a wraith prism cooler work? i am trying to think of something that won't tilt and fall over as easy as a vertical noctua.. plus this is more just for experimentation... so cheaper the better... might try to see if i can get some used prisms's.



there is no way to get the broken off screws from inside the heatsink, without going to a repair person and Im never paying $60 an hr again to someone for this laptop.

Yes there is. Have you not heard of screw removal kit. You can even drill it out with reverse drill.

I recommend screw removal kit for you. ...Don't try to drill it out, "not recommended" for you..