DIY: Notebook Cooling 
Hello NBF users,
During the summertime in Australia, my Dell M1210 which I use everyday, was overheating with core temperatures reaching their thresholds of 80 degrees celcius or more. Even when I wasnt using many processes or running many apps, I was always ending up with dangerously high core temps.
I was on a mission to find the best way to dramatically cool my little hinged bundle of joy. I will guide you through my story.
DISCLAIMER: What ever actions you carry out in reference to this article are at your own risk, and are NOT my fault! ...have a nice day
DAY 1: 9th January 2008 (Decision day)
I use a number of programs to monitor my temperatures, my favourites are:
-Everest (a computer managment program with all your monitoring needs for hardware/software) http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=3&ps=UE&lang=en
-I8kfanGUI (Simple but basic free program to monitor Dell notebook temperatures and more)
http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html
I noticed that average temperatures when playing low GFX games were as follows:
(The column to the right is threshold temperatures, it didnt turn out in the picture)
I called Dell and asked them if they could do anything to help me with my problems, they said they could send out a technician to replace my heatsink/fan. I then asked the customer service guy if cleaning the fan would do anything?, he said no.
I then asked him if cleaning the heatsink grill would do anything?, he said no again...
I then kinda ignored what he said, and continued to clean my fan and heatsink. I removed my keyboard and cleaned my fan with a fine bristled brush, then i used my vacuum cleaner at the output of my heatsink to suck as much dust as possible without removing the heatsink... Turned it on and got like a 5 degree difference.
DISCLAIMER: Opening your computer may or may not VOID your computers warranty, do at your own risk...
DAY 2: 10th January 2008 (Service day)
In less than 24hrs from calling, I got a Dell technician at my doorstep. After convincing him that there was a problem, he then started to open up my pride and joy of a computer.
When we reached my heatsink, we removed it and it had about a square centimeter of dust fluff stuck to the heatsink grill. (So much for Dell service and their knowledge, lol ).
We replaced the fan aswell, and off he went.
Temperatures had fallen about another 10 degrees from my first cleaning job... cooler, BUT NOT COOL ENOUGH!
DAY 3: 10th January 2007 (DIY Day)
Below is my scientifically proven study to provide yourself with a cooler notebook. This will only work for people who have a laptop that sucks air from the bottom and blows it out the side...
DISCLAIMER: It is not my fault if you die due to the incorrect use of tools, electricution, etc...
DIY: Cool your own Notebook
Aim: Get a cooler notebook...
Equiptment:
-Notebook
-Wooden desk (or simular)
-Hole saw kit (Google for details)
-Common household things (too many to mention)
Hypothesis: You will get a cooler notebook, because I did
Method:
1. Find an area you most often keep your notebook
2. Make sure it is on a surface that can be easily modified/drilled into, pine wood, chipboard. ( NOT glass, for ovbious reasons).
3. Grab a A4 sheet (or simular), turn your lappy upside-down and mark on it where the air intake is on your laptop. This is to create a template... Then mark on your desk where the fan lines up. |
4. Grab your hole saw kit (I got a 16 piece kit for <$10 from my local warehouse store) and drill a donut to your prefered size, in your desk. (Remember: "Measure twice, drill once")
5. Sandpaper the edges of your desk to clean it up and then plop your notebook ontop and start it up...
Results: Well as you can see here, I have drilled a nice 10cm or so hole in my desk to allow for maximum breathing space in my laptop and I have used my broken iPod Nano as a size comparison to the hole.
Here is the room at the bottom:
After this work my laptop now runs 10 degrees cooler. So far i have it 25 degrees cooler on idle to what it was 2 days ago...
BONUS COOLING:
Many years ago, I went into a $2 shop, and i found a flexible USB fan. Its very simple and just plugs in, and has a tiny switch on top. I flex it under my fan, into the hole and it provides chilled air to my hole and therfore into my laptop. However it is only useful when my fan is spinning slowly.
You can see the way it plugs into my side usb... It also cools the RAM and HDD, which arent connected to the computers cooling system. Amazingly this has brought my temperature to about 40 degrees!!!!! When I have both fans running...
Conclusion: With a bit of time and patience, you can dramatically cool your portable computer many degrees.
Before:
After:
Good luck!!!
Plz post yout thoughts and ideas...
Hello NBF users,
During the summertime in Australia, my Dell M1210 which I use everyday, was overheating with core temperatures reaching their thresholds of 80 degrees celcius or more. Even when I wasnt using many processes or running many apps, I was always ending up with dangerously high core temps.
I was on a mission to find the best way to dramatically cool my little hinged bundle of joy. I will guide you through my story.
DISCLAIMER: What ever actions you carry out in reference to this article are at your own risk, and are NOT my fault! ...have a nice day
DAY 1: 9th January 2008 (Decision day)
I use a number of programs to monitor my temperatures, my favourites are:
-Everest (a computer managment program with all your monitoring needs for hardware/software) http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=3&ps=UE&lang=en
-I8kfanGUI (Simple but basic free program to monitor Dell notebook temperatures and more)
http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html
I noticed that average temperatures when playing low GFX games were as follows:
(The column to the right is threshold temperatures, it didnt turn out in the picture)
I called Dell and asked them if they could do anything to help me with my problems, they said they could send out a technician to replace my heatsink/fan. I then asked the customer service guy if cleaning the fan would do anything?, he said no.
I then asked him if cleaning the heatsink grill would do anything?, he said no again...
I then kinda ignored what he said, and continued to clean my fan and heatsink. I removed my keyboard and cleaned my fan with a fine bristled brush, then i used my vacuum cleaner at the output of my heatsink to suck as much dust as possible without removing the heatsink... Turned it on and got like a 5 degree difference.
DISCLAIMER: Opening your computer may or may not VOID your computers warranty, do at your own risk...
DAY 2: 10th January 2008 (Service day)
In less than 24hrs from calling, I got a Dell technician at my doorstep. After convincing him that there was a problem, he then started to open up my pride and joy of a computer.
When we reached my heatsink, we removed it and it had about a square centimeter of dust fluff stuck to the heatsink grill. (So much for Dell service and their knowledge, lol ).
We replaced the fan aswell, and off he went.
Temperatures had fallen about another 10 degrees from my first cleaning job... cooler, BUT NOT COOL ENOUGH!
DAY 3: 10th January 2007 (DIY Day)
Below is my scientifically proven study to provide yourself with a cooler notebook. This will only work for people who have a laptop that sucks air from the bottom and blows it out the side...
DISCLAIMER: It is not my fault if you die due to the incorrect use of tools, electricution, etc...
DIY: Cool your own Notebook
Aim: Get a cooler notebook...
Equiptment:
-Notebook
-Wooden desk (or simular)
-Hole saw kit (Google for details)
-Common household things (too many to mention)
Hypothesis: You will get a cooler notebook, because I did
Method:
1. Find an area you most often keep your notebook
2. Make sure it is on a surface that can be easily modified/drilled into, pine wood, chipboard. ( NOT glass, for ovbious reasons).
3. Grab a A4 sheet (or simular), turn your lappy upside-down and mark on it where the air intake is on your laptop. This is to create a template... Then mark on your desk where the fan lines up. |
4. Grab your hole saw kit (I got a 16 piece kit for <$10 from my local warehouse store) and drill a donut to your prefered size, in your desk. (Remember: "Measure twice, drill once")
5. Sandpaper the edges of your desk to clean it up and then plop your notebook ontop and start it up...
Results: Well as you can see here, I have drilled a nice 10cm or so hole in my desk to allow for maximum breathing space in my laptop and I have used my broken iPod Nano as a size comparison to the hole.
Here is the room at the bottom:
After this work my laptop now runs 10 degrees cooler. So far i have it 25 degrees cooler on idle to what it was 2 days ago...
BONUS COOLING:
Many years ago, I went into a $2 shop, and i found a flexible USB fan. Its very simple and just plugs in, and has a tiny switch on top. I flex it under my fan, into the hole and it provides chilled air to my hole and therfore into my laptop. However it is only useful when my fan is spinning slowly.
You can see the way it plugs into my side usb... It also cools the RAM and HDD, which arent connected to the computers cooling system. Amazingly this has brought my temperature to about 40 degrees!!!!! When I have both fans running...
Conclusion: With a bit of time and patience, you can dramatically cool your portable computer many degrees.
Before:
After:
Good luck!!!
Plz post yout thoughts and ideas...
Also my manufacture released a new BIOS which enables 'always-on" fan and some strange talking power management tweaks. GPU and Chipset idle temp dropped from normally 75 degrees to 64 degrees.
, second im renting a furnished bedroom, i cant just screw a hole on thier 10cm thick table! 
lol
I definately going to find a way to create a custom chipset cooler. 
I just hope 500mA isn't too much to overpower the chipset fan or powersurge on USB controller
I, too, think it was a great job.
