A Photo Guide for Pin Modding 9300/XPS and Applying AS5 to GPU - Page 9

makes a good difference. it's only a few bucks

Yeah, pin modding will viod the 9300's warranty so might as welll add the as5... the warranty is voided right?

Done, seems to be working. I'm going to run a stress test overnight to be sure.

1.7 to 2.26 Wooohooo

Went 6 Hours on a tress test with 0 errors. Pretty cool.

I just did the exact same mod. DONE! and I took off the old thermal pads and added as5.
So far its prime stable for 5 hours.
Have you tried undervolting? I'm leaving mine at the default of 1.34 V at the moment. I'll experiment later with lower settings.

Thanks for all the info in these threads, I now have a $400+ upgrade for just $150!

Oh and check out the new 3dMark05 score using the new chip, It's almost 100 points higher.

On the 8600 the thermal pad was so thick you needed to place a 2mm piece of copper to bridge the gap.
Is there any such a thing needed on the XPS 2?

No. The cpu and the gpu use a paper thin piece of aluminum with a coating on both sides

I'm not sure because I haven't dissected the 8600 but wouldnt the heatsink be spring-screw-on? So you'd just need to tighten it more?

this thread deserves more credit.

i'm fixing to apply AS5 to my cpu and gpu soon, so i'm curious as to what to expect.

for the cpu:
1) was there a thermal pad between the cpu and heatsink?
2) the pad needs to removed right?
3) does the heat sink cooler need to be sanded down or can you get by "as is"?
4) per the instructions on the AS5 site, only AS5 needs to be applied to the cpu and not the heat sink also right?

for the gpu:

5) was there a thermal pad between the gpu and heatsink?
6) the pad needs to removed right?
7) where there pads between the ram and the heatsink?
8) do the ram pads need to be removed?
9) application of AS5 to the gpu is identical to the cpu right?
10) do you need to put AS5 on the ram?

sorry for so many questions. thanks in advance.

1) yes. paper thin
2) i would
3) the base of the heatsink is very rough and might benifit from some lapping.
4) you want to put the least amount to cover the entire core. about half the size of a grain of rice.
5) same as the cpu
6) same as the cpu
7) no
8) see above
9) yes
10) no. no heatsinks

thank you for the prompt response

I understand that the ram has no heatsinks on them whatsoever?
How, if at all, is it cooled then?
Can anything be done to improve ram cooling?

tijgert - I don't know of a specific way to monitor temperature reduction on the video RAM, but after my overall GPU temperatures dropped, I have no doubt that the video RAM is running cooler as well, as that's just plain common sense.

one more question, since the thermal pads on the cpu and gpu are paper thin, what is the best way to remove them? tweezers? and is tearing an issue?

Well I know isopropyl alcohol 91% is good for removing those

I talked to the folks at Artic Silver before doing it. I use denatured alcohol and he said that was fine. Kidded me bout being from NC - said I should use 'shine lol btw, denatured alcohol is ethyl (drinkin') alcohol with methanol added to make it poisonous so it's a very pure alcohol. Pure grain from the liquor store is 95% alcohol and 5% mostly water. It's best mixed with Hawaiian Punch and lots of cut up fruit: oranges, cherries, etc. You drink it to celebrate AFTER you've re-assembled your Dell and it's working properly

I used cheap plastic, but very sharp edged, spackle (I guess that's what they're for) tool from Home Depot paint dept to help remove most of the residue left after peeling off the aluminum pad. Then alcohol several times with coffee filters.

It wasn't bad at all. And I'm a VERY dangerous man with ANY kind of tool in my hand hehe

With FanGui, my temps average about 3 - 5 degrees cooler on both the CPU and GPU. My CPU runs in the low 30's and GPU in high 40's to low 50's when just doin' normal stuff. I have an XPS with 2.13 and 2GB mem btw...

worst part for me was trying to keep the Bluetooth connected while stuffin' it back into it's little cubbie...

geez when are they gonna make GPUs with speedstep?

They already kind of do; GPUs, depending on the driver, automatically clock down while in 2D mode.

maybe so but since my GPU runs 20 degrees hotter than my CPU it doesn't seem like it... the CPU wastes very little energy as heat but the GPU is more like a P4, hot all the time... just hotter at other times lol