Thermal Pad / Copper Plate

Question

I need to replace the thermal pad that was on top of my Radeon 9000 GPU. It's a thick foam pad about 1/32" thick! I'd like to replace it with a copper plate if possible. It needs to make contack with the bottom of the I8200 keyboard. Is this a good idea? Would conductivity be a problem between the GPU and keyboard using a copper plate? Where would I find one? If not, where can I find thick thermal pads?
Thanks!
James

NemesisDB · Answer

you don't really want it touching the keyboard -- especially since that will mean removing the EMI shield/heat spreader over the card.  if you really want a good mod, then install the GPU fan that the original porposed design had (notice the fan grill by the video card)

jamepc · Answer

The original card had a thick thermal pad. Over that was the large plastic piece. Is that the EMI shield?
Then what I need to do is find a replacement pad or a piece of copper to affix to the GPU and leave the EMI shield in place. Would there be a problem with the copper making contact with the EMI shield?
I never noticed a fan grill on this I8200 Radeon 9000. Any other ideas?
Thanks.

NemesisDB · Answer

disregard everything i just said ... i assumed you had a 5150 ;p

Chee I5150 · Answer

hiya. I have a 5150 and am interested in the mod you mentioned. Is there some place for me to look this up? The fan size is particularly important and how to power the fan. Cheers mate.

NemesisDB · Answer

Chee, this is the only thread I know of with information on the subject:  http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_upgrade&message.id=44434   look towards the bottom and consider talking to kwokpc if he/she still exists around here.  if you accomplish the mod, please let me, and others know :)

Chee I5150 · Answer

Wow thanks very much. The thread was very useful. I've searched around and found that 25mm fans are kinda expensive. I'll ask my dad to check for me back home and if its cheaper then I'll ask him to mail me one together with a replacement fan for my processor.   Imagine this. I called Dell UK to ask about a replacement processor fan and they said they didn't sell it separately so it'd cost 69 pounds for fan+heatsink and shipping+tax. Back home it cost less than half that. Either way they're both out of stock and I gotta wait a month. Hope they give me a new one rather than a refurbished one since the 5150s are out of production.   In the meantime, I can slowly decide whether to use the onboard 5V or an external adaptor. I'll drop you a message once I have it done. Thanks again :smileyhappy:

NemesisDB · Answer

cool ... and dell does only sell the fan/heatsink assembly as a single part.  the ones for the 5160 (as mentioned in the post) are more powerful and have a better heatpipe. good luck though

Chee I5150 · Answer

I don't really mind which heatsink I get since I've never had an issue with overheating but I sure hope its the 5160 one :)

The processor fan issue annoys me really. The notebook is only 2 years old and the fan is already failing. I'd expected it to last the lifetime of this notebook with the light usage I put on it. I used to be very supportive of the A36/37(didn't try 38) bios thermal table which I feel would prolong the life of the fan. But since moving to the UK the cold weather here causes the processor to rapidly cool down once the fan turns on so the plastics in the notebook started to pop and squeek. Its quite an uncomfortable sound so I switched back to A35.

Anyway, fingers crossed that I can get everything done by late February.

Chee I5150 · Answer

Hi Nemesis.   The heatsink came early and its the all copper version. The old one I had was aluminum with copper heatpipes. =)    Its silent now save for a slight hum. Just like new. When my dad told me about the receipt, I couldn't help laughing. The heatsink cost MYR 80 while the shipping was MYR 78 (USD1=MYR3.8). Anyway, add in FedEx charges and its still cheaper than paying GBP 69 to get it here in UK.   I had a 25x25x10mm fan sent together with the heatsink. While I had the casing open I planned everything carefully but when filing the fan down I accidentally put too much pressure on the wires and broke them. Looks like I won't be doing this mod after all :-(   I had planned on tapping the power supply from the usb ports which are located just next to the fan slot. There are 2 pairs of pads just in front of the slot that looks suspiciously like power lines but I decided that the usb supply was the safer option.   As kwokPC said, the little cap at the back-center of the bottom of the notebook is where the fan is supposed to be slotted in. Its easier to remove the cap with the top-half of the casing removed as the back panel is a bit flexi without the top. Just stick a small flat screwdriver in at the back edge of the cap at the bottom of the notebook and twist it slightly towards the back of the notebook and the cap will pop right out.   If you do decide to do this mod yourself, I suggest getting a 25x25x6mm fan to begin with. Its hard work trying to file it down by hand. But the problem with using the usb supply is that you would probably have problems using unpowered usb devices such as external harddisks. Mice and keyboards should still be alright though. Well hope you have better luck than I do and do be careful.   To anyone who wasn't following this discussion, credits to kwokPC for coming up with this mod.   edit: Thought it would be better to add a little disclaimer here just in case someone who reads this, screws up and decides to come after me =) Any modifications done are at your own risk. I am not to be held responsible for any problems you may have arising from this mod. Message Edited by Chee I5150 on 01-05-2006 10:16 PM

NemesisDB · Answer

so the gpu fan mod works well?  are you using it as an intake or an exhaust?  lastly, if you want a 3rd fan, you could always create one for your pc-card slot (or buy one)

Chee I5150 · Answer

haha unfortunately no. like I said I accidentally broke the wires and couldn't solder it back since the fan was tiny and there wasnt much place to move around. I thought of getting a new fan but this is kind of low priority so I'll just let it be. But I am very happy with the new processor heatsink fan.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Thermal Pad / Copper Plate

Was this post helpful?