Thermal mod results

[Cloppy]

I did the thermal mod following Chris’ video. My temps got to 100ºC right after firing up Furmark or Prime95 (1 second…), so it looked like I really needed that.

Instead of reusing the thermal pad, I bought a new one (arctic cooling 50x50x1mm) and used Phobya HeGrease (same as Gelid GC-Extreme). I also (kind of) fixed the copper shim by putting insulation tape on a side of the shim that did not touch the aluminium heat spreader. One thing I noticed was that a 1mm thick copper shim is too thick: the heatspreader is warped. I should’ve gotten the 0.8mm one. I tried not to screw it all the way down to relieve a bit the pressure, I hope nothing goes wrong in the future regarding this…

While the temps are now 65º while running Prime or furmark (note that I only run those for a few seconds), opening the tablet is very challenging. I had trouble with the power and volume buttons and also disconnecting the battery was a PITA. The tablet turned on while opening it, and it displayed the UEFI setup, so I just powered it off.

After modding it, it did not boot into windows (!!!), it just displayed the Cube logo over and over. I attached the keyboard, pressed the delete key, and then from the UEFI setup I booted the ssd. It took way too longer than usual, but everything was there. I even run CrystalDiskInfo to check the disk performance, it was ok.

To sum up:

• Performing this mod seems a bit dangerous to me (and I’ve done my share of awful and reckless stuff).
• The improvement is very noticeable. Cube has no excuse for not doing this at the factory.
• Long term effects are uncertain. Will the copper shim move? What about the warped heatspreader?

[Chris G]

Thanks for the input, yes it is a risky mod. However well worth it I feel. The copper shim should move. I had a Cube i7 Book for 6 months, moving it around all the time and nothing ever happened to it. The thermal paste should become hard and stick it there nicely. Thermal adhesive of course, would make it a bit safer.

 

The buttons on most tablets are always a PITA when putting it all back together.

Chris | Admin
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[Cloppy]

Sure, it’ll get drier and it won’t move. Thermal adhesives have very poor thermal conductivity: I have an akasa one with around <span class=”a-list-item”>0.9 W/m·K. Epoxies like Arctic Silver/Alumina adhesives are better, but enough I think. And they are a pain to remove.</span>

I did consider soldering the copper shim to the aluminium plate, or at least the sides, but given that the components are so cramped together, shorting seemed more likely than a free floating (and conductive!) copper shim.

[Author]

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