How to: Improve your XPS M1330 Cooling

[Hep!]

Pretty nice temps, congrats.

[frippi]

Thanks. And thank you for the idea and instructions on copper mod.

[optin]

My xps1330's extended warranty expired in october 2009, at that time Dell had replaced the mobo on-site twice. In January 2010 the 8400 gpu fried again so I contacted Dell who advised me I'd be required to send the laptop to Dell and pay $600 for the repair. I asked if the 3100 Intel chipset m/b could be used this time & was told no, the 8400 gpu was the only replacement m/b option available. I left it a couple of weeks, intending to scrap the xps1330 & use it for parts but then I decided to give consumer affairs a call - they suggested I try calling Dell one more time. Once I mentioned consumer affairs were now involved, even though the warranty is expired a Dell tech was onsite the next day. I got him to compare the old & new m/b and heat sinks etc, all identical, so I let him go ahead & replace the m/b, then I recorded gpu & cpu temps once the 1330 was up & running again, gpu was 69C and cpu was 44C & 45C at idle. Once the tech was gone I turned off the laprop & went to my hardware store & bought a 2" length of copper pipe with a wall thickness of just over 1mm. I cut a side of the pipe lengthwise with an angle grinder, opened it up, flattened it out with a hammer, cut out a 15mm x 15mm piece with the grinder, used wet & dry sandpaper on a piece of glass to get it nice n flat, then proceeded to use it in the copper mod - no problems, heat reductions of around 14C at idle - thanks guys, great mod