Heatsink modding

[scropion86]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n496347[/ATTACH]






Hi and thanks a lot for the valuable advice.
For the bottom is easy. But if you want also thermal contact with the top part of the case the silly plastic frame which actually prevents it.
it should be cut in the central part. And i am thinking about it. I have seen other people to cut it and take the central part out. I am not sure about how to do this by the way.
Very stupid construction.
Thanks again.

you can remove it using acetone or paint thinner

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/intel-based-tv-players/pipo-x7-tv-player/24748-change-pcb-stand-off?p=492339#post492339

[lacko]

Hi everyone! I've finaly stuffed my Pipo with thermal pads and heatsinks and temperature problem is gone.
Without mod: ~90°C after 1 minute of stress test (CPU+GPU in HeavyLoad)
With mod: <70°C after 25 minutes of stress test (CPU+GPU in HeavyLoad), without increase after another 20 minutes. Temperature is growing very slow with the mod and on the other hand decreasing really fast on performance idle.
I had no time to test it with "normal" usage yet (1080p, sbs 3d, casual gaming), nevertheless I bealive video playback has no chance to heat it much. I will try soon, hopefully.
EDIT: 40 minutes of 1080p playback - max temp: 51 °C

Used components:
Phobya Ultra 5mm below PCB
Phobya XT 0,5mm between CPU/RAM/PS and alu plate
One big heatsing (over the CPU and PS) on the alu plate. 13mm high, 2 smaller heatsinks over RAMs. All attached with double-side adhesive thermal tape (bought in local el. parts shop).
Small stripe of Phobya Ultra 5 mm between 13 mm high heatsink and top side of the case.

As I connected both top and bottom sides of the case, my Pipo is now really stuffed. Not seems to make any troubles. I'm happy with results!

Thanks all previous modders for hints and help!

[geppetto61]

First all, I am very far from being expert, I only did things that I see here or in others forums to get good thermal mod to my Pipo.

Hi and thanks a lot again. But here situation is much worse. I am as bad at understanding electronics as with the tools.
So for me it is like walking on eggs ...

Some pages before in this thread, there is a mod where plastic frame was cutted: http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...720#post494720
Here the interesting pic: http://freaktab.com/filedata/fetch?i...2690&type=full

This is what i am thinking if i will use the passive heatsink ... some layers of pads also above it to make a contact with the upper case (that must get hot to work). If i will use the fan i do not think i will be able. The parts are taking ages to reach my place. I have just received thermal pads for now.

I dont know if it is worth, I didnt do (because I didnt know how or what tools to use, maybe author could explain) and temps in mi Pipo are now good.
When stresing the Pipo, the (upper and bottom) case becomes hot
With 12mm heatsink and 5mm pad fits well. Before I tried with 15mm heatsink and 1mm pad but didnt worked so well.
After seeing that behavior I think could be good to use only 4 pieces of 5 mm pad instead heatsinks for upper side of PCB.
Anyway, I will tell if that mod is good or not because there is a guy that is going to do that mod.
Sorry for my english.

Thanks a lot again. If the case gets hot it is good because it means that the heat reaches the metal case
In my case it stays completely cold. I will do some test with the pipo without case to see which solution is more effective.
I will try to post some pics.
Thanks again, geppo

[geppetto61]

message deleted ,,, not useful to the discussion ... sorry

[onissan]

Hey all
I spent 'bout 2 hours reading all this thread.

First, thank you all! you are really great guys!
I haven't receive my Pipo yet, but i wanna get ready for it to arrive.

So decided to solve the problem like that:
1. 5mm Pad between MB and PCB. (Link: http://tinyurl.com/ldccsj5 )
2. conducting pads between proccessor, memory units and the Alu.
3. Heatsinks on the alu (link: http://www.****.com/itm/190710367111 ) - how many pcs should i buy?
4. another conducting pad between Heatsinks and top of box.

the problems im having and ill be glad to receive an answer
1. the pads between memory/proccessor and alu pad. - should i use those? (link: http://tinyurl.com/mgzn9bb ) or something else? 1mm is fine?
2. how do i fix the heatsinks to the alu? with the same pads? (phobya.. 1mm?) or maybe I should use this kind of paste? ( http://tinyurl.com/os38qab )
3. how many pcs of the heatsinks should i need? (28X28X13 each)
4. the pad on the top of the box - should it be 5mm or 1mm?

I hope i didn't miss something because this is the exact thing i'm going to do...

Thanks again
Nissan

[drdtyc]

3. how many pcs of the heatsinks should i need? (28X28X13 each)

You need two 28x28x13mm heatsinks. With them laying side by side horizontally, they will cover most of the alu plate.

I am still waiting for two of such heatsinks from ****.

Good luck!

[Catfish45]

I've been messing with cooling my pipo for a few weeks now and I think I'm happy with the results. I have the 1.3 board which tends to run hotter than the 1.2 from what I've gathered. I went a little different route than most I've seen. I removed the metal plate covering the cpu, attached 1mm copper shims to the power chip and cpu then used 25x25x12mm heatsinks on top of the shims. The shims were installed to keep the heatsinks from touching any other components on the board and shorting them out. I also used 3 15x15x12mm heatsinks on the ram. All heatsinks were attached to the chips using arctic silver thermal adhesive. I also used Phobya thermal strips on the bottom of the board. Doing these mods lowered my temps by about 12 F. This meant my temps were still at 70 C which was hotter than I wanted. As much as I didn't want to, I installed a 40mm fan into the case and that made ALL the difference. My temps never exceed 45 C under stress test and idle around 28 C.. To me this is the way to go, it made such a huge difference. Emulators run nice and smooth and no more stuttering videos. Anyone still having temp issues may want to consider this option.

[johnnygal]

Hi catfish45,
I too have been trying a fan. Have tried a 80mm fan outside the case and it made a huge difference, along with the heatsink mod. Putting a fan inside would be a lot neater. Can I ask did you get a " horizontal" fan, like you see in laptops? Did you manage to find power internally?
Thanks

[Catfish45]

Basically all I did was cut a piece of styrene and covered the bottom of the fan, then used another piece of styrene on the top and cut a hole in it the same size as the fan blades. This allows air to come in the fan but not exit out the bottom. I then cut about half of the fans frame on one side to give the air a place to exit. Here's a picture of my test fan to give you a better idea of what I did.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[johnnygal]

Ahh, OK, I see. Thanks

[onissan]

Hey all
I spent 'bout 2 hours reading all this thread.

First, thank you all! you are really great guys!
I haven't receive my Pipo yet, but i wanna get ready for it to arrive.

So decided to solve the problem like that:
1. 5mm Pad between MB and PCB. (Link: http://tinyurl.com/ldccsj5 )
2. conducting pads between proccessor, memory units and the Alu.
3. Heatsinks on the alu (link: http://www.****.com/itm/190710367111 ) - how many pcs should i buy?
4. another conducting pad between Heatsinks and top of box.

the problems im having and ill be glad to receive an answer
1. the pads between memory/proccessor and alu pad. - should i use those? (link: http://tinyurl.com/mgzn9bb ) or something else? 1mm is fine?
2. how do i fix the heatsinks to the alu? with the same pads? (phobya.. 1mm?) or maybe I should use this kind of paste? ( http://tinyurl.com/os38qab )
3. how many pcs of the heatsinks should i need? (28X28X13 each)
4. the pad on the top of the box - should it be 5mm or 1mm?

I hope i didn't miss something because this is the exact thing i'm going to do...

Nissan

Hey PPL can someone please tell me that this is all the things I need? maybe I need more things? maybe i need less?
please confirm for me the "grocery list"

Thx Again

[negt]

Hi ,
would these work ?

http://tinyurl.com/qfnsfw3

Thanks for the help

[adh]

Hi
Had X7 for about 3 months, use as torrent box, with VPN and plex server. Tenos used to get up to over 80C, mounted box vertically with a couple of velcro stick ons to side of cabinet, brought temp down a few degrees. Bought cheap 2.5mm thermal pad, took of bottom cover felt PCB and warmest CPU half of board. Folded in half and placed over this section of PCB. Dropped temp significantly. Never dared installing handbrake before, now have it installed and can encode video to mkv, CPU at 100% all the time during encode and temp never goes above 67C and drops afterwards rapidly to 44C. Very happy

[KainXS]

did anyone think about covering that bottom plate with copper sheet or something since its actually steel or something(not aluminum)

also thinking about using a heatpipe and bending it like the nucs have but can't find one small enouth, anyone know where I can buy them.

[knievel]

[QUOTE=KainXS;n499131]did anyone think about covering that bottom plate with copper sheet or something since its actually steel or something(not aluminum)

The bottom plate seems to do a good job transfering the heat as it is. If you have 5 mm heat pad between backplate and motherboard .
Thanks
Knievel