H96 PRO Plus - and other cool hardware mods

[chenrp]

Just made holes for the extra two usb ports and replaced the heatsink with intel atom heatsink....


The intel atom fit exactly in the box. I removed the 4 standoffs and used adhesive 3m to glue the heatsink to the two usb ports so it won't move.
And of curse, i use the built in intel heatsink thermal pad...

Results before the mod was 79 deg in stress test...but not using cpu floating app it surely was higher.

Results after: i will update soon with pics...

Still no pics but same test with new heatsink and temp are 59max.

Now using cpu throttling app i got the cpu temp running max 64 deg...

[Lovebaned]

Where you weld the wire of the fan, someone have a picture of that?

[chenrp]

No need for fan if the heatsink is big

[chenrp]

Just made holes for the extra two usb ports and replaced the heatsink with intel atom heatsink....


The intel atom fit exactly in the box. I removed the 4 standoffs and used adhesive 3m to glue the heatsink to the two usb ports so it won't move.
And of curse, i use the built in intel heatsink thermal pad...

Results before the mod was 79 deg in stress test...but not using cpu floating app it surely was higher.

Results after: i will update soon with pics...

Still no pics but same test with new heatsink and temp are 59max.

Now using cpu throttling app i got the cpu temp running max 64 deg...

Updating:
everything is working good. Stable and the box is on my cable box so it is idle at 55 deg. But max 64. So it is stable.

I will replace the thermal pad with thermal paste soon and see changes...

I highly recommend putting any aluminium metal that can fit the box as a heatsink...the more metal,the lower the temps.

[chenrp]

adding picture of the huge heatsink i added. it has a big mass popping out and touching the cpu and a huge plate to absorb the heat. max temp 65deg

[DNIZoid]

[chenrp]

i can't see your temp but i used the original box... small and very compact

[scooter2014]

All I did was remove heat sink. Installed with thermal paste that Trebor posted. Cut bented hole in top cover no heat issues now runs fine on any software.

[SiAuSiPo]

My little mod includes active cooling.
The reason for this is simple - my box needs to be in a cabinet together with all my other devices - receiver (hot), my TV provider box (hot), PS3 (hot).
And my setup means, that the H96Pro+ would be "on" all the time - LibreELEC has been denied the use of power button (box won't power up after shutting down from LE) and Android puts it to "hot sleep" - box remains semi-sleep (meaning - hot all the time).

So, I got a small fan (35x35x6mm), 5V. Unfortunately the box cannot power this fan - it won't even boot fan attached and when plugging it in when box is running, the box will crash... And the 3-pin socket will output only less than 3V (fan will not turn on). So, I plugged it into external USB adapter - fan is running 24/7 and it is making a little noise all the time... At some point I might try with more powerful adapter on box to see if it will power the fan or not...

The fan is blowing air from outside to the inside of the box.

• I removed the plastic diagonal "sticker" and cut a hole in it (plus I had to remove some of the "sticking plate" from top cover of the box under the sticker) for the fan and attached the fan to it. Then the sticker was put back...
• Since I already had an opening for hidden USB ports, I could take the wires out from there...
• My box needs to be on the wall, so I added some "tape" to attach it to the wall with 50mm opening on it.
• The fan is drawing cool air from outside the cabinet to cool down the box.
• And since the cabinet is located on the floor, I needed additional dust protection for the hole in the wall...

See attached pictures...

Results.
Before the mod my box was idling at temperatures 55-60 Celsius. And the peaks I saw were at 75-90 Celsius.
After the mod the box is idling at 31-36 Celsius (depends on whether the receiver is hot or not) and I have seen only some peaks over 40 degrees Celsius - the fan cools down the box so fast, that after playing Clash of Clans I need to be superfast to open the temp app to see the temperature drop pretty fast I have not tried stress-testing the box...

I tried the other way also - suck the hot air from inside the box. This resulted in ~5-10 degrees higher temps...

PS. Obviously I do not use the original remote for the box, I use Logitech Harmony hub+remote.

[chenrp]

nice mod
as i said.. try using a big heatsink...

for temp testing use cpu float app. I stressed the cpu and got 65 max...

[BlackBriar56]

How about this heatsink+fan combination? It's 13mm thick, and 55mm length/width. Is it too big for the box? Found it on: https://www.banggood.com/DC-12V-LED-...l?rmmds=search

[chenrp]

How about this heatsink+fan combination? It's 13mm thick, and 55mm length/width. Is it too big for the box? Found it on: https://www.banggood.com/DC-12V-LED-...l?rmmds=search

yes it is higher than you can put. and wider... 33mm wide and 9mm high.

this is why i mounted a mass square on the cpu with a huge but thin plate

[SiAuSiPo]

nice mod
as i said.. try using a big heatsink...

for temp testing use cpu float app. I stressed the cpu and got 65 max...

Thanks for the app - works great!

In Antutu i noticed max 46 once...
In games it stays around 40 and in youtube below 40.
In LibreELEC while playing a 1080p h264 movie, the temp stays below 35...
Active cooling should be better anyway...

[chenrp]

Thanks for the app - works great!

In Antutu i noticed max 46 once...
In games it stays around 40 and in youtube below 40.
In LibreELEC while playing a 1080p h264 movie, the temp stays below 35...
Active cooling should be better anyway...

wow so the fan mod reduces up to 46 degrees.. cool...

[BlackBriar56]

Is it safe to remove that green tape on the wifi antennae? Or is it a part of the antennae itself?