Can you upgrade a laptop cooling fan?

Draeger

Draeger

Draeger

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Have had overheating issues with the fan on my Dell XPS M1530, if you Google it you will see it is a common issue. I've removed the OEM fan and cleaned it plus reseated the CPU, GPU and Southbridge 'all in one' heatsink using MX4 paste. I'm wondering if it is possible to upgrade to a better fan with higher airflow properties?. Or mod the current fan so it is always on?. On this model it isn't possible to control the fan speed using the likes of Speedfan, I8kfanGUI etc and there's nothing in the BIOS which will allow any control over it either.

I've got it sat on a small single fan notebook cooler when I use it but the T7250 C2D still sits at @ 60 deg C when idling or browsing the net.

Any help appreciated. :)
 
To be fair, laptops run warm, they're designed to be okay running hot. I've not personally heard of anyone fitting an aftermarket (internal) cooler and afaik no one makes them.

Honestly I think you'd be wasting your time and money if you go down this road.
 
Hmmm. Okay. In the meantime I've gone for undervolting with RMClock which has dropped temps by 12-15 deg C so I'm a bit happier. :)
 
Laptops use custom parts, there's no off the shelf bits to upgrade the fans etc.

It's not an overclocked gaming ring and 60C is well within safe limits. Laptops generally only run the fans when necessary to save power. Only get worried when the temps are 95C upwards as it's around that range that the CPU will throttle back.
 
Thanks, so my CPU temps sound ok. What about the GPU ( 8600M GT ) ?. It's sat at @74 deg C idle or whilst browsing the net and can hit @ 95 deg C after a long session of Far Cry 3. That sound excessive?.

I've had to reflow the laptop a couple of times due to black screen/artifact issues.
 
Similar temperature ranges would apply to the graphics card. 8600M GTs are a bit special though as you've discovered with the reflows...
 
OspreyO said:
How often have you had to do that?
Click to expand...

Properly, as in strip out the fan, heatsinks etc then use a tin foil template and a heat gun - twice in the space of about 14 months. It's always the 8600M GT that needs done rather than the CPU. Well known documented issue which there's not much you can do about if its out of warranty. There's also been the odd occasion where it hasn't booted and I've needed to use it urgently where I've given it a quick blast of a powerful hair dryer which is enough to kick it into life again. However it's become more frequent now so I'm guessing either a competent reball job is required or I'm going to have to bite the bullet and grab a new replacement motherboard/GPU which can be had on the bay for @£170. Should give me another 5 years or so out of it by which time it will most probably be struggling to cut the mustard anyway.

I've seen on Youtube a guide by a guy who cobbled together an external cooling solution using desktop sized fans but at the stage I'm at now it's the solder fractures on the GPU which are the issue, the overheating is secondary to the problem. It's a pity because its been a great little laptop and even now about 7 or 8 years since I bought it new it can still do everything I need it to with ease including play the latest games.
 
Theres nothing Dell can do. They extended the warranty, as did most other manufacturers.

A M1530 can't be 7 or 8 years old, my 9400 isn't that old and its the model before. Mine is the GS7900 and its just failed with the coloured squares. Though I can still see the desktop. I'm going to try bake it later. If the bake didn't last that long I wouldn't bother. If it lasts 6~7 months its probably worth doing.
 
The T7250 is a 35W CPU so perhaps you should try a Penryn 25W CPU?

You can also DIY a new fan but it'll require drilling the current fan to get it off and keep the fan shroud intact and find a suitable fan which you can cut from it's shroud and dremel to sand down the plastic so it can be hot glued to your Dell laptop's fan shroud.

I've looked just now and the fan is quite small and there are two models available for your laptop.

The Forcecon DFS531105MC0T label says 0.6A and 6.5 CFM: http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/88-52553-9275/Dell-XPS-M1530-Cooling-Fan-.html

The Sunon GC055515VH-A label says 0.34A with 7.2 CFM: http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/88-52553-9275/Dell-XPS-M1530-Cooling-Fan-.html

It's small size might mean it's not be worth the effort to find another fan to dremel to the existing fan shroud but maybe you could find something that pushes more air.
 
We also have a M1330 as well with a 1.5 or 1/6 C2D. It doesn't run hot at all. Well it doesn't feel hot but I've not looked at the temps. But it doesn't have a Nvidia gfx in it, just intel graphics. It also has an extended battery which lifts the laptop up a good bit. So it get more air underneath it.

Some gave me a Insprion 6400, to fix and its a core 1 duo 1.73 and it runs really hot. I expect its full of dust though. As its come from student who carried it everywhere.

I wonder would resitting the CPU help. New paste etc.
 
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Thanks for those suggestions, I'll definitely look into them.

I've already reseated the CPU, Southbridge and GPU using either AS5 or more recently MX4 paste. I've got a copper shim in there under the GPU heatsink as well. The undervolting of the CPU has helped but there's so little room in there for airflow that the heat given off by the dodgy nVidia 8600M just seems to compound the problem. I think the only thing which may help is to get more airflow in there and undervolt a little more perhaps. I've not yet looked at underclocking/volting the 8600M yet but I'll check the pro's and con's of that tonight. It's rather annoying that when the M1530 was released it was touted as a top of the line gaming laptop but it's now perhaps time I stopped gaming on it altogether and just used it for light general use.
 
In fairness the 8600M was never a top of the line car. Its was midrange. Top of the line was the XPS M1730 with dual 8700M GT, 8800M GTX, 9800M GT and 9800M GTX

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_XPS#XPS_M1730

Other than running a SSD, slower CPU and less demanding tasks, I don't think theres much you can do to reduce the heat, or improve the cooling. The 8400m might run cooler. But still fails. Can you mod the case for more vents? I also found this for the M1330...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...heatsink-mod-dell-m1330-xps-blackrussian.html
 
OspreyO said:
In fairness the 8600M was never a top of the line car. Its was midrange.
Click to expand...

It was top of the midrange then. :p

Interesting link. The 1530 has a slightly different design of heatsink/fan but the principles would appear to be the same when translated across from what that guy has done.

Something which annoys me is I've read a couple of times on various forums and blogs that at the height of the issues Dell admitted to having with nvidia GPU's they apparently did actually release some sort of fix to allow the fan to run permanently on. I've scoured the net for any further info on this including the official Dell forums but to no avail. One blog referred to this 'fix' as a patch but I can't find anything on it. Initially I thought it may refer to a BIOS update but I'm already updated to A12 which I think is the latest available.
 
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There were overheating problems with the previous generation, the 9400/M1710/M1210 etc. They had the Nvidia 7xxxx series cards. They simply got too hot. The next series, 1330/1530/1730 had a different problem in that there was a Manufacturing fault in the GFX chipset 8xxx series cards that will fail eventually. So I'm not sure of the fan patch applied to the earlier ones rather than the later one. Maybe it applied to both.

I thought you might get some ideas from the 1330 thread. I know with the 9400 series people modded them to fit better cooling from other models.

http://eduncan911.com/comments/5926.aspx

The 1530 probably doesn't have as much room to play with though. I think getting a slower (cooler) CPU and a SSD might give you a better drop in temps while keeping performance still useful. That said if you spend to much you start getting into cheap new laptop with A6 or Intel HD4000 onboard which would be a better investment. Of course you can bring a SSD with you to your next system.
 
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