So I’m seriously contemplating re-engineering the cooling system on my Lenovo Y540 gaming laptop. And before you ask; yes! I’ve done all kinds of troubleshooting. Cleaning the fans and the vents, using a laptop cooling stand, re applying the thermal paste (more on that later) and I even tried using liquid metal, which is currently still being used by the laptop.
The liquid metal seemed to work for about a week, keeping both CPU AND GPU temps in the mid to high 70’s (°C) but now the CPU sits at around 88° to 92° while under load. And yeah, I know that’s “technically” fine, it’s still a lot hotter than I would like.
Now before I talk about my idea, I’d like to touch on the subject of what I discovered after opening up the laptop and removing the cooler for the first time, more or less around a year after purchasing it. I was experiencing thermal throttling and even some serious stability issues, and that was with both CPU and GPU running their stock clock speeds. I decided I’d try simply removing the cooling system, cleaning it and re-pasting. Once I pulled the heatsink off, I was astounded to find absolutely no thermal paste on either die whatsoever. Remember, I’d been using it for a year at this point. I tried calling Lenovo and legion customer support, and essentially I was told to go F*ck myself and the remaining warranty would be voided. They told me that I should’ve called before opening it, which is a fair point, but had I never removed it, I wouldn’t have discovered a SERIOUS QC issue, and they sure as well would’ve given me some half baked excuse as to why the thermal throttling is completely normal and maybe reinstalling windows would fix it.
anyways, rant over. Now for the idea. I want to modify the heatsink using a CNC machine, to add channels for water to run through over both die’s. I would also add a channel to lay a custom rubber gasket, which would create a seal once a custom “block” is screwed down. The block would have your standard threads for the fittings which would obviously connect to a tube, that would come out of the bottom case of the laptop, thru a laptop stand and up to a radiator that I would somehow fasten to a frame near my window, right beside my desk. Then I’d run a tube back to a pump on my desk and then through the laptop stand and back into my laptop, this creating a custom loop that could be cooled either by my window AC in the summer, or just the natural cold of the winter via a window mount that would allow it to run fanless.
I would love to see everyone’s thoughts on the idea. Obviously it’s gonna be a lot of work, but sadly, it’s still going to be cheaper than trying to buy a GPU alone, never mind the rest of the computer that I’d have to build with it.
Also, if anyone has any ideas on a way to simplify or enhance this project, or if anyone has easy access to the kinds of tools needed for this and you’re willing to help out, let me know.
Honestly, as I’m sure many of you have felt at one point or another, I wish I could just send my laptop across the country, give Linus a few grand and watch the entire process on YouTube, I’m pretty sure they have cooler projects to work on. Tho, Linus…. If you’re reading this, and think it would make a cool series on YT, hit me up and name your price!
