XPS 13 Cooling Mod

[VinsinityKT]

I know that some there are already some XPS cooling mods out there but I wanted to try it using some of the best thermal paste and pads that you could buy.

Thermal pads help create contact with the aluminum chassis which is a great conductor so it makes large heatsink. 

I have a XPS 13 9350 with i5-6200U and Samsung 950 Pro 512GB SSD.

I let the laptop sit for about 15 mins to get the minimum temperature before I started my tests.

First, some testing using Time Spy 3DMark and CrystalDiskMark to get some heat created for mainly the CPU and SSD.

Next, I opened laptop and removed the heatsink and the stock thermal paste that Dell used. 

Stock paste:

All cleaned up.

I will be using Grizzly Thermal Kryonaut for the CPU. I didn't want to use liquid metal and this was the one the thermal paste that you could buy.

My application:

Closed up the laptop and did another round of testing. 

I had read some post saying that repasting the CPU isn't worth it so I wanted to test it before I added on the thermal pads.

The thermal pads I used were Fujipoly / mod/smart Ultra Extreme XR-m Thermal Pad - 60 x 50 x 1.5 - Thermal Conductivity 17.0 W/mK. It had the highest thermal conductivity I could find for 1.5mm.

Thermal Pad arrangement, I placed them on the heatsink and SSD chips. 

There isn't one on the fan that is just extra I had left over.

Finally, the end result.

Overall, repasting the CPU is probably not worth it and it would just be easier to get 1.5mm thermal pads and put them on heatsink and heatpipes as well as the SSD chips.

The only real downside is that the laptop could possibly got pretty hot on the bottom but I don't use it that often on my lap and it's not going to be on that intense of a load. As I was typing up this post, I only reached 56 degrees and it is still cool to the touch. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

My XPS13 L322X idles at like 59C with a dual-core Ivy Bridge i7. I wish this thing could get more air  

[LATINO WATER BOTTEL]

From 65 to 38 that is a pretty big difference I would totally do this (depending on the warranty) this is really interesting. 

Also does anyone know when the new one comes out Im thinking of buying it for school?

[VinsinityKT]

7 minutes ago, LATINO WATER BOTTEL said:

From 65 to 38 that is a pretty big difference I would totally do this (depending on the warranty) this is really interesting. 

Also does anyone know when the new one comes out Im thinking of buying it for school?

You should be looking at the middle column to see the minimal temperature and the right for the max. The left one is just the current one I took a screen shot on. I let the laptop sitting for about 15 mins to get the minimum temps before i started my tests.

[LATINO WATER BOTTEL]

5 hours ago, VinsinityKT said:

You should be looking at the middle column to see the minimal temperature and the right for the max. The left one is just the current one I took a screen shot on. I let the laptop sitting for about 15 mins to get the minimum temps before i started my tests.

Ahh I see ya but still personally im pretty comfortable to take apart my laptops so I would still do this but thanks. 

[Pndude1000]

How many thermal pads did you buy?