Nice!
I spent quite a bit of time in very COLD and noisy data centers over the years... not up for doing that again so performance will suffer haha
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2020 Air Heatsink Modification Thread
- Thread starter ilikewhey
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Nice!
I spent quite a bit of time in very COLD and noisy data centers over the years... not up for doing that again so performance will suffer haha
@magbarn A few of us have modded our i7 with good results. You can see my benchmark results in post 998. My average score for Cinebench was 1,110.
I didn't disconnect the battery either. I was careful to not let my tweezers or copper shims to touch the PCB. Screwing the heat sink back down without stripping the threads was probably the most nerve-wracking part of the mod!
I honestly do not feel any heat difference around the case. Even before the mod, the temperatures didn't feel out of the ordinary. Maybe for a more objective comparison, you can look at the temperature readings after the mod in post 984.
Well that’s enough for me. I’ve got some shims and better paste on the way. Thanks for your testing and documentation.
If you get a chance, could you run Unigine Heaven on medium?
I have a hunch that the modded i5/i7 can keep a sustained graphical pace with the base Macbook Pro 2019/2020.
I think exterior cooling is the way to go for MacBook Air, especially for the masses. You won’t risk voiding warranty. If only there was some sort of ice cooling pad for the MacBook Air
A laptop cooler would work, but that's really only practical if you want to run it from a desk. Max Tech did a video where he tried liquid cooling and a chilled gel pack. Both increase sustained performance.
So, just for confirmation: I need a 0.5 mm thick copper pad cut to the dimensions of the CPU and some good quality thermal paste?
0.5mm is perfect for the 2018, 0.3mm has been tested as well as the 0.5mm if I'm not mistaken as well as 0.6mm for the new 2020 but that was lapped down. 0.3mm will certainly give you some extra headroom for the screws which are short, hopefully someone who has done the 0.5mm mod will respond with their findings.
I should have some samples of both shortly when they come back from engineering that are the right size ready to drop in.
What's the screwdriver tip you need for unscrewing the heatsink? My toolkit seems to have it all except that screw type
Well I am polishing the home radiator since the copper sink does not reach me ... I can not complain, it is giving me the performance of an i7 !!! By the way, a couple of photos that it was difficult for me to discover why those points ... Well, it is a way for Apple to know that you have opened the MBA ... since when you tighten the screws in the corners, if you press too hard, it protrudes in aluminum and the cake is discovered without disassembling anything ... Now who is the handsome man who removes those points ???
[automerge]1588794301[/automerge]
[QUOTE = "Loog, publicación: 28440651, miembro: 1212829"]
0.5 mm es perfecto para el 2018, se ha probado 0.3 mm y 0.5 mm si no me equivoco, así como 0.6 mm para el nuevo 2020, pero eso se redujo. 0.3 mm sin duda le dará un margen adicional para los tornillos que son cortos, ojalá alguien que haya realizado el mod de 0.5 mm responda con sus hallazgos.
Debería tener algunas muestras de ambos en breve, cuando vuelvan de la ingeniería, que tengan el tamaño correcto y estén listos para entrar.
[/CITAR]
Yo 2 de 0,30mm, no problem.
[automerge]1588794301[/automerge]
[QUOTE = "Loog, publicación: 28440651, miembro: 1212829"]
0.5 mm es perfecto para el 2018, se ha probado 0.3 mm y 0.5 mm si no me equivoco, así como 0.6 mm para el nuevo 2020, pero eso se redujo. 0.3 mm sin duda le dará un margen adicional para los tornillos que son cortos, ojalá alguien que haya realizado el mod de 0.5 mm responda con sus hallazgos.
Debería tener algunas muestras de ambos en breve, cuando vuelvan de la ingeniería, que tengan el tamaño correcto y estén listos para entrar.
[/CITAR]
Yo 2 de 0,30mm, no problem.
Attachments
Thank you for the video, although this seems simpler, but i was thinking more of a solution where the bottom cover does not need to come off. More like knowing where the cpu is located and placing some cooling mechanism under the cpu (while bottom cover still intact). For the majority, not having to open the bottom cover would mean not risking voiding the warranty. and this can be an at home only solution when you really need the "sustained" power to do heavy loads.
When you don't need the cooling, you can use the laptop "as-is" without added sustained power.
I found an improvement from 597 > 698 with just the shim only for this synthetic test, no other modifications, I'm not as brave as you @srkirt ! I applaud the ingenuity you're showing here to squeeze a little extra out of these machines
Attachments
@KPOM did this already with a cooling pad, you'll find it if you search the thread. 15%-ish performance improvements, but further proving that the thermal design is not the thing holding the i5/i7 back from Macbook Pro levels of performance.
A lot of people read the specs of the 2020 i5/i7 MBA and think 'that's great, it'll be a mini Macbook Pro!' (Not saying you're doing this). Then they get it and are dissapointed with the performance, and think the only thing holding it back is thermals.
The wattage and limits placed in by Apple/Intel to stop the thing melting are the main limiting factor. As many have stated around here, the 8th gen base model MBP will still run rings around the MBA 2020, even if it's properly cooled.
Things copper mod is for:
- Improving idle temperatures
- Improving temperatures under load
- Decreasing fan noise (maybe - haven't seen many reports of this)
- Making cooling more efficient
- Very modest performance gains (slightly higher sustained clock speed under load, not consistent 3.5ghz max boost clock)
Things copper mod is not for:
- Turning the Macbook Air into a Macbook Pro
Good luck and have fun! Maybe you could put your system under 100% load and record the temps you get around the case. I'd be curious to know how mine differs.
I ran the benchmark while charging at 78%. The MacBook Pro in the video got 33 FPS and score of 830, while mine got 28.4 FPS and score of 714.
Is there enough clearance inside the case to stick some self adhesive heatsinks to the VRMs? There are some properly tiny ones available for things like the Raspberry Pi. An alternative I saw was putting thermal pads on the VRMs to contact the rear case.
VRM temps were always a problem in various Dell XPS machines, and some upcoming laptop designs look like they have a bigger heatsink/plate that covers CPU, GPU and VRMs all-in-one.
(This post brought to you by a recovering XPS owner...)
VRM temps were always a problem in various Dell XPS machines, and some upcoming laptop designs look like they have a bigger heatsink/plate that covers CPU, GPU and VRMs all-in-one.
(This post brought to you by a recovering XPS owner...)
Interesting thread.
I've had an MBA 2020 i7/16/1TB for a few weeks now and whilst most of the time it is a decent machine it does annoy the hell out of me that it makes a racket when I don't think it should be doing.
Any video conf'ing makes the fan audible within a minute.
Light usage (e.g. 720p Youtube, a few tabs etc...) combined with running my external 4k monitor does the same. Idle temps with the monitor attached and Turboboost disabled are still 75-80 (as opposed to idle temps of 50 with no monitor attached).
In fact it seems like the increase in fan speed to 8000 is almost inevitable once a little heat starts to build up. It feels like the difference in thermal transfer away from the CPU between 4000rpm (liveable with) and 8000rpm (annoyingly loud) is virtually none so it just goes up to 8000 anyway and then starts slowing the CPU.
I don't mind the power of the machine at all. I'm not looking for a performance beast. I would just like to change the fact that it gets really loud under light-moderate load.
I shouldn't have to disable boost just to get a machine to not scream at me on a conf call.
Anyway, never modded a Mac before but considering it. I've overclocked my gaming PCs for decades but this does look a bit more delicate for my clumsy hands
I've had an MBA 2020 i7/16/1TB for a few weeks now and whilst most of the time it is a decent machine it does annoy the hell out of me that it makes a racket when I don't think it should be doing.
Any video conf'ing makes the fan audible within a minute.
Light usage (e.g. 720p Youtube, a few tabs etc...) combined with running my external 4k monitor does the same. Idle temps with the monitor attached and Turboboost disabled are still 75-80 (as opposed to idle temps of 50 with no monitor attached).
In fact it seems like the increase in fan speed to 8000 is almost inevitable once a little heat starts to build up. It feels like the difference in thermal transfer away from the CPU between 4000rpm (liveable with) and 8000rpm (annoyingly loud) is virtually none so it just goes up to 8000 anyway and then starts slowing the CPU.
I don't mind the power of the machine at all. I'm not looking for a performance beast. I would just like to change the fact that it gets really loud under light-moderate load.
I shouldn't have to disable boost just to get a machine to not scream at me on a conf call.
Anyway, never modded a Mac before but considering it. I've overclocked my gaming PCs for decades but this does look a bit more delicate for my clumsy hands
[QUOTE = "vyruzreaper, publicación: 28443953, miembro: 980628"]
No se pudo encontrar el tipo de tornillo en el sitio de iFixit. ¿Alguien quiere ayudar aquí?
[/CITAR]
No se pudo encontrar el tipo de tornillo en el sitio de iFixit. ¿Alguien quiere ayudar aquí?
[/CITAR]
AOAFUN Kit de destornillador de la precisión de - kit de herramienta portable de la abertura de la reparación para el teléfono móvil móvil, Iphone 5, 5s, 6s, 7s, Samsung.
AOAFUN Kit de destornillador de la precisión de - kit de herramienta portable de la abertura de la reparación para el teléfono móvil móvil, Iphone 5, 5s, 6s, 7s, Samsung.
www.amazon.es
Yoctosun Gafas Lupa Visera con Luz LED, Manos Libres Lupa Relojero Perfecto para Leer, Soldar, Extensiones de Pestañas, Reparación de Joyería, Cinco Lentes Intercambiables,1.0X a 3.5X
Yoctosun Gafas Lupa Visera con Luz LED, Manos Libres Lupa Relojero Perfecto para Leer, Soldar, Extensiones de Pestañas, Reparación de Joyería, Cinco Lentes Intercambiables,1.0X a 3.5X
www.amazon.es
For my 2020 i7 model:
- Bottom case screws: Pentalobe 5 (P5)
- Heat sink screws: Torx 4 (T4)
Slightly overkill for me because I only needed two of the screwdriver bits 🤣
Do you have a clue as to where these VRMs (voltage regulator modules) would be on the 2020 Air PCB? Hopefully not on the other side of the processor 🙃
So I think I am going to end up keeping my MBA i5/16/256 and not get the 4TB 2020 MBP.
- The price difference is larger than I thought. My i5/16/256 is $1200 (edu pricing) while the 4TB 10th gen intel MBP starts at $1700. I do not think the MBP is worth $500 more than the MBA even with thermals and all (for my use case). You do get a better processor for sustained work, 2 extra TB ports, 512SSD, screen with 500 nits P3 color (vs 400 and RGB).
- However, the MBA has full function keys and no TB. A pig plus for me.
- I prefer the MBA wedge as it's more comfortable to type on.
- MBA still weighs .3 lbs less
- The base MBP ($1300) is a no-go for me bc of the GPU.
All in all - besides the fans running ridic and temps staying near 100C while video conferencing, it's been holding up well.
That said, I'm back to carrying out the heatsink mod
I'll get to it soon and post pics.