Ditto for me as well @nill1234, performance without compromising the cool feel
. I lost circa 5 points on Cinebench which is fine for me as I don't push my machine that often.
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2020 Air Heatsink Modification Thread
- Thread starter ilikewhey
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. I lost circa 5 points on Cinebench which is fine for me as I don't push my machine that often.Below quotes my shim+heatpipe mod, which is very easy to make. No machine needed.
It is almost as good as shim+heatpad, but the bottom case is a lot cooler.
I can play some RTS and RPG at 720p in bootcamp without much fan noise.
Thanks! I mostly backed out because I didn't want to leave my MacBook open for an hour or so while I entertained my guests.
I installed the shim in my MBA within the first 15 minutes of ownership so i can't really compare the battery life. It's way more than any other notebook i've used, though. The key motivating factor for me wasn't necessarily getting more performance as it was not wanting to hear that stupid useless fan ever again while watching YT, etc. The only time i hear it now is during* a Cinebench R20 benchmark.
Oh so you have installed the shim only, without the thermal pad? Btw. was it a 0.3mm shim?
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In terms of real word results. With my 2020 i5/8GB (Shim only), I edited photos in Lightroom Classic and the fan kicked on, but at a low RPM (between 2k and 3.5k rpm) and I didn't hear them. This is an absolute improvement.
Yeah, 0.3mm shims. Mine is the i3 model. Yeah, my fan doesn't stay off, just inaudible at ~2700rpms most of the time. Before the mod, just watching 1080p at 60fps and within minutes the fan was ramping up to presumably 8000rpms in Safari. I didn't have a monitor at the time to see the RPMs, but it could be heard over the a video at medium volume. Now, i can watch 1440p at 60fps in Microsoft Edge without hearing them at all.
How poorly that notebook was designed lol. My old 2015 MacBook air almost never has fan spinning.
Yeah, the thermals are indefensible. Otherwise, i love this thing lol
Thanks for that! I don’t think I have the guts to open up the heat sink and dive into the world of thermal paste and shims. Perhaps when a vendor provides a simple kit with all the parts ready to go, I might give it a shot.
In addition, considering the heat that is transferred to the bottom case with just the pad, I think the thermal paste and heat sink are working correctly. I did use a smaller thermal pad than most (measured 50-100 lower on MC score than when I tried covering the whole heat sink) since I wanted to ensure some airflow over and around the heat sink.
From a warm CPU, but idling at ~40C, the computer will consistently run ~1250 SC and ~3800 MC so that’s good enough for now. I do however hope a vendor comes along with a better way to move heat from the heat sink to the fan. This would keep the temps low while also keeping the bottom case cooler. I bet Apple will do this very thing in the next version of the MBA and claim a 15% improvement in performance, matched to a slightly better battery to maintain “all day battery life”.
This is a silly question, but is the battery disconnected prior to commencing work on the heatsink?
I wonder how much it will thake for the retained heat to damage the different electric and electronic parts, e.g. battery, condensers, resistances and so on. It seems to me there's not even an in/out opening for the airflow.
Look through the various pictures in this thread, especially the ones from @srkirt.
He documented their location and shape some pages back.
Hint: they're located where all MacBook's ventilation outlets are located - in the hinge area (left in, right out).
He documented their location and shape some pages back.
Hint: they're located where all MacBook's ventilation outlets are located - in the hinge area (left in, right out).
The cooling system isnt that bad, it cools all components and the bottom. Its more than enough for this cpu the problem is the thermal paste.
Update: went ahead with the heatsink and heat pad mods and oh...my...
The performance gains are absolutely amazing, but the temperature drop and stability is even more impressive in my opinion. This has turned my MBA into the powerhouse it ought to be.
Left side is pre-mod GeekBench testing; right side is post-mod. Look at how much more stable the frequencies and temperatures are. Also, note how much lower the temps are post-mod, with only a single 100*C peak.
GeekBench before the mods:
GeekBench after the mods:
I added a couple of my test results in PhightinPhils26's spreadsheet here. I'll continue some tests tomorrow, but early indicators are extremely positive.
Lastly, I documented much of the process and put together a thread with instructions here. This is 100% credited to everyone here like @DanSilov, @Robotronic, @kinchee87, etc. Thanks for the advice and how-tos. I couldn't be happier with the results.
The performance gains are absolutely amazing, but the temperature drop and stability is even more impressive in my opinion. This has turned my MBA into the powerhouse it ought to be.
Left side is pre-mod GeekBench testing; right side is post-mod. Look at how much more stable the frequencies and temperatures are. Also, note how much lower the temps are post-mod, with only a single 100*C peak.
GeekBench before the mods:
GeekBench after the mods:
I added a couple of my test results in PhightinPhils26's spreadsheet here. I'll continue some tests tomorrow, but early indicators are extremely positive.
Lastly, I documented much of the process and put together a thread with instructions here. This is 100% credited to everyone here like @DanSilov, @Robotronic, @kinchee87, etc. Thanks for the advice and how-tos. I couldn't be happier with the results.