The BEST mod I've ever seen....

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[@ZacBuilds]

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[@X862go]

Agreed I have a zephyrese g14 and that thing cooks. Selling it for 45wat apu laptop. At least the performance will be more stable, then the heat from RTX anything.

[@ilikegpu]

framework laptops

[@Tailslol]

Good idea the angle but all those angled cooler are known to off center the laptop fans after a while making them noisier and damaging the fans in the end. Better go with a more neutral angle design for long term use.

[@benkayvfalsifier3817]

If you are going to be modding your N-Switch, then I expect you to replace the Joy-Con plastic covers with *wewd.* Otherwise, I will be very disappointed in you.

[@BixxPlays]

i recommend a framework laptop. it might even be the last laptop you buy.

[@jessedemps]

You should get a Framework laptop

[@ZacBuilds]

Just waiting for the Framework 16 to drop!

[@jessedemps]

Thi is the first heart I have ever gotten

[@alexmendiola]

I just got my framework and it's the bee's knees. Plus, better for the environment and I'm not worried about obsolescence!

[@scarecrow5848]

​@@ZacBuildsmake sure you get the AMD version.

[@AdamKueflef]

​@@ZacBuildsSo I'm not the only one waiting to upgrade

[@WoodwardIII]

For reference, the reason why laptops don’t dump heat into the outer chassis directly is generally so that the batteries don’t overheat, which is a fire hazard. (source: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4TCfol6pMZ8pa8) Edit: In addition, there are also regulations about how hot surfaces can get so that they don't burn you.

[@JanJanJanJanJanJanJanJanJan2]

Also there are regulations on how hot touchable surfaces are allowed to get.

[@latitzouri]

​@@JanJanJanJanJanJanJanJanJan2cooking steak on the back o my laptop go brrrrrrrrrrrrr 😎

[@djmccullough9233]

Laptops are limited in the amount of heat they are allowed to dissipate through the chassis outer shell to prevent burns, that particular limitation has little to nothing to do with battery protection.

[@DantePowell]

and you know, you dont want to burn your legs if you had them on your lap. just saying.

[@onyxx300_]

Intel MacBook Pros be like: what regulations?

[@JeffKraschinski1969]

From what I can see, it looks like the Thunderport hub kind of blocks the air intake in the fan as well, so that might be worth a redesign. Also making the top removable so that whenb the fan eventually dies you can replace it without busting apart a glued piece

[@lostapostle76]

Yep. Rule of thumb with fans is at least an inch of space in front of them to allow flow. Only instance I've seen in 40 years of doing support where it isn't involves rifle bearing fans. You don't want rifle bearing fans.

[@PyspherE]

Considering there is likely much more resistance on the push side finding gaps out from under the laptop i highly doubt there is much, if any, flow constriction happening on the pull side where the hub is located. also if the stand is for this particular model of laptop and hes already shown its power limited and not thermo limited then any improvments to airflow are largely moot. would be nice if the fan was more easily replaceable, although an offset phillips driver (looks like a hex/allen key) should probably get the job done in the current config but would still be a PITA.

[@tradingnichols2255]

Noctua fans usually last 10 years plus so....

[@user-cg5xv4zz2b]

I had the same thought and would make this change. I would move the connection hub so that the edge of the hub matches ( or close ) to the edge of the 'projet'. Since the top is at an incline, this would make more airspace for the fan. I do not believe that this would break the looks of the 'project'.

[@techguypaul]

Also some Thunderbolt hubs can get very hot themselves, so then it's pulling hot air onto the hot laptop.

[@GeekOfAllThings]

Given your penchant for customizing, I'd say you should get a Framework laptop 16 when orders open up. Completely customizable IO and all replaceable parts. It'll even have an expansion bay for a replaceable internal video card.

[@feeterican]

I said somewhat of the same thing about Framework and also Clevo.

[@glittalogik]

+1 for Framework. Entirely aside from customizability, their whole take on reusability is SO overdue for the laptop industry. I was sold the moment I saw how easy they'd made it to rehouse the internals into a standalone mini-PC.

[@jonathanzimmer8143]

I just fixed up an old Elitebook 2560p, one of the last socketed laptops. The thing came with 4 gigs of RAM but now has 16, and i5 only kind of upgrades to i7 (2nd gen only😢), but then the peripheral slots are just insane. eSATA, swappable dvd drive, DisplayPort, SD slot, PC Express slot (thankfully there are cool cards for), m.2e X 3- ethernet card, swappable wifi card,also a sim slot and cell card. Dedicated docking port. Oh, and smart card for biz security. It's no Framework, but it is built to stay relevant 12 years later. It does. It crushes at music production. I got this out of the garbage, dude. This mission is loooong overdue.

[@CarbonPhoenix96]

​@@feetericani do not recommend Clevo. I used to work on them often

[@jmwilsoND]

@@feetericanThe 16" framework seems like it could have the specs he needs to replace the dell. But I wouldn't want to go all in on the AMD 7700s which is arriving on the 16. As a prior Asus G55 owner, I've been burned by the MXM hype. Framework seems more dedicated and likely to acheieve the upgradable GPU goal, but I wouldn't bet against history yet.

[@willlucas5150]

Would also be interesting to see how it would compare with all the internal cooling mods and using the body as a heat sink but without the big cooling stand.

[@ZacBuilds]

Ah damn, I didnt even think to run that benchmark. Next time!

[@willlucas5150]

@ZacBuilds not too late. Run the test and update the description

[@willlucas5150]

Sounds demanding lol. Not meaning to be like that. But this is actually a good idea I haven't seen before

[@febrianadji5758]

Idk on Dell But there's a ton of that in MacBook The main problem by solely using the body without external cooling is that you also heats up battery and SSD

[@robertcastillo90]

Yeah, was disappointed he didn't show that. Really wanted to know becuase maybe the big fan isn't worth it for those of us who would be OK with doing all that. Also be careful with pass, I'm not too familiar with that pudy product you used. But another tech ch, jayztwocents, removed the pads from his ram and put paste and it turned out the pad was also there to bridge the gap on the cooler. His issue was it was a huge heatsink which included the ram and was just mm higher on some places.

[@briturner11]

Your content is some of my favorite combination of "computer nerd" and "wood working maker".

[@FlameSoulis]

Not sure if you check older videos, but regarding the Dell Dock: you can get right angle adapters to reduce the strain on the USB C port. Additionally, the docks usually have a power button, which can turn the laptop on. In my setup, I 3D printed a side shelf that holds the laptop on the side of my desk, giving me the entire desk for use. So basically, something akin to what you did with the drawer, but more barebones.

[@jvcouk]

I did similar for my XPS 9560 (i7-7700HQ, 1050) a couple of years ago, with some differences: no external fan, I made a thermal bridge from the VRMs to bare heatpipes, undervolted the CPU 0.12V, put fine mesh over the intakes (to eliminate dust), and resting it on a dowell bar near the rubber strip to stop hot air recirculating into the intake. As a result, it only hits around 85'C with a GPU game or CPU-intensive work, and the power delivery stays higher. There were other tweaks, like also using ThrottleStop to improve responsiveness for DAW work. So if you want to improve on what you already have, maybe try undervolting, if your system allows it.

[@CrapkinsTheBrave]

My only note is that there are plenty of existing laptop cooling pad devices that have spare room inside their chassis that could fit the dock if you swapped out their fans for that nice one. Many of them even have fan controllers built-in. You would end up with a more comfortable purpose-built device by cobbling something together rather than building it from scratch in this case.

[@christianrobinson4526]

You're my favorite youtuber right now. You woodwork, build computer/electronic/emulation stuff, and longboard. All of which are things I like to do! I've been 30 mph on a longboard, built my own PC, built an arcade style emulator with the big joysticks, and I make some money on the side woodworking. I think you may be my spirit animal 😂

[@ZacBuilds]

Hell ya! That's the best feedback I could get. Hopefully some more of our future projects sync up

[@scarface406]

Cool! you should also try undervolting you cpu and gpu aswell as lowering you're minimum processor state and changing the turbo from aggressive to enabled this should increase the power ALOT more

[@anon_y_mousse]

As far as common, North American woods go, walnut is definitely the best. If you're looking for portability then I'd suggest Framework since upgrading will be easier than with others.

[@ZacBuilds]

I love the whole Framework ethos, but for video editing a dedicated GPU is a big factor. I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the 16" inch version.

[@thatwasonce]

@@ZacBuilds it's up for preorders now

[@Souloux]

I recently finished building a cooling pad with 3 120mm Noctua NF-P12 redux fans and Noctua NA-FC1 fan controller. It works great, can be a bit loud but way better than any previous ones I've owned.

[@ZacBuilds]

Ya most laptop cooling pads are really loud anyways. This 200mm fan is crazy quiet. I should've talked more about it, but you cant really hear it until you get within 12" inches of it and even then it's just a whisper. The built in fans inside the laptop are WAY louder haha.

[@TheOmegaRiddler]

I'd like to see what you could do with a framework laptop, especially when you upgrade one because of what you'll do with the old board.

[@ian3314]

Thats awesome! Love the look of it and that magnet into the cupboard is soo slick.

[@watercannonscollaboration2281]

That a lot of nice thermal mods, I never had good experiences repasting my XPS17 9710 (I tried MX5 and GC Extreme and thermals were worse until I switched to Honeywell PTM, that made a huge improvement), but pretty awesome to see the before and after, and considering that Intel/Dell boosts these CPUs to over 100W (at least in my experience with the XPS 17 9710), the fact you can get it to power limit throttle is kinda amazing

[@flat_stickproductions209]

It's so wild to see my PTM experiment has made it this far. We talked about it in Discord then I purchased some from a sketchy Chinese shop and the PTM revolution was born.

[@edwardzooby5548]

I’d like to see the performance upgrade with just the fan, just the improved thermal paste, and then the combination. Awesome build though!

[@ianhaylock7409]

He didn't want you to find out that all the extra performance came from the work he did on the laptop, and not from his laptop stand.

[@tradingnichols2255]

LOL, funny, in another part of the comments he said he didn't even think of benchmarking anything else, "good idea!" That last bit might not be paraphrasing so I put it in quotes, lol. @@ianhaylock7409

[@tradingnichols2255]

We all probably have different laptops, and that putty is a pain if you ever want to redo it so.... all I did was use mx-4 on my gpu and cpu under the cooler And replaced what Asus did with thermal puddy, with really high end thermal pads. I reinstalled my cpu/gpu cooler, and immediately uninstalled, of course my thermal paste was fine, the only thing you can do is use too little and since I normally repaste full sized GPU's I used too much. Cleaned up the edges a bit - that wouldn't have mattered. Checked the thermal pads that they were all indented by the memory a little, but not too much. Refettied as necessary, rechecked for fit. Reassembled. You see, about the thermal pads imprinting, heavy imprints and you may reduce pressure on the CPU/GPU points because the thermal pads are too thick, which could cause their temps to go up or even severely overheat them. When I was done my laptop was flying fast. I mean flying fast. It's still faster than the day I bought it 5 years ago. Curios about what happened, I looked it up online and found out "everybody" talking about how much faster this laptop is, even new out of the box with new thermals. Oh, well at least 2 years later I started in on that performance!

[@itsmilan4069]

Cooling pads do work great if your laptop has proper air intake underneath (unlike the one shown in this video where the vents are at the bottom)

[@83n80y]

As a tech that fixes laptops, I can safely say that there isn't a flawless laptop manufacturer. All brands have issues and even have some that are lemons. I would say it's more about keeping the vents and fans clean inside, not ever using mechanical hard drives (use SSDs and NVMe SSDs), and doing research on a per model basis based on your budget. Of course, like Zac recommends, having an external cooler will help it run cooler, faster and last much longer. If you're having issues, 8 times out of 10 it's the mechanical hard drive. Replace that with an SSD and you're likely good to go. The other is the 2 times is either the CPU cooler/fan or power issue. The CPU fan/heatsink gets filled with lint and dust. Just clean it out and it'll cool much better. Power issues come from the DC Jack being bent/broken or the battery doesn't hold much of a charge. In either of those power issues those parts would need to be replaced. Of course, there can be other random issues but they're much more rare. They instead tend to be from wear and tear (cracked screen, spilled something on the keyboard, trackpad worn out, cracked plastics/frame). In other words, lemons can happen but unless it's a manufacturing issue it's less likely it's a problem with all of that model or brand. Again, just make sure it has an SSD instead of a HDD and you're off to a good start.

[@joshuascholar3220]

I use a cheap HP gaming laptop that has had nothing but overheating problems. I've replaced the thermal paste many times (I do it every time the laptop freezes up, presumably from heat). I finally tried replacing the paste with PMT7950 phase change thermal pads. They're hard to work with, but they improved the laptop as much as I could have hoped for.

[@cameronkennedy7820]

Designing in external radii to those tenon joints that have about a 5-10% clearance on the internal radii will eliminate the need to do manual chisel work

[@willsside1]

I love your videos on upgrading / hacking your tech! That cinebench score improvement is insane. For new laptops I have my eye on the new framework laptop!

[@ZacBuilds]

Thanks man! And me too, I'm waiting to see what their 16 inch model can do!

[@2hottdoggy]

Wonderful builds Zac! 👍🏾👍🏾

[@andymuzzo8568]

Nice work. I built one of these for my dell 7760 a year ago and it made a huge difference

[@beforedrrdpr]

Would love to see a video on how you come up with these ideas, especially how you know if it'll work or not?

[@ZacBuilds]

Huh that's an interesting idea. Basically I just look for problems I'm having in my own life. "Wish my laptop didnt overheat so badly.....Hmmm, I bet I can fix that with a DIY project" The fun part is I almost never know if they will work or not. It keeps the whole thing interesting from start to finish for me, and hopefully for you and everyone else at home too!

[@FrostKing104]

Dude this whole time watching your channel I've loved that you use hexagons because I'm a CGP Grey fan. Who'd have thought you used them for the same reason. So cool. Hexagons are the bestagons :p

[@kevink7087]

nice build! I might've missed it, but what was the temperature difference before/after?

[@michaeldisante5145]

Hi Zac, I have been rocking a MSI Gaming GT72 6QD(Dominator G)-249UK for 10 years now and it has been rock solid. I've upgraded the storage to 6TB of internal SSD storage, bumped the RAM to 64GB and configured the system to dual boot Windows 10 and Linux Mint. I have a desktop that I use for gaming now, but this laptop still performs very well for development duties and general use. If the newer MSI systems are as solid as this thing, hard to go wrong. Another system I have considered is the new Framework 16 laptop. It can be stripped down to a bare chasis with one included tool and everything on this laptop may be user serviced/upgraded. The ports may be configured as desired and there is a dedicated bay for a graphics card. Looks to be well engineered.

[@dirkth8556]

MacBook pro m2 is crazy efficient and you can directly use that cooler because it’s also full aluminium

[@secondnikos]

Very nice outcome! Got some usefull ideas! Same situation with my XPS too. Quite a lot of problems. Switched to Thinkpad; quite pleased with it so far

[@ZacBuilds]

Definitely considering some other Lenovo devices!

[@RisingRevengeance]

I have quite a few thinkpads that I really like. The ones I use daily are my X1 Carbon(gen 4) and a T450s, both are a few years old but still work well and are solid af.

[@AmazingDX]

Can you open the laptop without problem after this mod? Isn't K5 Pro very sticky?

[@petebean2387]

I have a question: My laptop (Acer Aspire 5) overheats too and I put Arctic MX-6 Thermal Paste in between the graphics and processor, but is K5 Pro thermal putty better? I want to try also using the thermal putty on the exposed heat sink like you did. Or is a thermal pad better? And is it ok to put it directly on the exposed copper pipe, as that is where my laptop gets super hot. Also I was thinking about cutting out a few more air gaps as well in the bottom as well. Would that make an increase in performance and decrease the temperature from around 60 degrees Celsius when it's not doing much?

[@ToolShow]

Super cool project Zac! The magnets for the drawer mount were a nice surprise.

[@ZacBuilds]

Haha thanks you! I've been trying to incorporate bonus features into all my projects now.

[@bobbybyrne1899]

The new Framework 13 or 16 would be my choice for a new laptop

[@ZacBuilds]

Waiting on that 16 to drop!

[@silversonic1]

Laptop cooling pads do work, just not as directly as you might want. By cooling the shell, it means the air that does go into the inlets isn't being heated as severely while it travels under and into your laptop, meaning the air that goes in can then grab more heat before going out. Not to mention it distances the laptop from other heat, ie your lap if you use it according to its name.

[@albertwesker4266]

Thats a good use of k5pro BUT good luck cleaning it in the future What kind of wood did You use to build laptop cooler ?

[@tjesnaps]

This was a breath of fresh air! Great to see someone thinking outside the box ;)

[@ZacBuilds]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Zockmock]

Have a look into framework laptops. I think you'll really like them.

[@ZacBuilds]

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the Framework 16!

[@Zockmock]

@@ZacBuilds yeah and I think it's gonna be great. Linus showed it a couple of days ago but I think you already know that 😄

[@shoichikiseragi8450]

if your looking at laptop options id really recommend the framework brand laptops they are a bit new but the customize-ability and potential their laptops have is astronomical

[@mados123]

Great build. What other problems are you having with the Dell? Also, while very unlikely, what if you have to replace the fan? (With the pieces glued I think.)

[@weksauce]

Go framework.

[@ferna2294]

You might have just helped me solve an issue with a Dell Precision. Thank you!

[@matthysloedolff]

Great video, Zac. I am also not a big fan of Dell. Had a work Dell computer and since day 1 it would either throw a blue screen of death, freeze up randomly, become very light randomly, or sound like a jet taking off when not really doing computationally strenuous tasks. I now have an HP laptop for work and I'm happy with it for the most part. The one major concern I have is the shell feels a bit too flexible for my liking. Think iPhone Bendgate.

[@sameerakhtari9962]

I was about to ask that did noctua paid every youtuber to use their big fan xD then you made logo hider xD ..love to see that you are using this product because of performance , not for money . Also love to see that you are now in tech too..

[@ZacBuilds]

Haha one day maybe, but for now I'm paying out of pocket like everyone else. I just like their products and their color scheme is a good match for walnut :)

[@24adrielpadilla30]

hi do you have a solution to power on a laptop without pressing the on button?

[@hyde8118]

I think your setup would look more complete if you will use L-shaped USB-C connector, so cable will be looking more neat outside of the dock

[@avici0182]

Came here to learn how to cool a laptop, ended up knowing a bit about woodcrafting, CNC and 3d printers. Subbed!

[@ebrahimnalla121]

would love to see a framework laptop and what you do to make it better

[@kayt_was_taken]

I'd love to see what you could do with a Framework laptop! After seeing this video I'm thinking of trying those mods on my own...

[@madisondavis954]

As a former pc tech (which admittedly has been a few years) a large portion of what we got in for repair were Dell computers. If my memory serves me, it was like almost 50% of all repairs were Dell. Personally I think HP makes good high end laptops and I have a soft spot for Asus.

[@LeftyRoadster]

That's really interesting to hear! I currently work as a consumer level pc tech (like general public, not for a business clientelle). I find that Dell's come in a fair amount, but the majority of the repairs I see are Lenovo's. A lot of broken hinges on their yoga style laptops. I wonder if you worked with more professional clients where Dell laptops are more common?

[@MayankJairaj]

that just tells you what sells in ur area

[@yazzmatazz86]

I loved this so much. Besides benchmarks, did you notice improvements to gaming? I've wanted to do something similar for my 16" 2019 macbook pro for a while now (sans woodworking). That laptop is horribly thermally throttled and has very little in the way of venting. I bought a spare backplate and my plan was to drill some venting holes into the backplate and use a massive fan to blow some cool over the CPU/GPU heatpipes as well as the VRMs. Ever the procrastinator, I put this off for a while and sadly my macbook died a few weeks ago. Ironically, I think it was killed by overheating, since in the weeks before it died I noticed that my CPU was running at over 90C while gaming which was strange since it would always throttle at around 85C in the past.

[@mihirparekh]

Hey what power settings did U do for when it's on battery power, I have the same xps 15 and I'd like to reduce performance when on battery, thankyou

[@ZacBuilds]

I used a program called Throttle Stop to limit the CPU to 20 watts

[@user-ek1jx7lt6b]

what software do u use for 3d modelling? eager to know :)

[@PaulBeetge]

The docking station sits underneath the fan where it should be sucking in the air? Isn't it limiting the airflow the fan can suck in due to you limiting airflow underneath the fan?

[@TigonIII]

The only modification that would make this even better would be to take inspiration from the IETS GT600 laptop cooling pad, which is to make a foam lining all around the top (where the laptop will be resting), which traps air above the fan and beneath the laptop, creating a high air pressure pocket, which will try to escape at the point of least resistance, which will be the laptops air intake. The GT600's design have proven that this lets you gain a 15-20 (some even say 30 depending on the fan speed etc.) degrees celsius reduction in heat.

[@Rock_Appreciator]

I did this on an old dell, but just reapplied paste, added 2 small heat syncs on a couple uncooled chips, and cut vent holes into the bottom. Didn't even use a cooling fan but I saw ~12% increase in performance.

[@brake_4_cake]

Use rubber rivet mounts for the fan, it'll kill any residual vibrations and noise

[@TigTex]

That Noctua thermal compound that you've used suffers from pump out really quickly. Make sure to monitor those temperatures because I expect them to degrade a lot in the following weeks/months. Consider using reliable stuff such as PTM7950. Undervolting the CPU and GPU might also give you a measurable boost in performance due to a decrease in thermal output

[@tristanwegner]

Yes. With the flexing happening in a laptop from regular use, I expect the movement between the case and the cooler to pump the compound away to the sides.

[@PsycoFlipside]

I modded my 2016 XPS 9550 in a similar way because back then, VRMs in XPS's didn't have a heatsink and the laptop couldn't run any games for more than 5 minutes. Temps massively dropped but what ended up happening is that the rubber feet melted and made a hell of a sticky mess

[@BalkanSlav]

Don't know about that dell TB dock specifically but I know other docks get really really hot and since your fan is pulling air directly from it, I would think it decreases the cooling potential at least a bit. Otherwise great vid! I will probably do the part with removing the stickers from the bottom inner part of the bottom cover and adding some thermal pads to my Lenovo Thinkbook 14S Yoga Gen2 (great laptop line in case you want to switch btw). I will however skip the repasting of the CPU and GPU + the laptop stand as when I use my laptop docked I use it bent backwards (love using 2 in 1 laptops like that as it allows for having a keyboard right in front of the screen which is placed below my monitor - ez stacked display setup)

[@vmafarah9473]

You should have made a custom table with a hole in the middle you could place the laptop into that hole which prevent intake air and exhaust air mixing .with a build in fan below the table to further ease the air intake. You may also try water cooled laptop lid.

[@NeutronicalGaming]

I did this years ago to play wow on a mid range laptop, worked great then, probably works even better these days since everything is thermally limited and boosts by default, you don't even need to overclock or volt mod etc etc.

[@Puff3in]

Hi, I like the wood designs even though a Cooler Master 23 would've done the job. For a new laptop I would recommend a Razer Blade Pro 17. The reason for that is the extra fan or fans used at the bottom for intake, meant to move the hot air generated over the board, and push it to the exhaust. Some models have one bottom fan, and some others have 2, making the device a 3, and also a 4 fan laptop that is both cooler than most, and more quiet. Consider it ✌

[@ytvandre]

Do you have a link for that cooling pad ? Not coming back in Google

[@user-pq4by2rq9y]

I am all for thin and light laptops but I really don't want to give up cooling to have that.

[@omar.r.d9016]

I started thinking to do the same for my laptop ,nice mod

[@guyshuvali406]

Can you manufacture a botom part with finns and change the airflow pattern of the fans to pass through it in order to turn the bottom to a huge heatsink? With cnc for aluminum or 3d printing and electroplating

[@dreamworldtony]

i have a similar Dell Thunderbolt dock, had to take it apart and disconnect the fan inside of it as it was insanely loud

[@nolan6137]

I have a foam rubber ring around a high output fan that shoves air through the laptop keeping it very cool.

[@calvinaluma]

i am sorry i dint get to your channel earlier... i love your content and the hard work and love you put to it

[@GreedoShot]

good thing you added that dock to pre-warm the air you're sending to your laptop

[@rttp-righttothepoint6656]

was he using CPU Z to monitor the end results at the end of the video? if not what software was he using to dermine the temp and cooling stoppage point

[@jackdoug]

My reccomendation on what NOT to buy is any HP products. They consistently restirct your access to the BIOS making diagnosing problems or adjusting power settings impossible, they even do this with their ENTERPRISE products which led to my company ditching all of our HP products.

[@r65]

Lenovo high end laptops are just incredible. I'm rocking a P52 and a P1 and they're just amazing machines all around. Great 3D capability, ideal for CAD, 128gb of RAM and i7 processor just chews through any and all tasks with no issue whatsoever. And pre-owned, they're a steal at about 500 bucks or so.

[@ad.i]

18:09 YEAH, FRAMEWORK. I have had a few problems with this thing, but not only is their customer support god tier, but the damn thing is so open that I'm usually able to fix it myself with just looking at the internals.

[@zacharyleighvindoak4335]

where can i buy the skin for the trackpad sir?

[@jarenpocopio6033]

How are you gonna clean the fan??

[@leonalayja5861]

0:33 What is this program that tell you “thermal throttling=yes”

[@misterpotato4775]

Hey zac I think you should add some stopper in front of it like how you did on the back to prevent it from going infront. better safe than sorry

[@mi-rek]

You can try 3D-printing a replacement for the back cover - a frame to attach the big fan and manage airflow. Then add many small ram coolers along the heatpipes, on gpu ram, and vrm. This turns laptop in a strong and power efficient home-computer.

[@snjert8406]

Does K5 pro work that much better than stacking a few good thermal pads? Because that’s a MESS if you ever open it back up to clean the dust out and stuff

[@danielkutomi]

This reminds me of my laptop which fan is not near the heatsink, but actually is in the lower opening (the case makes a corridor so that the air current is made until the exit). Not a suprise, but it overheats (even when lifted up), so I bought one of those external laptop fans that goes on the side of the laptop (it stopped overheating 😊)

[@trapvandal]

This is wicked build. I'm totally sad my laptop isn't aluminum now and I can't just do your thermal paste mod without even building this dock.

[@asianflex]

have you consideered dremeling part of the plastic over where the heatsink is and using copper shims to make a little copper plate as a part of the chassis?

[@trapvandal]

@@asianflex that's a bold mod but definitely something to think about

[@dangavsterGAMES]

I recommend rather than using Thermal Paste that you try PTM7950 pads. After putting one on my GPD Win4's 6800U and my 1080Ti they are fantastic for keeping temps down.

[@SJSSawdust]

Hey Zac, Easel has a feature that adds dog bones to box joints that allows them to fit snugly right off the machine, so you don’t have to mess with the joint - saves time

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

11:50 For more heat transfer, you should have sanded the heatpipes and apply the putty right on the bare copper of the heatpipes. Oh, and btw, your thunderbolt module ruins the effects of your fan. Even more when you consider that 200 mm fans don't have much static pressure... 🙄

[@supernintendo9398]

I recommend looking into SBC. It can have a decient GPU/CPU, and compact. Build around the SBC and turn it into a laptop. I would recommend looking at like the lattepanda sigma, something like that. Lots of options though

[@mikhailvizconde2194]

I was really surpirsed at the big jump in the cinebench points just for cooling. Unfortunately i have plastic bottom and a not so good heatsink.

[@Trifler500]

What would you think about adding some more ventilation holes in the bottom of your laptop case, instead of connecting the heat pipes to it (if you were starting again)?

[@TheOldSchoolCrisis]

Ventilation isn't the problem, it is thermal conductivity. Heat Pipes transfer heat away from critical components. Air is an awful medium for heat transfer. Piping it away from the components with a heat pipe and then dissipating it across a larger surface area like the case is 100% the best option here.

[@Trifler500]

@@TheOldSchoolCrisis I was just thinking that the stock cooling solution doesn't get enough ventilation, so that would at least allow the stock cooling to function better.

[@TheOldSchoolCrisis]

Typically the fans are capable enough they just lack good circulation due to being at the bottom of a laptop. The elevated stand alleviates this pretty much 100%. From there dissipation is going to give you far more gains than opening the fan holes a bit more. You also need to be careful adding holes since this will also introduce more opportunities for dust to get in.@@Trifler500

[@ErnandoMyrtaj]

Whats the software used at 0:27 ?

[@alk3myst]

Man checking out your vids tonight. Nice shop and woodwork.

[@daneverdier1950]

I have an inspiron 3780 I think it is from dell and never had any problems with it. I replaced my i5 with an i7 and maxed out the ram to 32gb. It is unfortunately plastic so I can't make the back a heatsink but I did redo the paste on the dies and added some thermal pads to connect a few components to the heat pipes. Long story short, not all dell laptops are bad.

[@CrucesNomad1]

I have a cooling pad with a large fan and it does work. But getting the how to out is good to.

[@hashirmuhammad5279]

Tucking every piece of Electronics in your Drawer, Damn a Great Idea!

[@MayankJairaj]

Since I am early I'll narrate the same mod I made during the lockdown, it was dirt cheap. but first Laptop rec: I was initially thinking of recommending something like TongFang or Clevo chassis(aka CyberPowerPC, Xotic, Eluktronics, etc) but the since u already have a beefy PC, go for a Framework, they are effortless to repair and you can show us some cool mods related to these! my mod: I bought a laptop table +cooling fan combo (the one with 3 joint plastic legs on each side) de-lidded the bottom panel, replaced paste with the 14watt Cooler master stuff, and for thermal pads I used Gelid ultimate To increase the height I used Pencil Erasers and I used RasPi heatsinks on RAM and SSD The bottom panel rests in a drawer; whenever I need to take the Laptop - I clip it back on. For a hub I use whatever I have, it's called HyperDrive but also one from a brand called Orico both are good. I also used a heatsink on the HyperDrive one as it heats up due to charging. Yours looks way better than my ghetto build but it's cheap

[@ZacBuilds]

I'm eagerly awaiting the launch of the Framework 16! My main problem with their current design is that there's no dGPU. I'd also like something that wasnt crazy chonky so we'll see once it's released. Sounds like an awesome project! Did you benchmark it? I'm curious to hear if it made a difference.

[@MayankJairaj]

@@ZacBuilds oh so a mobile editing station is what u need.. I'd say if the laptop u use isn't cutting it then a gaming laptop would be what u need. The sheer thermal mass of the aluminium can easily power thru most of it. Something like a CyberpowerPC laptop or some OEM that sells TongFang or Clevo would be okay(Cyberpower being the cheapest) something around 2.5k USD would suffice ur needs. Brands don't matter much, you could buy the most desirable brand and it will fail. MSI, Asus, Acer, HP, Dell all fail - just buy what you feel does the stuff u need. Obviously Jarrod's the best on YT for this kinda stuff. But if portability and ease of use is also a factor then u might wanna check out the Mac's. I hate to say this but they are pretty good at what they do - efficiency. I'm sure you are aware of all their downsides, but do give it a thought. . . haven't run a real synthetic benchmark but it defo improved my gaming fps, I went from 43/46fps to a 58/60fps and the temp drop was amazing! Earlier it was 88 °C max and now I can't find a way to make it go above 72°C. And on idle it sometimes turns off the fan, this wasn't possible before, it would run its fan all the time.

[@elfedorausado]

If I understand correctly, you added small heat sinks from raspberry Pi directly to components inside your laptop, and use it docked with the bottom panel of the laptop removed? I also understand that you add the panel back when you need to take the laptop with you… if so, do the added heat sinks fit with the panel on?

[@JoelAz909]

The problem isn't buying a Dell, it's buying an XPS (or Inspiron). Stay in the Latitude line (and of the very bottom models) and you'll do much better overall. Also add the pro support warranty and you'll have a much better experience there too. We insist on it for all our business clients.

[@greybuckleton]

I own the same laptop. It needed a re paste and more importantly a re torque from new. If you read the Dell maintenance manual they don't torque the heat sink in a star pattern, crazy. Otherwise it's been great tbh and parts are still available direct from Dell. That being said, how many customers are really willing and able to crack open a $2000 laptop and re paste the heatsink, not many I imagine. The Macbook Pro of the same era had the exact same issue.

[@Moodyfn]

i have a feeling it migjt be hard to clean the fan if it gets dusty. Either way nice build tho and the charging dock idea was really cool

[@Soawano]

I believe if you drilled holes or thins on the back of the laptop it would be better since you are using the fan as intake instead of using the body as an inertia cooling.

[@Tailslol]

Good idea the angle but all those angled cooler are known to off center the laptop fans after a while making them noisier and damaging the fans in the end. Better go with a more neutral angle design for long term use.