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M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues, fan positioning, cooler mod

So since I got my Lenovo M92p Tiny with i5 processor I have been getting really bad temps and after trying different thermal pastes I come across something interesting. 

The fan placement by Lenovo is WRONG. The fan placement is sticker side up and the direction of hair flow to the back of the device? This means NO direct air to the CPU cooler. 

So I lifted out the fan placed it sticker side down with the fans arrow (direction of air out) pointing directly to the CPU cooler! 

Ever since I did this my i5 Temps on IDLE are 28-30. And Gaming (The Sims 4) 50-63

So I can't be wrong surly as now my temps are the lowest its ever been. 

 

Pictures below 

IMG_20201203_014914.jpgIMG_20201203_015342.jpg
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Re:M92p Tiny: Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

God job, my M92p tiny was 80ºC and now it is 45ºC 

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Re:M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

This is complete BS. I've tested the modified fan placement and it does NOT help at all.

 

Under the fan is another chip, I'm not sure what it is. If you put your finger on it while the system is running, it'll feel quite hot to the touch. The fan's job is to blow air directly on top of the chip that it sits on, then redirects the hot air OUT of the case. This is why if you look carefully at the fan placement (in the first screenshot), the air is blown onto the chip and warm air flows out the back of the case. The fan's job is NOT to blow air directly to the heatsink that sits on top of the CPU. 

 

If you use the "modified" fan placement, then the chip that sits directly under the fan will not be cooled and your fan will actually spin up to 100% way more often than it should be. You'll notice that your CPU's temp is low and yet the fan spins up to 100% and this is because the chip under the fan is running hot.

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Re:M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

Hmmm 

 

Well if it's "BS" why did it work for me and the guy above ? 

 

With this slight modification my computer ran cooler and the fan was normal and MUCH more silent. My computer ran much better for months until I upgraded and sold it. 

Not sure why it's not working for you. Could be many factors like a weak fan, room environment, crap CPU paste or a faulty chip ect 

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M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

It's got nothing to do with the CPU. Go back and read my post above. My CPU is running just fine on both idle and max load. The temperature I'm getting is well within the acceptable range, between 42C ~ 50C. If I touch the case of my M92p, it feels warm to the touch. There is nothing wrong with my unit. My fan is also very quiet and not spinning up to 100%. However, using your method, the fan was spinning all the way to 100% and was extremely loud. This proves that it wasn't actually cooling down properly.

 

Again, I'll repeat this, the fan is for cooling the chip that sits directly under it. In your photo, you are directing the airflow to the heatsink that sits on top of the CPU. This is wrong. You are directly the heat coming from the chip under the fan, straight towards the CPU. You are not even cooling the chip under the fan. Your assumption that Lenovo had placed the fan at a wrong spot and it's actually not the case. Also, just because one person said it "worked" for them, doesn't mean anything. You are probably only measuring your CPU's temperature and not measuring temperature for other components, such as iGPU.

 

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Re:M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

I will also repeat myself. I had no issues with my fan spinning up to 100%. I didn't have any issues with warm or hot unit from a chip. My computer ran silent and cool for months. 

 

Sorry it didn't work out for you. 

 

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M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

There is a chip that is directly under the fan. It looks like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172921965304

 

If you run your M92p for 30 mins and then touch the surface of that chip, it'll be hot. There isn't a heatsink on top of that chip, which means the fan is supposed to be cooling it. If you place the fan like how you've suggested, then the airflow doesn't actually cool that chip.

 

I highly doubt your configuration allows that Intel BGA chip to be cooled properly. I've monitored using CPUID HWmonitor and with the stock FAN configuration, my fan RPM averages between 50~55RPM. With your configuration, my FAN RPM goes up to 77RPM and the hotter that Intel BGA chip gets, the more RPM the FAN use. If I run a game, it spins up to 155 RPM. Yes, your configuration does make the CPU cooler, but at the same time, that Intel BGA chip gets hotter and so the system tells the FAN to spin up even faster (to cool off the BGA chip), which it never does because the fan is placed incorrectly. 

 

You've probably never experienced the issue, maybe because you're using your system very lightly. You see the effect of your modified FAN placement cooling the CPU and probably didn't notice that other chips on the motherboard are suffering from heat buildup.

 

The other thing could be that maybe you've disabled certain settings in the BIOS, which maybe disables that Intel BGA chip. Would you mind sharing your BIOS config?

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Re:M92p Tiny: High Temperature Issues FIXED!! STOCK FAN WRONGLY PLACED

OK, I came up with a better solution for cooling the CPU.

First of all, let's go over some stats:

a) With the stock fan placement, my CPU was averaging about 50~60C on idle. I'll let it idle for 30 mins and measuring the average across this time.

b) With the modified fan placement (as per OP's post), my CPU was averaging about 48~55C on idle, again a 30 minute measurement. However, the fan will soon start to spin up to 150+ RPM, regardless if the CPU is running cool or not. This is because there is an Intel BGA chip that sits under the fan and this chip runs hot and needs to be cooled. The stock fan placement actually cools the BGA chip and pushes the hot air OUT of the case. Every M92p Tiny photo that I looked at, every video I found on Youtube, shows that the stock fan placement IS the correct placement. If you take a look at the M93's fan setup, it's the same. It pushes hot air OUT of the case, it does NOT direct air towards the CPU. Anyway, I digress.

c) Now, here's the interesting part. I found that the heatsink that sits on top of the CPU has a stupid and unnecessary plastic cover, which is removeable. If you remove that, you'll find that the heatsink itself is actually a very flat surface. By removing this cover, you actually allow more airflow towards it, as well as allow better heat dissipation outwards. This improves temp by about 1C~3C.

It gets better. I've found a spare heatsink + CPU that I had lying around. This is what I have in case anyone's interested:
https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Alpine-11-GT-Rev/dp/B002D2H9W0

The surface area at the bottom of the heat sink is quite large and flat, which is perfect for me because the heatsink in my Lenovo M92p Tiny is also very flat. I didn't think it'd be a good idea to use one heatsink on top of another, but in this case it actually works. With just the additional heatsink sitting on top (not even using thermal paste in between the 2 heatsinks and not using the fan yet), I'm now getting a consistent 34~35C, which is bloody amazing, considering that this is passive cooling.

Now, how do we use the fan? Well, our M92p unfortunately does not have a 4 pin PWM connector. If you're looking to use a fan that uses either a 3 pin or 4 pin PWM connector, then what you'll need is something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/4-Pin-Sleeved-Power-Adapter-Cable/dp/B01LW50R03

You can order the above off Aliexpress for a cheaper price. I got mine for around $2.5 NZD, which is **bleep** cheap.

Finally, I'll just need to use some zip ties to tie down the new heatsink on top of my existing heat sink. I've done some research and most zip ties are nylon based, which can deal with up to 220C. This should be fine, because your PC shouldn't go up to 200C anyway.

Once I apply thermal paste in between the heat sink and use the fan, the temp should be even lower. This is amazing, considering that my M92P is averaging about 2.8~5W on idle/low usage and using 35C (and possibly even less once I start using the fan).

 

Oh and I also bought some tiny heatsinks made for Raspberry Pi and one of them actually fits really nicely on top of the Intel BGA IC chip. Even with that heatsink on, it doesn't block the fan, so it's actually a perfect fit. With this heatsink, it drops the temp by about 5.0C, which isn't too bad. Just make sure that when you mount the heatsink, you have the fins facing parallel to the fan. This is because the heat will be emitted out in the same position that the fan will be blowing towards. 

In HWMonitor, I used to get 50.0C or higher for TMPIN0 (motherboard). Now, I'm getting about 45.0C ~ 46.0C, in the same testing condition. CPU temp is averaging about 38~43C atm. Would be great if I could undervolt, but I've checked the BIOS (using UEFI Tool) and there isn't an "Overclock Lock" setting that I could find in the BIOS file itself.

 

The final thing I'll add is that the fan is rubbish. The fan spins and blows air in one direction only. Not only that, the fan also produces a tiny bit of air from under the fan blade. If you place the fan in the "modified" position (as per OP's suggestion), then it means that the blade will be facing up and so the air coming from the blade will be going up, instead of down. The Intel BGA IC chip is below the fan, which means it won't get any air from the fan at all and therefore would not cool properly. SO, get yourself a better fan that has a better design. I bought a few from Aliexpress and I have no idea whether they're decent or how well they'll fit, but I'll update this thread (if I remember) when I receive them. Some fans have a square cover around them and the ones I went for have as little cover and unnecessary plastic bits, so that the airflow is going to be circulated much better around the entire area where the fan is located.

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