Acer aspire A515-54 N18Q13 - a bare die on the CPU has no cooling.

Sigfried · May 2022

I was cleaning my brother's laptop when I noticed something rather concerning

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/qc/k0z9u04rbr6d.jpg

Like in the title, a bare die on the CPU has no cooling, It's just sitting under a heat pipe, with a good air gap in-between.
Now, it seemed weird to me that they could mess up assembly so severely, but then I did some research and confirmed that my laptop wasn't the only one with this issue.

Someone hinted that it might just be cache but I have never seen a bare die with no cooling.
Also, from a video on YouTube, working on a similar model

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/1k/as47pyn5sqdo.jpg

It appears like this heat-sink was designed for a similar CPU but with the smaller die on top instead of the bottom.

This and the fact that the laptop, after being cleaned from the dust, AND with the help of a laptop cooling base is sitting at 70°C (158°F) IDLE, sometimes even throttling, makes the faulty assembly theory much more real.

I already have Isopropyl alcohol, a syringe of NT-H2, and a thermal pad ready to go but I wanted to ask for a few opinions before beginning the work.

JackE · May 2022

The bottom of the heatpipe and thermal sink should look similar to the one in the youtube video. Correct replacements are less than $20usd. Google search the part no. 24.hgln7.002 for vendors who ship to your location.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/yi/ze9a8vkxupok.jpg

Sigfried · May 2022

JackE said:

The bottom of the heatpipe and thermal sink should look similar to the one in the youtube video. Correct replacements are less than $20usd. Google search the part no. 24.hgln7.002 for vendors who ship to your location.

Wouldn't a thermal pad chucked in between the pipe and the die be enough to do the trick? I'd prefer to go this way if possible, better to ask all the questions, you know?

JackE · May 2022

Better than nothing if you can bridge the airgap with a pad or paste. This appears to be a liquid- not air-cooled ductwork so an air gap won't work very well.

AnhEZ28 · May 2022

@Sigfried that bare die is a PCH die that mostly sits next to the actual CPU die. Intel low-power chips like U or G1-G7 series have both PCH and CPU dies to sit together. It is normal that the PCH chip does not have a heatsink even with the H series that has the PCH chip placed in another place so you can use a 0.5 or 1mm thermal pad to make it in contacts with the heatsink.

JackE · May 2022

If it was mine, I get the proper thermal module for less than $20usd as this does NOTseem to be an air-cooled module that depends on air flow.

Sigfried · May 2022

AnhEZ28 said:

@Sigfried that bare die is a PCH die that mostly sits next to the actual CPU die. Intel low-power chips like U or G1-G7 series have both PCH and CPU dies to sit together. It is normal that the PCH chip does not have a heatsink even with the H series that has the PCH chip placed in another place so you can use a 0.5 or 1mm thermal pad to make it in contacts with the heatsink.

@AnhEZ28 I'm happy Acer didn't attempt to engineer some kind of wireless cooling solution for laughs.

That doesn't change the fact that 70°c idle (Assisted by the cooling base) needs to be solved, I will try with the thermal pad in the next days and update with the results.

Thanks.

Sigfried · May 2022

AnhEZ28 said:

@Sigfried that bare die is a PCH die that mostly sits next to the actual CPU die. Intel low-power chips like U or G1-G7 series have both PCH and CPU dies to sit together. It is normal that the PCH chip does not have a heatsink even with the H series that has the PCH chip placed in another place so you can use a 0.5 or 1mm thermal pad to make it in contacts with the heatsink.

@AnhEZ28 I'm happy Acer didn't attempt to engineer some kind of wireless cooling solution for laughs.

That doesn't change the fact that 70°c idle needs to be solved, I will try with the thermal pad in the next few days.

Thanks.