[g3r] wrote to us about a modification they made on the HP prodesk / elitedesk 400 G3 mini computer, which is used as a home simulation center. Once the CPU load increases, the minipc will overheat, resulting in frame drop and interruption, as well as CPU blocking. [g3r] remove the original coolant, throw away half, and modify the remaining half to accept the tower CPU cooler.
This modification is intrusive in all the right ways. [g3r] shows how to remove the heat sink of the current radiator and smooth it with… Welder? We guess that the heat sink is welded on the base of the heat sink. In this case, the heat gun should also work. After that, you should cut a hole in the upper shell, then reconnect the fan connection, and create a custom bracket to connect the tower fan – [g3r] explains how to do this and what to pay attention to.
The results are fascinating. After mod, the idle speed and under load temperature are reduced by 50%! The idle temperature drops from 50 ° C to 25 ° C and the load temperature drops from 79 ° C to 40 ° C – of course, the throttling effect is much smaller. This not only allows [g3r] to enjoy the breath of nature without burping, but also improves the overall service life of the Mini PC, although the intervention is mechanically demanding.
To be exact, making our devices cooler is an ancient tradition of hackers. Just a few weeks ago, we introduced a simple 3D printing LGA 1700 CPU bracket, which can provide you with some very ideal thermal contact. Sometimes we encounter the failure of proprietary and strange cooling fans, and then we understand how they work and make a substitute. Moreover, even if your GPU should not have a fan, you can add one!
