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December 14th, 2022 13:00
m15 R7, 12900H with RTX 3080, come with Element 31 thermal paste?
Alienware m15 R7
Hello all!
I just picked up the m15 R7 yesterday, and am loving it so far. Fresh installed Win 10 Pro on a new 2TB Samsung 980 Pro, upgraded the ram to Crucial 64GB and so far everything is flawless.
Anyways, while I had the laptop open, I was curious as to whether my model comes with Element 31 thermal paste? I know the advertisement on the main website mentions only 3070ti ad 3080ti came with it. However, this may be outdated as the 3080 wasn't an option back then. Another article I read somewhere said the 3070ti and higher models had the Element 31. But, again, that article is possibly outdated and the 3080 was not available at the time.
How can I confirm that this laptop has or does not have Element 31, aside from tearing it down? I chatted with Tech support and they just said in a way "It appears that you do not have it because it's only on the 3070ti and 3080 ti".
Is there a way to check the build sheet, if someone knows the code, etc to see if I have the code for it? I'm deciding if a re-paste is something I should do in the future.
Streetmagus
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December 14th, 2022 19:00
Update: I received a message from Dell tech stating "I have checked the details, there is element31 thermal paste used for your computer according to our records."
Hope this helps others in the future.
crimsom
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December 14th, 2022 17:00
Hi @Streetmagus welcome to this free user-to-user Alienware laptop discussion forum.
For configurations that include NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti or RTX™ 3080 Ti graphics, the exclusive Element 31 gallium-silicone thermal interface material allows you to game faster for longer periods of time by pulling heat away from the processor. See Alienware m15 R7 : Gaming Laptop Computers | Dell USA.
If under Dell warranty, please click on @DELL-Cares and send Private Message to request if your specific discrete GPU build specification has Element 31 thermal interface material which should not require re‑paste.
Re‑paste seemingly voids your Dell warranty, see how to repaste and remove element 31 : Alienware (reddit.com)
Streetmagus
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December 14th, 2022 18:00
Yes, I'm unsure if it has it or not due to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g29KrL78h10
At time 6:30 they mention for 3070ti and above. 3080 would be considered above...however, this video seems rather old and so I'm not sure if 3080 existed in the lineup at the time of the video. I'll contact and see what they say.
Also, the discrete GPU webpage you mentioned has the wrong information on the 3080 as well. It's listing the 3080 with 16GB ram, but that is not correct. Mine has 8GB (as show on the configuration before you buy) and verified when I check my display properties.
Dell just has so much mis-information everywhere that it's hard to know what we get.
crimsom
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December 14th, 2022 21:00
Hi @Streetmagus thank you for sharing update.
Did Dell Technical Support say how users can tell, or do users have to keep asking Dell?
Alienware m15 R7, Service Manual, Removing the system board includes caution about removing Element 31 thermal grease from the processor (CPU) chip, but did not find similar caution about removing Element 31 thermal grease from the GPU chip.
Evidently Dell provides technical sheet bundled with their service kit. But how do users get the CPU & GPU system board's Element 31 service kit, especially when first year basic Dell warranty expired?
There is also the similar misleading information: -
NOTE When removing this component, please refer to the techsheet bundled with the service kit. This is only applicable for computers with the following Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) configurations that have Element 31 grease is applied to the CPU.
Dell should update their documentation. @DELL-Cares
Streetmagus
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December 14th, 2022 22:00
@crimsom Nope, after stating the above, they followed up with this reply "I did try to check if there are any open sources for me to share the link, however, there is none available for us to send it to you to validate the same."
I guess they can't even share the documentation/records to show me that my system has it. I'm assuming all 3080 units will have it. If it is just the CPU, the 12900H runs hotter than 12700 supposedly, so it would not make sense to not apply it to 12900H units with 3080.