One up laptop thermal/heatsink pads?

ONE UP
1

I just received my One Up laptop (without CM5 module) and the wiki install instructions call for thermal pads on the cM5, but none are included :cry:.

What type of heat sink pads can I use and where can I source them?

2

Hi there! You can find them on Amazon or any other Raspberry Pi website that sells accessories. Usually, they are sold as sheets and you can cut them to fit anything the way you want.

3

What thickness? I see 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mmā€¦ Iā€™d guess 0.5 or 1 mm is right, but are there official specs?

4

1mm works on the CM5 CPU - see the wiki under thermal pads.

My preference (seems to save me about 10C) is a 1mm copper shim with the lightest smear of Arctic Silver each side, for example these on fleabay.

5

I ended up getting a thermal pad from arctic cooling. My cpu is peeking at 58-59 degrees when encoding h265 video so Iā€™m happy with that solution.

Arctic TP-3 (100x100mm, 1mm)

1 Like
6

I agree with the disappointment that these were not included. There is not a need for them if you donā€™t have a case that can use them (including one that looks like a laptop!) so I have come to expect whatever case I am getting to include thermal pads appropriate for the case.

1 Like
7

And what would be the optimal thickness for the other chips? (RP1, Power IC, maybe also RAM)

The wikiā€™s ā€œ5 Apply thermal padsā€ sub-section only mentions the thickness for the CPU and the typical NVMe. It doesnā€™t mention any thickness for RP1 chip and Power Management IC, and a quick visual inspection seems to show they stand a bit deeper.

Would it be better to go for something thinner given that a copper shim is rigid and less deformable than a thermal pad? Or is 1mm just about right anyway?

Thanks for any experience.

8

The 1mm seems perfect: my thin smear of Arctic silver each side of it does seem to get ā€œspreadā€ even further after the THRML Cover is reinstalled (and when I take things apart later!)

Note the CM5 mounting on the One-UP motherboard is not directly supported underneath, so if your pad is too thick (e.g. you use a 2mm thermal pad) you are deforming the mobo.

I have no opinion on suitable thicknesses for any of the other chips: my NVMe also runs about 30 C and I hope the other chips are OK - I havenā€™t noticed any instability or other issues.

1 Like
9

Found an additional source of measurement on reddit:

1 Like