Fan - The Quiet Roadster Edition

Hi folks,

Notes for the UDOO Staff

1. It would be really cool if you could add something similar to the shop as it would massively help people.
2. Version RC8 of the BIOS seems to have PWM support but this is not clearly documented. Is this going to be supported and documented? Is there any details on how this will work?

Warning: Let's start with the obvious here. Please follow this guide/post at your own risks. Don't blame me and/or UDOO or anyone else if something goes wrong. This guide includes instruction to disassemble your UDOO and you may void your warranty.

Safety notes:

• Take time to read the entire post before you consider going into this path.
• When you tighten the screws, leave them loose first to more easily adjust the components.
• Use a lead connected to the ground to avoid static discharges.
• Unplug the device before you attempt *anything*.
• Be aware than any metal parts falling on the motherboard may render the device unsuable.
• Always operate on a flat surface and that doesn't conduct electricity or static electricity.

Warning: Let's state the obvious here again. Please follow this guide/post at your own risks. Don't blame me and/or UDOO or anyone else if something goes wrong. This guide includes instructions to disassemble your UDOO and that may void your warranty.

Long story short, I've been a long time backer and supporter of UDOO I bought the first UDOO followed by the UDOOx86 and now a UDOO bolt v8. I like what UDOO does, but I was frustrated with the noisy fan situation when I first powered the device. What follows below is my attempt at helping this community.


Components (See references below):

• 1 Noctua 80mm fan either 5v or 12v (see note below), optionally with PWM.
• 1 CPU Cooler HB-802, 2 Heatpipes Radiator Aluminum Heatsink for motherboard and northbridge with 80mm fan support
  
• 12 to 20 washers. The inner hole should be larger than 2.51mm in diameter and the outer diameter of about 8.3mm.

Tools:

• 1 Philips screwdriver with a magnetic head
• 1 small pair of small pliers
• 1 Razor blade or anything that's sharp
• 1 ground lead
• CPU Thermal grease (optional but recommended)
• A bit of isopropyl alcohol
• 2 or 3 cotton buddy

Part I - Preamble
You may choose a 5v or 12v fan. The 5v version comes with a USB adapter making it very convenient to power. However, since the fan is fully powered, it will run at full speed. Choosing the 12v fan will require you to have 2 wires to power the fan from the udoo connector. As the fan will be under-powered, it will rotate more slowly than the 5v version. This will make the cooling less efficient but a lot quieter.

• 5v: Maximum cooling effect, noisier cooling solution
• 12v: Very quiet cooling solution, reduced cooling efficiency, requires 2 additional wires to power.

What about PWM?: I personally opted for the PWM version as I hope the BIOS will be able to drive the PWM via the corresponding pinout.


Part II - Disassembling
1 - Unplug your udoo entirely (power, HDMI, network cable, Wi-Fi/BT antennas), the power switch, any external SATA drives and the RAM.
2 - With the philips head screwdriver, unscrew the fan from the radiator.
3 - Then, with the pliers, unscrew the radiator for the board leaving the AMD Rizen CPU apparent
4 - Apply some alcohol on the cotton buddy and gently remove any grease stuck on the CPU

At this point, you should have a clean motherboard with a shinny CPU.

5 - From the radiator (not the fan) remove 2 of the 4 screws. You will need to popout the tiny circlips (the white thingy on the photo) that attach the screws to the radiator.



Part III - Pre-assembly
6 - With a sharp blade, slightly increase the inner square of the CPU protective pad to match the AMD Rizen CPU (see step 9). IMPORTANT: The inner rectangle must be large enough to not cover any part of the CPU, yet small enough to protect the small resistors around the CPU


7 - Assemble the Heatsink as shown on the manual provided. Make sure you use the arms with a hole at the end, not the hooked ones.

8 - On each screw, stack the washers so it amount to about 2.7 to 3mm. This is done to increase the contact/pressure between the heatsink and the CPU and maximize thermal exchange.

 

Part IV - Assembling
9 - Peal out the sticky pad and adjust it around the CPU. Make sure it does NOT cover the CPU as it will prevent the heatsink from touching the CPU correctly which will reduce the heatsink efficiency and may overheat/damage the CPU.


10 - Apply a thin layer to thermal grease on the CPU to cover it all. Don't over do it. The HB-802 already provide some grease and the quality is ok.
11 - Place the heatsink on top of the CPU. Adjust the arms so each hole is aligned with the hole on the motherboard. IMPORTANT: The heatsink is asymmetrical. Make sure you place it so you maximize the space between the heatsink and the RAM (Fan holding holes facing the RAM slots). Also, the CPU can topple easily on the motherboard, ask someone to maintain it in place.
12 - Add the spring to the screw and gently screw the arms to the motherboard. Do NOT tighten yet the screw otherwise there will be too much pressure on the 2nd arm. IMPORTANT: It is difficult to hold the screw with the washers and the spring. Be cautious to NOT drop anything of metal on the motherboard. The heatsink may topple too, so ask someone to hold in place for you if necessary.



13 - Adjust the heatsink positition so it's aligned with the CPU.
14 - Tighten the heatsink screws to the motherboard. IMPORTANT: These screws are designed so the screw length fits exactly the motherboard attachment underneath. Over-tightening the screws will damage the motherboard. Using your fingers should be more than enough force.


Part V - Fan
You now have a fan-less UDOO with a large heatsink. I initially though the heatsink would be enough to dissipate the heat. When the CPU is idle the temperature reported reach over 51C so I decided to add a fan to the solution.

Noctua provides 4 fan holder rubber pads. Though, they aren't a good fit, so use the ones provided with the heatsink instead.

15 - Place the 4 fan holder rubber pads onto the heatsink. The rubber pads should be facing the RAM slots.
16 - Place the fan by pulling each rubber pad. IMPORTANT: Make sure the fan will blow the air toward the heatsink.

17 - If you have the 5v, connect the fan to the USB adapter and plug it in a USB port.
18 - If you have opted for the 12v version, connect the black wire to the ground (GND) and the yellow one (next to the black one) to the +5v on the Udoo pinout header. See https://www.udoo.org/docs-bolt/Hardware_References/Pinout_Headers.html

19 - Place the 2 RAM modules back in place.

Finally, double check everything. Make sure nothing touches the motherboard, that the heatsink is correctly in place, that the power connection (USB or wires) are correctly connected and you haven't created any shorts.

20 - Place back the power switch and power the device. It should boot up.
21 - On linux, you can type: cat $(find /sys/ -name temp -type f | sort) | sed 's/\(.\)..$/.\1°C/'



Hardware references:
* Noctua NF-A8 5V PWM (~30USD): https://noctua.at/en/nf-a8-5v-pwm
* Noctua NF-A8 PWM 12v (~30USD) https://noctua.at/en/nf-a8-pwm
* HB-802 Heatsink (~12USD): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32831281221.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.5e584c4dE6FDwb or https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&SearchText=HB-802

 

Finally,

1. The top part of the metal case is no use. If you have 3D design skills, it would be nice if you could contribute to this. I was thinking of a U shaped plastic top that would sit on top and use the existing screw holes to stay correctly in place. It would be nice if someone from UDOO could publish the case 3D files for people to reuse/adapt.
   
   
2. I searched a bit on under-powering the 12v fan and it seems of no harm, could someone confirm this please?

 

Is this FAN also good for Udoo Bolt?
* 45(H) x100(W) x94(L)mm
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=619699261641

 

https://gd2.alicdn.com/imgextra/i2/135374428/O1CN01dlPciC1ia4XTzrhkz_!!135374428.jpg

 

Think it will overlap the memory modules, you need the base of the heatsink 60mm wide at most and 30mm height clearance before it can fit, though I could be wrong.
You can download the 3D design files from Resources - UDOO BOLT Docs and use FreeCAD for example and do measurements as I did and came up for these numbers.
You might need the Manipulator Workbench addon for FreeCAD to properly measure (but again might be wrong as it was some time ago that I used that).

 

@Aurelian , how’s your roadster set-up holding up? Does the PWM in BIOS work as planned? And after a few years of experience what’s your thoughts now on 5V vs underpowered 12V?

I’m thinking of doing something similarly over-the-top as you: https://www.udoo.org/forum/threads/help-replacement-cpu-cooler-and-a-wooden-cube-case.38462/

 

@hook The setup is doing really well. No noise (which was the main goal) but I haven't had any time to work on the PWM part. So far after all this time, no issue with undervolting.

I've also improved the designed by designing a case and hood as a way to circulate air around the nvme and the ram before passing it through the fan and the heatsink.

 

Oh and for clarity, that setup has been replicated on 2 additional Udoo bolt v8 (as a kubernetes cluster).

The graph below shows the 3 nodes. 2 nodes don't have yet the the newly designed case (the nvme is fully enclosed with no air circulation) vs 1 node already equipped.


Here's a 3D view of the overall design. The air intake happens at the bottom of the board, goes around the nvme, them around the memory before being fanned out by the fan through the heatsink.

 

@Aurelien , sweet! Super thanks for this. It looks amazing.