Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

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bneijt
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 10:00 am

Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by bneijt »

Dear Fitlet support,

I have bought a Fitlet XA-10 and read up on it running hot, but I never gave it much thought till I tried to work with it.

I have set the BIOS APU TDP to 1mW, turned off boost, set the power profile to battery and seen that it never goes above 1Ghz. However, my fitlet is still running at 73 degrees Celsius which is above the operating temperature of my Kingston SSDNow MS200 mSATA card.

Is there any way of using a Fitlet box without having to buy expensive high-temperature range SSDs?

hassellbear
Posts: 106
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 12:25 pm

Re: Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by hassellbear »

Hello benijt,

You might try the following simple modifications. They have worked well for me.

1. Add a thin layer of Heat Sink Compund/Grease to the top of the internal heat sink/spreader. This improves the thermal coupling between the spreader and the case's top cover. The addition of the compound lowered the CPU temperature of my Fitlet by several degrees C for similar operating conditions.
Inside Fitlet.png
Inside Fitlet.png (221.1 KiB) Viewed 11929 times
Disassembly/reassembly was quite simple.

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRri5GT6Wro



2. Add rubber feet to Fitlet's bottom cover. This lifts Fitlet's bottom cover above the surface of the desk and provides for a bit of airflow across the bottom. This also helps with dissipation.
Fitlet Step 1.gif
Fitlet Step 1.gif (254 KiB) Viewed 11929 times
As a test of the modifications listed above, I have been rendering a complex fractal image for approximately 1 hour - until I was sure thermal equillibrium was reached. I am running the Mandelbulber package which continuously loads all 4 cores to 100%. For a TDP of 4500 mW, a Frequency Governor setting of "On Demand", and a 24 Deg. C. ambient temperature, I haven't seen the SSD temperature exceed 62 Deg. C. Although this is quite warm, it is below the consumer SSD high temperature rating of 70 Deg. C.
FitletTemps.png
FitletTemps.png (50.81 KiB) Viewed 11929 times


Best regards and good luck,

Hassellbear

bneijt
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 10:00 am

Re: Fitlet getting hot, destroying my SSD

Post by bneijt »

Thermal paste might be a nice idea, but you have a A4 instead of an A10, which has a lower clock speed and probably a lower temperature all together.

If I try the thermal paste and it does not work, there is no way of sending it back anymore and I'm still not convinced it will solve the problem because we have different CPUs. Has somebody with an A10 tried this same set-up?

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-A4-Micro-64 ... icro-6700T

irads

Re: Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by irads »

The most effective solution for reducing mSATA temperature is enabling aggressive link power management (ALPM).

See http://www.fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php/Fi ... .28ALPM.29

The reason is that mSATA temperature is mostly affected by heat generated in the mSATA itself and not heat induced by other system components.

Therefore, reducing CPU power or improving CPU thermal coupling to the housing would have limited effect.

BTW, you can return fitlet for a refund if it does not work to your expectations.

Arwen
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:43 pm

Re: Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by Arwen »

Another thing that might help with heat disapation, is putting the VESA mounting plate
on the bottom, and the rubber feet below that. More mass, has more place to put and
disapate heat.

Ideally the vendor would sell an optional cover with higher heat disapating rating. Like
larger fins, somewhat like the difference in fit-PC4 low power verses the high power.
The higher power units have large fins on the top of the chassis. Or even better, an
even higher end cover with built in USB fan.

Even though I trust Compulab's warranty, I ended up buying a cheap USB fan for my
fitlet-iA10. Some of my tasks, (for example, Gentoo Linux updates), hit the processors
hard, and the case gets quite hot.
Last edited by Arwen on Wed Jun 10, 2015 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Arwen Evenstar
Rivendale, Middle Earth

hassellbear
Posts: 106
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 12:25 pm

Re: Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by hassellbear »

Oops. I forgot to mention that the label for my unit has a typo. It lists the processor as being an A4 Micro - 6700T - which to my knowledge doesn't exist.

Actually, my Fitlet is an iA10 variant and has the higher performing A10 Micro - 6700T.
MyCPUInfo.png
MyCPUInfo.png (59.97 KiB) Viewed 11888 times
Also, I neglected to mention in my previous post that I am running ALPM for the SSD as Irad has suggested. The SSD temperature shown in my post above is for ALPM running. ALPM definitely did lower SSD temperature.

In summation, for my Fitlet, adding thermal grease lowered the CPU temperature and running ALPM lowered the SSD temperature. The end result is overall improved thermal performance.

bneijt
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 10:00 am

Re: Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by bneijt »

Thank you all for your quick responses and help!

irads

Re: Fitlet getting hot, exceeding SSD temperature rating

Post by irads »

Arwen, thanks for the feedback. Note taken. Stay tuned...

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