CPU Deskmini VRM specs and thermal pad thickness

Maxkmk

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Mar 17, 2023
14
5
Hi, can anyone tell me how thick the VRM thermal pad of the Asrock Deskmini X300 is?
Also can someone tell me the specs of the VRM on the deskmini X300, I was not able to find anything specific regarding the VRM on the Deskmini X300.
 

HydrAxx747

Average Stuffer
Feb 23, 2021
70
87
Hi, I replaced the thermal pad (which is a solid pad with low thermal transfer, I would say about 3W/m.k at most) having made measurements beforehand and I obtained a measurement of about 1.5mm thick, so I replaced the original thermal pad with a thermal pad cut to the same size from Thermalright Valor Odin which has a heat transfer capacity of 15W/m.k, which is significantly more important but I use still the original VRM heatsink so the gains are not crazy either, according to the probe plated on the VRM heatsink the temperature would have dropped by about 10°C, after that I now use an IDCooling IS-50X(v2) which allows a large airflow to be blown on the VRM heatsink, which in my opinion helps a lot in this 10°C drop.

Regarding the specifications of the VRMs, all I can tell you for sure (but sorry I no longer have the links reporting all the information, but it should be possible to find it by searching carefully via Google) is that it There are 5 VRM phases of 50A and these phases are configured in 4+1, i.e. 4 phases dedicated to the CPU cores and 1 phase dedicated to the APU's InfinityFabric therefore dedicated to the iGPU part, memory controller, PCIexpress lines, the management of SATAs and USBs, etc. Sorry for not being able to tell you more, but hope this helps.
 
Last edited:

Maxkmk

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Mar 17, 2023
14
5
I ordered myself an Alphacool Apex 18W/mk for my VRM.


Now I am thinking about getting a VRM Fan since the X300 seems to have 2 headers, for the best possible VRM cooling.
 
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Maxkmk

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Mar 17, 2023
14
5
Hi, my 1,5mm thermalpad arrived today. And Asrock officiall support wrote to me "The size of the pad is 67 x 6 x 1 mm". Do I need to order a 1 mm pad now? How big do you think the difference will be?
 

HydrAxx747

Average Stuffer
Feb 23, 2021
70
87
Hi, my 1,5mm thermalpad arrived today. And Asrock officiall support wrote to me "The size of the pad is 67 x 6 x 1 mm". Do I need to order a 1 mm pad now? How big do you think the difference will be?
As I said in my previous post, the original ASRock pad is a plastic/solid type pad (with flexibility anyway) while the pad you ordered (Alphacool Apex 18W/mk) is not not of this type and is like traditional thermal pads so with much more flexibility and as I also told you I use a piece of Thermalright Valor Odin 1.5mm thick thermal pad cut to the size you indicated earlier and I do not encountered no contact problems (or forcing when replacing the VRM heatsink) so no you don't need to order a 1mm version, the one you have will do the job perfectly.
 
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Maxkmk

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Mar 17, 2023
14
5
Thank you for the answer 😀. Now I can use the 1,5mm pad without worring. After Asrock wrote me about the 1mm thickness i was a little unsure that the 1,5mm one could have worse thermal results than a 1mm one. I knew that it would still be better than stock, I just wanted to be sure to get the best possible results after buying a pad which costs 30% of the price of the deskmini.
 
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Maxkmk

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Mar 17, 2023
14
5
Its me again, sorry for disturbing you again. I read on some places that than thinner the Thermalinterface is than better the thermal performance will be. I got it that I can use the 1,5 mm pad and it will do the job better than the stock one. Though could the results be even better with the same pad in 1 mm thickness. Sorry for bothering again with the question I just want to be very sure, since at the moment I could still switch the 1,5mm pad for the 1mm pad, and i got a little worried after reading that the thickness can affect thermal performance.
 

HydrAxx747

Average Stuffer
Feb 23, 2021
70
87
Its me again, sorry for disturbing you again. I read on some places that than thinner the Thermalinterface is than better the thermal performance will be. I got it that I can use the 1,5 mm pad and it will do the job better than the stock one. Though could the results be even better with the same pad in 1 mm thickness. Sorry for bothering again with the question I just want to be very sure, since at the moment I could still switch the 1,5mm pad for the 1mm pad, and i got a little worried after reading that the thickness can affect thermal performance.
No, don't worry with 1.5mm as I told you the original ASRock one is much stiffer than traditional thermal pads (like the model I have and the one you ordered) so the comparison n is not valid in this specific case and I know at least 2 other people who have used 1.5mm like me and have no problems and have on the contrary recorded good gains, after a good ventilation of the heatsink VRM helps a lot too , but of course you should not expect a drop of 30°C or more, since you are using the original VRM heatsink like me, the only case where I saw a very significant gain (30~40 °C less) it was someone who had a water-cooled heatsink custom machined to replace the original heatsink.