VIM2+Tone temperature

Hello!

I put together VIM2, heatsink and Toneboard in DIY-case and run 2 hour FullHD movie on it using latest CoreELEC.
After 1 hours of playback CPU temp reached 75C (ambient temp was about 22C).
After 2 hours I stopped playback and let it cool down for 1 hour. Temp was 71C
As I understand - it is too hot. My minix u9h (same S912 as VIM2) maximum temp is 51C.

I tried to reapply thermal pad but without luck.
Is there any way to lower temperature without installing fan?

Hi, how you detect the temperature of S912 CPU?

And can you take a picture on your VIM2 device and upload to us?

Thanks!

CoreELEC - Settings - System Information

It’s software way to read the cpu temp, might not correctly, which version CoreELEC ROM you installed? We can installed here and test then update you.

Have fun!

CoreELEC-S912.arm-8.95.6-KVIM2.img

Case itself also very hot

OK, @tsangyoujun will confirm and follow up.

Good day!

Hi Raice,

Which model of VIM2 are you using?
How did you play the FullHD movie?

I’m using a VIM2 Pro with heatsink, but no fan, with https://github.com/CoreELEC/CoreELEC/releases/download/8.95.6/CoreELEC-S912.arm-8.95.6-KVIM2.img.gz

I am attempting to reproduce your result on our end. Do note that our ambient temperature is about 23 Degrees Celsius over here, as its winter time now.

Same as yours. I assume that you are in Guangdong province. Me too ))

I’m getting about 52 degrees Celsius, at idle, with CoreELEC.

How did you play the video? So far I’ve been unable to get CoreELEC to read videos off a TF Card or USB stick.

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I have also Toneboard installed on top of VIM2. All my videos are stored on NAS. CoreELEC is definitely able to play from usb, you just need to go to Videos and configure source. Later i will send some pictures, I’m not at home right now

  1. Uploaded 1080P .mp4 videos into CoreELEC via samba file sharing.
  2. Looped those videos for about an hour++.
  3. I used an older version of CoreELEC: https://github.com/CoreELEC/CoreELEC/releases/download/8.95.0/CoreELEC-KVIM2.arm-8.95.0.img.gz

Results:

  1. System Uptime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
  2. CPU Internal Temperature: 59C
  3. Heatsink Temperature: 47C

Notes:

  1. I found the latest version of CoreELEC to be slightly laggy, strange behaviour, so decided to go back to 8.95.0.
  2. Ambient temperature is 23C

Thoughts:

  1. Did you try an older version of CoreELEC?
  2. I will add a ToneBoard on top of my VIM2 and Heatsink (It’s possible the disruption in convection may reduce the efficacy of passive cooling)

  1. Restarted VIM2 SBC, to reset the uptime counter.
  2. Mounted a Tone Board to the top of the VIM2.
  3. Looped a 1080P video for 1 hour.

Results:

  1. System Uptime: 1 Hour
  2. CPU Internal Temperature: 73.8C
  3. Toneboard Surface Temperature: 57.2C

Notes:

  1. 73.8C is still within spec of the SoC, which puts max temperature at 105C.
  2. Temperature increase is most likely caused by the disruption of convective airflow above the heatsink, as the Toneboard is mounted above the heatsink.

Solutions:

  1. Most obvious would be to add forced-air-flow, rather than relying on passive convection, to carry heat away from the SoC.
  2. Another solution would be to break-out the plastic plate on the bottom of your DIY Case, and install a thermal-pad to thermally-couple the SBC with the metal plate at the bottom of the case. Then the case itself should ideally be placed on a thermally conductive surface, or surface with sufficient mass to absorb the heat.
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