Yet another thread regarding Case options for the VIM4

VIM4
1

Please describe your issue below:

Hello there,

We bought the VIM4 about a year ago and have been using it quite frequently. The board itself is great, but updates are infrequent and Linux support is still lacking but that’s to be expected from a completely new SBC and not our issue today.

We have already tried lots of other SBC’s but the VIM4 seems to be the optimal choice for our use case.

Our issue is that there’s still no official case which allows the official fan to be installed as well. The community tried to remedy this issue by creating own 3D printed options but all of those are mediocre at best. Also there’s a great case made by KKSB, which is great for some applications which don’t require as much power. Unfortunately it’s no help to us, we tried it and the temperatures are just not acceptable.

Then there’s the Edge 2, which lauched with a case out of the box.

Which is why we would like a answer on whether or not we are going to get a official case with fan support.

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Agreed! I picked up the KKSB case and it’s slick but as you mentioned temps get a little too high without heatsink/fan. And I don’t like, nor have access to, 3d printers to try some of the random cases I’ve seen since launch.

Give us a case that can work with heatsink/fan and take our money already haha

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+1 for me. A case very similar to the Edge 2 one would be great !

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We make cases for our own products out of aluminum barstock. Just design what you want and have it made.

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I made a video about this. I replaced the thermal pad with copper shims and it is not overheating anymore.
I’ve been in contact with them and they told me they’d make a revision where the contact surface of the case comes a little closer to the soc so a thinner and better thermal pad can be used. They told me they’d send it to me when ready.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nha2-4nTtp0

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If you do not like thermal paste then use ultra thin thermal pads and a 2mm by 15x15 copper shim. I bet that would be good enough for the VIM4 KKSB case.

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Thanks for the response. It’s great advice but we can’t run a business based on guesses. We might go that route, but honestly with the amount of effort required to get a VIM4 running for our use case we might go for other options. Since we need lots of more SBC’s.

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So is there a reason why nobody from Khadas is answering?

I mean they are clearly online and active answering other questions.
@numbqq Sorry for pinging if you are not but you appear to be responsible for the VIM4 Forum.

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+1 yes, take the money.

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Hello @Th0mas @juelzgarv @PaulZH

Sorry for the late reply, the case for VIM4 is still under development, we will update you if we have improgress.

Thanks.

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Hello,

thanks for the response. We are waiting eagerly to get our hands on the case.

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Just a little extra info…Did what NicoD suggested, thermal paste on cpu > 1.5mm copper heatsink > thermal paste > 1.0mm copper heatsink > thermal paste (to hit the block on the case). Initially did two 1.5mm copper heatsinks but that was just a little too much…will update/confirm my results here in a bit (Doing a fresh install just to be safe).

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Looks good! With the 1.5mm + 1.0mm copper heatsink I’m getting the following:

stress-ng --matrix 0 --matrix-size 64 --tz  -t 360
stress-ng: info:  [3658] setting to a 360 second (6 mins, 0.00 secs) run per stressor
stress-ng: info:  [3658] dispatching hogs: 8 matrix
stress-ng: info:  [3658] successful run completed in 360.26s (6 mins, 0.26 secs)
stress-ng: info:  [3658] matrix:
stress-ng: info:  [3658]          a53_thermal   58.02 C (331.17 K)
stress-ng: info:  [3658]          gpu_thermal   57.78 C (330.93 K)
stress-ng: info:  [3658]         hevc_thermal   57.87 C (331.02 K)
stress-ng: info:  [3658]          nna_thermal   57.81 C (330.96 K)
stress-ng: info:  [3658]          soc_thermal   58.20 C (331.35 K)
stress-ng: info:  [3658]          vpu_thermal   58.24 C (331.39 K)

For reference, these were my results from the heatsink/fan and no case:

stress-ng --matrix 0 --matrix-size 64 --tz  -t 360
stress-ng: info:  [4350] setting to a 360 second (6 mins, 0.00 secs) run per stressor
stress-ng: info:  [4350] dispatching hogs: 8 matrix
stress-ng: info:  [4350] successful run completed in 360.00s (6 mins, 0.00 secs)
stress-ng: info:  [4350] matrix:
stress-ng: info:  [4350]          a53_thermal   54.39 C (327.54 K)
stress-ng: info:  [4350]          gpu_thermal   53.09 C (326.24 K)
stress-ng: info:  [4350]         hevc_thermal   51.86 C (325.01 K)
stress-ng: info:  [4350]          nna_thermal   51.62 C (324.77 K)
stress-ng: info:  [4350]          soc_thermal   53.28 C (326.43 K)
stress-ng: info:  [4350]          vpu_thermal   52.85 C (326.00 K)

Case still got a little warmer that I would like, but it’s obviously handling the thermals better.

Still…Want a case that I can use the heatsink/fan with, I don’t mind the noise!

Also, this is the heatsink kit that I got (I don’t get anything if you buy it): Amazon.com

And used Noctua thermal paste: Amazon.com

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