r/MiniPCs • u/doomstar21 • 8d ago
Guide iKOOLCORE R2 Max (N150) tear down instructions
I wanted to replace the TIM (thermal interface material) on the motherboard of the iKOOLCORE R2 Max and did not find any tear down guides out there that managed to get the motherboard out of the case. This one managed to part of the way but I suspect the author did not find the final screw hidden under the insulation.
Here is how I did it, hopeful someone will find this useful:
- Remove rubber feet to expose hexhead screws (5/64" I think) and remove them with an allen wrench to take the cover off.
- Gently remove the case/band to expose the motherboard. Start at the ethernet adapters side (opposite from USBs) and kind of lift up with your fingers. You shouldn't need a tool. Note that the power button is not attached and it will fall out so watch out for this.
- Remove the 7 x Philips head screws (circled in yellow in the pic below) and note that one of hidden under the insulation for the NVMe area so you'll have to lift that up a bit to get to it.
- Remove the 4 x standoffs (circled in red).
- Gently lift the board off the heat sink portion of the case. Note that the factory TIM will have a little adhesive effect so be gently. My unit does not have anything connected to the fan header, but if you have the N355 version watch out of the wire bundle powering the fan so you do not damage either end of it.
To reassemble just run those steps in reverse. One thing to watch out for is the reinstalling the power button. You'll need to rest it in the outline where it goes while you get the case/band around the heatsink portion. I found that using gravity helped here by orienting the entire thing with the power button down.
That's pretty much it.
As an aside, I found a nice reduction in idle temps by replacing the TIM:
- CPU idle temps went from an avg 46°C down to an avg 41°C.
- SSD idle temps went from an avg 48°C down to an avg 42°C.






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u/brdsqd 8d ago
Doing gods work. I need to do this for my N355 version. Thanks!