Thermal Compound Questions

donjlegacy · 12-09-2008, 07:09 PM

Hi I have reason to believe that the reason my video card has been overheating has to do with a need to reapply thermal compound. I have had the computer apart already and cleaned a massive amount of dust (resembled the stuff you get clumped on the filters in dryers). What I need to know is what products I need to purchase for this job (the name of the compound and any other products used such as something to remove old compound). I'm considering going with Arctic Silver brand... Also if you could direct me to a tutorial of how to do this job that would be great too. My laptop is a Dell XPS M1710. I am past warranty.

Thanks in advance to any and all feedback I recieve on this issue.

Tumbleweed36 · 12-09-2008, 07:25 PM

Applying Artic Silver Thermal Paste – Pictures and Instructions

**magnethead** · 12-09-2008, 08:46 PM

be aware that working inside a laptop is much more tedious than a desktop.

**grimx133** · 12-10-2008, 01:59 AM

You're lucky, in a way, that it's a Dell. They have very nice service manuals, try finding one for an Acer someday, those are top secret or somesuch. I don't know if you can put new paste on the video card, it is a one piece unit they call the Video Card/Thermal-Cooling Assembly. Comes out attached, to replace the card, you need to replace the heatpipe and all else. You can do the cpu paste quite easily, and when I did that on my Inspiron 9400 I also got rid of the thermal pad a pasted the northbridge, it's at the end of that heatpipe. When you get in there, you'll probably have some nice thick dust blankets over the fan exhausts, between that and doing the paste it will cool things considerably.

Keep track of your screws. My service manual had a couple pages for doing so, didn't see it in yours. There are a whack of them, very easy to lose or mix them up.

Anyway, here's the manual you need.
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...n/SM/index.htm

donjlegacy · 12-10-2008, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36

Applying Artic Silver Thermal Paste – Pictures and Instructions

This would be perfect but the link is dead...

donjlegacy · 12-10-2008, 12:59 PM

One more question guys, how do I tell if I actually NEED to reapply thermal compound?

**grimx133** · 12-10-2008, 02:42 PM

You always need thermal compound. Anytime the heatsink is disturbed, the old must be cleaned off and new reapplied. The stock junk that is on there is a thermal pad. Not as efficient as paste. Cleaning the dust and repasting will make a large difference in your temps, also make sure the bottom vents of your laptop are clear, ie: don't use it on a bed or anything cloth as that cuts airflow. Even go as far as to raise the back edge so that the two corner exhausts are up in the air a touch. Because of their size, laptops have everything crammed in and will overheat when that is restricted.
Try this link for arctic silver instructions.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Tumbleweed36 · 12-10-2008, 07:58 PM

Hey man, just got home and saw the bad link I gave you. My bad, didn't know that one was not working now, but did see it work a couple of days ago. Can't win them all. Thanks grimx133 for providing the link.

12-09-2008, 07:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
donjlegacy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 12 OS: Vista 32 SP1	Thermal Compound Questions Hi I have reason to believe that the reason my video card has been overheating has to do with a need to reapply thermal compound. I have had the computer apart already and cleaned a massive amount of dust (resembled the stuff you get clumped on the filters in dryers). What I need to know is what products I need to purchase for this job (the name of the compound and any other products used such as something to remove old compound). I'm considering going with Arctic Silver brand... Also if you could direct me to a tutorial of how to do this job that would be great too. My laptop is a Dell XPS M1710. I am past warranty. Thanks in advance to any and all feedback I recieve on this issue.

12-09-2008, 07:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,715 OS: XP Professional	Re: Thermal Compound Questions Applying Artic Silver Thermal Paste – Pictures and Instructions __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

12-09-2008, 08:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Thermal Compound Questions be aware that working inside a laptop is much more tedious than a desktop. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System

12-10-2008, 01:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,173 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: Thermal Compound Questions You're lucky, in a way, that it's a Dell. They have very nice service manuals, try finding one for an Acer someday, those are top secret or somesuch. I don't know if you can put new paste on the video card, it is a one piece unit they call the Video Card/Thermal-Cooling Assembly. Comes out attached, to replace the card, you need to replace the heatpipe and all else. You can do the cpu paste quite easily, and when I did that on my Inspiron 9400 I also got rid of the thermal pad a pasted the northbridge, it's at the end of that heatpipe. When you get in there, you'll probably have some nice thick dust blankets over the fan exhausts, between that and doing the paste it will cool things considerably. Keep track of your screws. My service manual had a couple pages for doing so, didn't see it in yours. There are a whack of them, very easy to lose or mix them up. Anyway, here's the manual you need. http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...n/SM/index.htm __________________

12-10-2008, 12:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
donjlegacy Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 12 OS: Vista 32 SP1	Re: Thermal Compound Questions One more question guys, how do I tell if I actually NEED to reapply thermal compound?

12-10-2008, 02:42 PM	#7 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,173 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: Thermal Compound Questions You always need thermal compound. Anytime the heatsink is disturbed, the old must be cleaned off and new reapplied. The stock junk that is on there is a thermal pad. Not as efficient as paste. Cleaning the dust and repasting will make a large difference in your temps, also make sure the bottom vents of your laptop are clear, ie: don't use it on a bed or anything cloth as that cuts airflow. Even go as far as to raise the back edge so that the two corner exhausts are up in the air a touch. Because of their size, laptops have everything crammed in and will overheat when that is restricted. Try this link for arctic silver instructions. http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm __________________

12-10-2008, 07:58 PM	#8 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,715 OS: XP Professional	Re: Thermal Compound Questions Hey man, just got home and saw the bad link I gave you. My bad, didn't know that one was not working now, but did see it work a couple of days ago. Can't win them all. Thanks grimx133 for providing the link. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.