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    Alienware M14x Re-paste question

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by vicky6672, Apr 5, 2013.

  1. vicky6672

    vicky6672 Notebook Guru

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    Guys I woukd like to Repaste my laptop. But I am not sure about two things.

    1. Which paste to use?

    2. How much to apply on the CPU and GPU.?

    Can anyone help me out plz.....!!!
     
    vicky6672, Apr 5, 2013
    #1
  2. failwheeldrive

    failwheeldrive Notebook Deity

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    Any of the popular brands are fine: Arctic Silver 5, Arctic MX-2, IC Diamond, Antec Formula 7, Prolimatech PK2, etc. Here are a few thermal compound roundups that'll give you an idea of how the different brands perform
    Thermal Compound Review Roundup - techPowerUp! Forums
    Thermal Compound Roundup - January 2012 | Hardware Secrets
    Geek Tested: 17 Thermal Pastes Face Off | Maximum PC
    You don't want to apply too much or too little. For the CPU, apply a thin line down the processor die. For the GPU, apply a dot in the middle of the die. You should use enough so that a thin even layer covers the entire die once the heatsink is screwed down, but you don't want the TIM to spread out past the die, especially if you're using a conductive compound like Arctic Silver 5. Make sure you apply the heatsinks with even pressure, tightening each screw little by little. The screws should be labeled 1 through 4, so be sure to tighten them in the correct order.
     
    failwheeldrive, Apr 5, 2013
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  3. vicky6672

    vicky6672 Notebook Guru

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    Thanx bro...!!!
     
    vicky6672, Apr 5, 2013
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  4. vicky6672

    vicky6672 Notebook Guru

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    vicky6672, Apr 6, 2013
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  5. funkmasterta

    funkmasterta Notebook Evangelist

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    What type of paste does Alienware use? I can't believe they would be using cheap stuff since we pay so much for our laptops and repasting is such a PITA to do.
     
    funkmasterta, Apr 8, 2013
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  6. failwheeldrive

    failwheeldrive Notebook Deity

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    From my experience, they use high quality paste compared to other OEMs. Unless they use a different TIM on the M14x than they do on the M17x and M18x, it should work just as well on the M14x.

    Some do report getting temp improvements with other pastes, though they tend to not be as durable. Another thing to consider, Dell's TIM can break down over time as well, leading to higher temps.
     
    failwheeldrive, Apr 9, 2013
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  7. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

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    I just repasted mine with Dell's paste, I'm getting 67-69 max on CPU and 64 max on GPU under heavy load which is not bad at all for a place where the ambient temperature is 28.0 C.
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Apr 10, 2013
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  8. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    I dont know if its actually cheap stuff or not, but I can say in my case it was applied so think it overflowed past the cpu heat shield and left thick rolls of overflow that probably just built up heat. I have re-pasted my r1 and r2 and got a 20 degree drop in peak temps both times. If you are comfortable doing it, DO IT. DO IT NOW!
     
    shnarf, Apr 10, 2013
    #8