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    TIM on a laptop

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by Jetbo, Apr 28, 2011.

  1. Jetbo

    Jetbo Notebook Consultant

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    I have seen two schools of thought for Thermal Paste Spread vs Pea size amount. Now for desktop with heavy heatsink pea makes sense but artic silver says to do Spread for mobile cpu. So for the m14x what do you guys say Spread or Pea. Also if anyone has done it already that would be awesome to see pics of stock paste. I will be doing it on monday if not.
     
    Jetbo, Apr 28, 2011
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  2. humjaba

    humjaba Notebook Consultant

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    I would go with what the manufacturer recommends - pea sized dab in the middle, spread it out using a credit card. When you just dab it on there and use clamping pressure to spread it out, the best you can end up with is a circle. That leaves the corners of the processor with no paste, which is obviously bad.
     
    humjaba, Apr 28, 2011
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  3. Killer Juice

    Killer Juice Notebook Consultant

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    I have never worked with thermal paste and laptops, but that's what I have always done on desktops. I use isopropanol and Q-tips to remove the old thermal paste. Then I apply a small amount (pea sized) amount of thermal paste on the center of the processor/GPU. Finally, I spread it for a few minutes using a business card to make sure there is an even coat.
     
    Killer Juice, Apr 28, 2011
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  4. Jetbo

    Jetbo Notebook Consultant

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    Alright guys thanks I got some Mx-4 in the mail today for 8 bucks including shipping off ebay, I hope it makes a difference. I am especially concerned about the heat sink spread method because of the sb core shape.
     
    Jetbo, Apr 28, 2011
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  5. iNTERNETUAL

    iNTERNETUAL Notebook Enthusiast

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    Arctic Silver? Is that what you guys will be using?

    Is there that much of a difference in using other than what it was manufactured with?
     
    iNTERNETUAL, Apr 28, 2011
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  6. Jetbo

    Jetbo Notebook Consultant

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    Nope I am using Artic MX-4
     
    Jetbo, Apr 28, 2011
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  7. Nand@

    Nand@ Notebook Consultant

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    Nand@, May 1, 2011
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  8. txpro

    txpro Notebook Guru

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    I used arctic silver 5 in mine. The stock compound is grey and very thick (you can peel it). It does use 2 long copper heat pipes to 1 very small heat sink at the end with the fan attached. The cpu is rectangular while the gpu is squared.
     
    txpro, May 1, 2011
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