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    Thermal pads breaking down.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by lqm, Feb 24, 2014.

  1. lqm

    lqm Notebook Consultant

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    So my heat issues may be due to my GPU thermal pads breaking down. I noticed quite a few have cracks and tears in them. Any suggestions on replacing thermal pads for the GPU heatsinks? I noticed they are all shapes and sizes on the heatsink, but they also have different thickness as well. Thanks. Best place to order?
     
    lqm, Feb 24, 2014
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  2. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    I would just order new 100W NVIDIA heat sinks from Dell. They're only around $20-$25 each and come with pads and TIM already applied. The Dell pads are better than aftermarket. If you want to go aftermarket pads, I have had great luck with Fujipoly from FrozenCPU. By the time you buy an assortment of various thickness sheets you might not save a whole lot compared to just buying the new heat sinks from Dell Spare Parts.
     
    Mr. Fox, Feb 24, 2014
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  3. lqm

    lqm Notebook Consultant

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    Just ordered them. Thanks. 28.99 each.
     
    lqm, Feb 24, 2014
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  4. lqm

    lqm Notebook Consultant

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    Nevermind. Dell informed me after I had already put in the order they were out of stock on these parts.
     
    lqm, Feb 24, 2014
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  5. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    Try PCHub.com and they might have them. It takes a while to get parts from PCHub, but they have been good for me. I was able to buy items that Dell said cannot be sold/purchased and are only available for warranty service replacement.

    Also see if there is an alternate part number. 580M, 675M and 680M are all 100W heat sinks that will interchange, but the part numbers for the M18xR1 and R2 could be different.
     
    Mr. Fox, Feb 26, 2014
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