The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Area-51 M15x - GPu thermal paste question

    Discussion in 'Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems' started by jiggymf, Jan 30, 2011.

  1. jiggymf

    jiggymf Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    215
    Messages:
    501
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I was disassembling my wife's M15x to have it ready for the replacement card i bought from niffcreature, as the fx3600 died recently.

    When i took off the heatsink from the fx3600 however i was wondering if thermal paste should be applied only on the gpu processor, or also on the square bracket surrounding it (there's a square metal bracket about 1-2 cm's from the gpu, surrounding the gpu).

    As i noticed the previous owner likely didn't put thermal paste on it (only the processor), and i just started wondering.

    edit: I have used my splendid graphic skills to illustrate what i mean :D

    [​IMG]
     
    jiggymf, Jan 30, 2011
    #1
  2. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,779
    Messages:
    7,957
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    216
    I have a similar card and I did not put paste on that bracket.

    I don't think you have to do it, but I don't see how it could hurt.
     
    moral hazard, Jan 30, 2011
    #2
  3. darkloki

    darkloki Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    412
    Messages:
    1,829
    Likes Received:
    182
    Trophy Points:
    81
    You do not want to put paste on the bracket, but you do want to clean it. Keep in mind that YOU can and it is possible to OVER paste, and if you do over paste you will not have optimal temps or results. This is speaking strictly of the AS5 (Arctic Silver 5 Compound) In some cases as many will concur with me here, less is better, not more. Just put a dab on the chip evenly spread it across the chip so that you have a thin layer clean everything up, and then reapply the bracket and be sure to clean out the fans and especially the heatsink Copper Cents to remove any dust that may form. :D
     
    darkloki, Jan 31, 2011
    #3