Compound

I've got an XPS L502x, and I feel like the fan is running harder/longer than it should. At idle, temp is hovering around 55C with fan kicking up/down fairly often, doing basic web/email fan kicks in usually. And under load, I measured it sustaining 90C no problem.

CPU is an i7-2670qm and has Intel 3000 and GT 525M.

Debating if I should try some thermal compound on the cpu/gpu.. I've got no problem doing it skill-wise, but it's a big job, and even somewhat risky especially if it didn't help or made it worse in the end. I have used compressed air, some dust came out but didn't really change anything (i do that every year or so anyway) so it shouldn't be an airflow problem.

I guess basic question is, 55C at idle "normal" or is that worth trying to improve. When it comes down to it, the annoyance is the fan speeding up when i'm going basic/simple tasks or even when it's sitting idle and that's what i'm looking to change.

 

The L502x uses Dell's more complex layering assembly, as I'm sure you're aware, and disassembly wouldn't be particularly fun. That said, given the system's age and load temps, I imagine a re-paste would be pretty useful. If you choose to do it, I'd invest in a heartier paste like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, just to make sure your efforts are as worth it as possible. Amazon's got a tube for $12 with Prime which is pretty reasonable, and it should get you a few degrees lower temps than more traditional pastes.

 

I decided to do it today. I used Arctic Silver 5 because that's what I have on hand. I read it takes a few weeks for it to give full benefit, so will post back in about a month maybe and see if that is true or not. But, just for the record.. Immediately I see idle temp around 50. The fan still seems to run.. During stress test I see temp at around 75 now, it was easy to get it to hit 90 before. So, it was worth it so far. I may buy new stuff and try again if it doesn't get even better over the next few weeks.

it took me a little over an hour.. about 25 minutes to disassemble, 10 minutes to clean it and re-apply the thermal compound. And another 25 minutes to put it back together. I also cleaned the fan and tightened the display hinges since they were a little wobbly, so re-assembly took maybe 10 minutes extra for those other things. I could probably get it done in 45 minutes next time. It wasn't as difficult as I anticipated it to be, the instructions / videos make it seem like it is a pretty complicated thing but it's not too bad.

 

icd7 can be a good choice