MSI GT83VR 6RE Titan SLI Screws

Hello!

I finally found time to open my laptop to change the paste of my CPU and GPUs (I made a post about this earlier this year), but there is a small issue.

Two of the screws that are on the heatsink of the left GPU were so stuck that I stripped them (that's 2 out of 4). I haven't even touched the other GPU and the CPU, and I don't want to proceed before I make sure I can find the right screws.

Since I don't have any proper tools (screw extractors, Dremel, left hand drill bits, etc.) and experience, and I couldn't achieve anything using a rubber band/latex gloves/tinfoil/glue, etc., I am considering taking the laptop to a PC store where they could remove the screws. I spent 10 minutes scavenging in another store and managed to find 2 similar ones (their heads are slightly thinner and they are grey, but the important dimensions are the same) before the guy there got annoyed and told me he could get into trouble for letting me pick up screws, so I had to leave.

There are two options ahead of me:
1. Put the screws back in and leave it like this for the next few months (perhaps one year). I haven't removed the heatsink yet (obviously), so I don't think the thermal paste got (much?) worse.
2. Find someone who could remove the stripped screws and order new ones, which seems to be an issue.

I measured the screws I removed, and I think they are M2X3.5mm, which came as a surprise because this is a rather uncommon size. In fact, I found only one place that sells these (I am not sure if I am allowed to post the link, so I won't do it). Could anyone confirm that these screws are in fact M2x3.5mm and not the (way) more common M2x3mm ones that I can easily buy from Amazon? Also, do you know where I could order replacement screws? Apart from that one website I mentioned, I have only found packs with screws for other MSI models on Ebay, but I am not sure if they will have what I need.

I have attached a photo of the heatsink. Best wishes!

 

Hi. You can probably use a screw that is the next size shorter or longer with no issues. Buy stainless steel panhead screws and they won't strip out so easily like the poor quality soft stock wafer-head screws.

http://www.laptopscrews.com/M2x4.htm

 

Thank you for the suggestion. The screws you are talking about are slightly longer, though. Are you sure this wouldn't be an issue?

 

You would need to examine the situation to see about that. You may be able to go with 0.5mm shorter. Going longer by only 0.5mm should not be an issue unless the part you are threading into has a bottom to it or something on the other side has less than a 0.5mm of clearance. If the screws you removed are longer than they need to be you can go 0.5mm shorter. In most scenarios it won't matter and you can tell by looking at the parts in most cases.

Take a straight pin or thin piece of straw and push it into the hole to measure how much clearance or distance there is before you contact whatever is on the opposite side and that will tell you if longer is an issue.

 

What about any of these? https://www.metricscrews.us/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=98_5_340

 

That is the same company with a different URL. Those should work. Go with panhead zinc is panhead stainless are not available.