is thermal paste JUST thermal paste?

Se7ven · 25 Jul 2010 at 16:31

bit of a daft question here, but my dad gave me back my old laptop because its broke, no idea what he did but no matter what it wouldnt boot into windows, and its having major heating issues, so I thought I would take it apart and have a look, and in the meantime I thought I might aswell apply some new thermal paste to see if it would fix some heating issues.

The problem is I have had this completely stripped in the past so no problem there, but never applied thermal paste, can you just go out any buy any thermal paste from a PC supply store or does it have to be a specific kind?

Thanks

stulid · 25 Jul 2010 at 16:33

any will do.

only get serious performance stuff if your intp overclocking or just want the best.

no need to spend anymore than £4-5 on the stuff, especially for his "old laptop"

xJcBx · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:01

Make sure you take all of the old stuff off before you put back on the new stuff.

honosuseri · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:42

I just picked up some akasa 450 for about £7 at ****** (sure it was in pcworld too) to redo my PS3 and for a future pc build.

You can use any thermal paste but if you can get some silver based stuff (like the akasa 450) it will help conduct the heat and keep the cpu cool. You need to get some TIM clean or isopropyl alcohol. Ask your dad, the stuff for cleaning cds or records is basically the same stuff.

Put a tiny dab on the chip and use a bank card (or spreader if the paste came with one) to spread a thin even layer over the chip. Make sure it doesn't find it's way onto the board though, clean off if it does.

Good luck with the project hope you get the laptop booting up fine

honosuseri · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:43

Oh i forget these guys sell parts and accessories too so check what they have in stock ;p

Duke · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:58

Any thermal paste is fine. As mentioned, make sure you clean off the old stuff first then just put a small blob in the middle of the cpu and fix the heatsink back in.

honosuseri · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:36

Good point Duke. Can't believe i didn't mention cleaning the cpu and heatsink after mentioning the cleaning fluid. Guess we can take the basics for granted at times ;p

Se7ven · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:38

thanks guys

what should I use to clean the GPU and CPU heatsinks before applying the new paste?

stulid · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:41

I use Andrex bog roll

honosuseri · 25 Jul 2010 at 19:01

No worries fella. A J cloth (those blue kitchen rags) or even a cotton bud will do.

olivier renault · 25 Jul 2010 at 19:27

stulid said:
I use Andrex bog roll

Posh!

Destination · 25 Jul 2010 at 20:48

stulid said:
I use Andrex bog roll

I use a freshly washed puppy each time I wipe....

To the OP, when applying the paste, ensure none drips or flows to other components, some pastes conduct electric as well as heat, some do not.
Its strange, diamond is a fantastic conductor of heat, yet an insulator against electric charge. Graphite conducts both. Copper, silver do both. etc.