Thinkpads Forum

I will be upgrading my CPU soon. I just want to make sure I got the steps right and know what Im doing.

I know I have to apply arctic silver, but I have to make sure its thermal compound/grease and not the thermal adhesive?

If I have a thermal pad, I should remove it completely and not use it again correct?

I should apply the arctic silver on the cpu core only, but what if some goes outside the core area?

And finally how much should I apply?

Follow the instructions here for a small Intel core
Do not use adhesive, and do not use a thermal pad and thermal compound together.

Ive read that. Still curious about over application, what if it falls outside the core area. And how much should I apply.

If I already have the thermal pad, I do not need to use arctic grease?

Give a look to the following thread in the forum FAQs:

How Much Thermal Grease Do I apply?.

ryengineer wrote:Give a look to the following thread in the forum FAQs:

How Much Thermal Grease Do I apply?.

Thanks, thats good information.

I was not able to find an answer to this question...If I already have a thermal pad, can I just re use it?

ThinkPad wrote:I was not able to find an answer to this question...If I already have a thermal pad, can I just re use it?

They are not meant to be reused. You should get a new one if you want to use a thermal pad. There are certain times where you have to use a thermal pad because of large gaps between surfaces that are present by design.

Is there a way to tell if there is a large gap between the cooler and cpu? I have a T-42p with long fan, and placing a 2.1, 765 Dothan...

ThinkPad wrote:Is there a way to tell if there is a large gap between the cooler and cpu? I have a T-42p with long fan, and placing a 2.1, 765 Dothan...

I've replaced T42/P fans before, and I just used thermal grease on the CPU, but used a thermal pad on the GPU heatsink end. In that application the 'gap' would most likely be on the GPU/heatsink end of the fan.

Harryc wrote:

ThinkPad wrote:Is there a way to tell if there is a large gap between the cooler and cpu? I have a T-42p with long fan, and placing a 2.1, 765 Dothan...

I've replaced T42/P fans before, and I just used thermal grease on the CPU, but used a thermal pad on the GPU heatsink end. In that application the 'gap' would most likely be on the GPU/heatsink end of the fan.

So you think the gap between my cpu and cooler is small enough for arctic silver application?

Yes

Thanks