T4x CPU replacement and reinstalling the long fan/heatsink

[tselling]

Has anyone replaced their CPU who has the long fan? The one that also covers the Ati GPU? I was wondering what they used to replace the thermal pad/tape that IBM uses between the fan assembly and GPU. The stuff they use looks very thin and melted. A new fan assembly comes with it.. but I would rather not buy a new one if its cheaper to get a new thermal pad/tape.

Searching on thermal pads or tape did not turn up very much.

[atct86]

try using Thermal grease it is amazing

[K. Eng]

Arctic Silver is supposed to be an excellent thermal paste. I think that would be much better than the standard thermal compound in the ThinkPad.

[Navck]

Don't use AS5 if you want your warranty to stay alive/or accidently fry your laptop, use the Ceramique stuff, works a littile less effective (.5 C or so)
http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique.htm
Non capactive, and its pretty much "paste" looking like the type they usually put on (Silicone)

[tselling]

I was planning on using one of the better thermal pastes for the CPU. But the Ati GPU is rather large and there is no screw that holds the fan assembly down firmly to the GPU so I think I need a thermal tape/pad on the GPU. But I haven't seen much on thermal tapes or thermal pads.

[Scorpiontico]

Don't use AS5 if you want your warranty to stay alive/or accidently fry your laptop, use the Ceramique stuff, works a littile less effective (.5 C or so)
http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique.htm
Non capactive, and its pretty much "paste" looking like the type they usually put on (Silicone)

please explain yourself, why does it avoid the warranty? why would ceramique work but not as5 when as5 is even better (for heat)?

thanks so much in advance.

[Navck]

If your machine were to ever break and if you had to send it back to IBM
Some person:What the? Silver paste instead of our silicone?! Uh oh, someones been messing with their TP, must of been their fault...

[Scorpiontico]

If your machine were to ever break and if you had to send it back to IBM
Some person:What the? Silver paste instead of our silicone?! Uh oh, someones been messing with their TP, must of been their fault...

i thought you might say this... then basically what you are saying is that as5 is completly noticiable on t series (t43s). right?

what would be the closest thermal compound to the t series factory one?

thanks.

[Navck]

"Whatever" brand silicone thats whitish, or the AS Ceramique

[JHaislet]

Well I tore into my T43 last night as the fan is starting to get louder, even when @ 800mhz & 0.7v, also with the GPU down clocked to 105mhz.

Here's what I found:

1) The heatsink compound used on my PM 2.0ghz was a dried out, silvery/grey substance. I replaced this with an extremely small amount of AS III.

2) I think most of our heat issues are coming from the GPU. As stated above, the long heatsink portion that juts out & covers the GPU is NOT attached to the case or motherboard. It just hangs out there, with no pressure exerted between it & the GPU

Under this "extention", was a thermal pad that was stuck to the underside of this extension, yet the part that made contact with the GPU was extremely slick. Nothing had melted and the heatsink came right off the GPU (revealing the ATI verbage laser'd into the heatspreader that ATI attached). Anyways, for the life of me, I can't see how this pad absorbs heat away from the GPU area (near where the sensor that keeps kicking on the fan).

While I was in there, I spread a very thin layer of AS III onto the ATI heatspreader and then tried to bend the extension downwards a bit, however, I didn't put much force on it and i don't think it moved ANY.
If there was only a way to put some pressure on the extension and increase contact, it would greatly reduce the amount of heat that builds up in that area.

I'm almost tempted to order another "Long Heatsink" from Lenovo and Artic Silver epoxy a square sized peice of aluminum or copper, maybe 1/16" thick, onto the bottom to both bridge the gap and use it as a shim to put more pressure on the GPU for a snugger fit.

[nrj45]

i also looked inside my t43p. But i also want to keep the warranty .
Does anybody know a way for reading all these f***ing temperature sensors ? This could help us in finding which of them is always triggering the fan. This way we could compare gpu and cpu temp (they might be quite the same because they are linked by the same copper heat pipe). And if these 2 temperatures are not quite the same (i mean that gpu's temp is much higher than the cpu's one), JHaislet theory would be verified and by the way become a solid argument to force IBM/Lenovo fixing this issue...

[stalin]

If you guys are going to make it, I mean, apply AS or something for CPU or GPU, I would appreciate your making some pics, describe the process and share with us the info a lot... I'm sick and tired of this f.... fan. And IBM support plays fool = it functions as designed...
Thnx.

[atct86]

I applied some Arctic Silver Ceramique to my CPU, and my normal temp dropped from 57 C to 51C.

My thinkpad doesnt seem to slow down when it gets really hot.

[stalin]

I applied some Arctic Silver Ceramique to my CPU, and my normal temp dropped from 57 C to 51C.

Is there any guide for that? or could you explain it a bit more? Sorry for such lame questions, but I'm not much of a thinkpad hardware specialist.
thnx.

[bhtooefr]

There's a guide for the X22 in the X forum, FWIW. Use that as a general guide (for removing the old stuff and putting the new stuff on), and a Hardware Maintenance Manual for getting in to the HSF.

However, the problem I have with Ceramique is that I've heard that it is almost impossible to remove. AS5 doesn't have that issue (*reminds self to buy a tube - I have to redo the goop on my X21*)

[atct86]

Basiclaly i removed my heatsink/fan and cleaned it and the cpu with alcohol.

Then i squeezed some thermal compund on the center of the cpu, and spread it a little. then i put it back together

[Scorpiontico]

guys, when after applying thermal compound (in this case AS5 or ceramique) should the computer be left off (completly shutdown) for lets say 1 day or 2 days before using it again?

or its ok to use it right after thermal compound is applied?

thanks.

ps: btw, do you guys put thermal compound on the bottom of the cpu heatsink and then some more on top of the cpu (based on the guide from AS5 homepage site)?

***
in my t43 what gets hotter is the gpu, i wish there was a way to fix this... i cant believe a top computer manufacturer company such as ibm/levono wont have such issues fixed up and whats worst pay no attention to such.
"yeah go ahead f*ckers, keep making money while you can"

[FTC]

Hi, you can use your TP right after applying new thermal compound. It will settle down in 2-3 days, so you'll start reaching your final temps then, but the difference is nothing to worry about the first days (2-3 degrees)

Re. how you apply the compound, it does not really matter as long as you do it on top of both *clean* sufaces, you apply a very thin layer, don't leave gaps and CPU/HS are in good contact afterwards.