Thinkpads Forum

Both me and the missus have a T410. I swapped my 520m for a 640m last year and did (probably) a bad job applying cooling paste on mine. Using Noctua #5 (+ 2 step remover and purifyer) my machine kept the temp. At ~64 celsius when idling and 86 and above when pushed (sometimes 90ies).

Today, i replaced her 520m with a 640m as well but took very good care of applying the same paste in a thin layer (using a plastic card to smoothen it out and also cleaning the fan fins and cooler with a vacuum) and her machine (igpu) stays at low 40 degrees celsius and peaks at 68 under load). So i dissasembled my own again and repeated and managed to reduce my own temps. quite a bit. Formerly 80+ went down by 15-20 degrees by just applying paste more carefully. Sick....

Oh, her 520m got so hot that it burned almost (factory applied). The 640m doesnt even make the fan work near as much.

Just as a heads up

Your temps seem excessive for just idling and I note that you mentioned cleaning out the fins as well as re-pasting. I would suspect this had more to do with the improvement in temps than the new paste, unless you had some unknown issue with the heat sink not being fitted properly or something.

Check out this Linus Tech Tips video on the thermal paste methods. It busts many of the myths out there around thermal paste applications. They also did another video not too long ago about the benefits of one paste over another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

It's always a good idea to open the fan when you are doing a job like this. You'd be surprised just how much compacted dust can reside in there and it has a big effect on cooling.

Thanks for posting that video. I am about to do this for the first time and I'm not nearly as concerned after watching how much leeway there is. Clearly careful ought to be sufficient.

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On a 640m I would recommend a line for the CPU portion and pea for the GPU portion. Avoid spreading it, since its the easiest way to get a bubble in it even if your thermal paste of choice comes with a spreading tool.

In the video linked there is a lot larger margin for error since he is applying the thermal paste to the heat spreader not the CPU itself like you will be. In the video under that metal lid is the CPU which looks like what you'll be looking at and the CPU manufacturer applied the thermal paste there.

Here is a couple videos showing you want is going going on when you press the heat sink down on the CPU.

https://youtu.be/-hNgFNH7zhQ

https://youtu.be/EyXLu1Ms-q4

TankPad,

Yes, you are most probably right about cleaning out the fins and the internals as well. That might well be the reason why her i7 ran much cooler than mine. I was considering different manufacturing (plant) at some point, but "guck" in the fan is more plausible i guess.

cynicx,

thanks for those videos. Very interesting to watch and see whats actually going on when pressure is applied