T20 processor replacement; Do I need Heat Sync Compound?

[Mortuis]

Months and Months ago I did a stupid thing with my T20. I sat it on a pillow while running it, which blocked the vent. Eventually it overheated and shut itself down. I waited an hour and it booted up just fine. A week later I repeated this act of stupidity, only this time when I rebooted it an hour after it shut itself down, it only stayed up long enough to get to the desktop, then it dies.

Recently at work someone showed me how to remove a thinkpad keyboard. So when I got home, I took off my keyboard and figured out how to get to the processor. It seems easy enough to switch, so I'm thinking about spending $30 on ebay to get a 900mhz processor and see if switching it fixes my problem.

Now, I know when you change the processor on a desktop machine, you are supposed to apply some kind of Heat Sync Compound onto the processor to make heat transfer to the heatsync better. On the thinkpad processor though, there appears to be this solid rubbery substance that looks like gluegun glue.

When I get the processor off ebay, am I supposed to peel off this gluegun-like stuff and apply new stuff, put heatsync compound on the stuff, or just place the heatsync/fan on top of the processor as-is?

[wireless4laptop]

900MHz is a good idea. Just clean the new CPU and CPU fan. put a little heatsync on the new CPU, then close CPU fan carefully.

See the PDF manual
and movie of T30

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... PAD-MOVIES

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-39298

[slagmi]

I would remove and replace the thermal compound, though you ~may~ get away with it without problems even if you dont

[Mortuis]

Is there a recommended kind or brand of thermal compound? Or do you just use the same stuff you'd use on a desktop computer?

[wireless4laptop]

same as the one on desktop.

[Mortuis]

Excellent, thank you so much for the videos and information and advice. Here's hoping that my problem is a burnt processor and not a fried motherboard.

[Orevin]

The 900MHz processor will not work in the T20 system board. It will work, but runs on 700MHz only.

-Orevin-

[ambientscape]

The 900MHz processor will not work in the T20 system board. It will work, but runs on 700MHz only.

-Orevin-

The 900Mhz processor will run at its speed on T20. I've tried that before and make sure you've updated to the latest BIOS before upgrading. Download the CPU ID from Intel to check the correct clock speed.

[skygodtj]

The 900MHz processor will not work in the T20 system board. It will work, but runs on 700MHz only.

-Orevin-

It runs at 900 on my T20. It'll run slow(700) if you run it off the charger without the battery in it. Make sure you have the BIOS updated.

TJ

[beeblebrox]

You can not use the 900 Mhz on the T20 without buying special compound (it is a thick silicon pad, which is very hard to get (because nobody uses that anymore)). Artic silver does NOT close the gap between CPU and heat sink!!!!

You better get the T22 fan set (e.g. ebay), which connects directly to the CPU and uses artic silver, silicon paste or whatever. AND: the new fan set will keep the CPU much cooler. The T20 fan set is just flimsy and useless.

I upgraded a few T20s to 1Ghz and they run perfect without problems...

[AbsoluteRaleigh]

First of all, the 900Mhz will work fine in the T20. So will a mpga2 1Ghz CPU, although they're about double the price of a 900mhz.

Like beeblebrox said, heat xfer paste will not work. The T20 fan has a space between the CPU and the fan asm that should be filled by the little grey pad that comes with the T20. A T22 fan has the correct gapping to fit on the CPU w/ paste. Most models are not this picky and with most laptops out there these days the paste is fine, the T20 is special...

If possible, find a genuine T22 fan. Despite what you may hear, the T20, 21 and 22 fan are all different.

Now, on to the original problem. The laptop dies after, what, 2 minutes of use? Take the fan off and check the litlle unique T20 grey pad thingy. It should be one solid peice. You may be able to smooth it out if it is cracking. This ensures the system is running cool. The system should not shut down if that is in place. If all is in place and the unit still shuts down, you most likely have a bad system board. If it still runs ok, go for a 900Mhz CPU. They're on eBay here: 6826461406.