Applying thermal grease on T43

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Senser · #1 Post by **Senser** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:27 am

Hi, a few months ago I bought Zalman STG thermal grease. Still did not find the time (and guts) to apply it on my T43 (with still more than 2 years of warrenty..).

Because I'm annoyed by fan noise (the buzzing noise) I'm considering finally putting the thermal grease on.

One thing I would like to know, since I guess the GPU (X300) is the cause of the fan turning on, should I apply the thermal grease only on the CPU or on the CPU and GPU?

Thanks!

NS · #2 Post by NS » Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:39 am

Just apply a thin layer on the CPU die will do and use a card to spread the grease evenly on the CPU die.

*Use AS5 as recommended by most of the members here*

Wipe off the old grease on the GPU and CPU thoroughly...

dmar · #3 Post by **dmar** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:33 pm

Senser,

If you have the time and energy, can you document your steps in a How-to photo documentary...I think the community would really benefit from it.

If not, maybe I'll do it once I get that motherboard up and running

Senser · #4 Post by **Senser** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:48 pm

NS wrote:Just apply a thin layer on the CPU die will do and use a card to spread the grease evenly on the CPU die.

*Use AS5 as recommended by most of the members here*

Wipe off the old grease on the GPU and CPU thoroughly...

I've not opened up my laptop yet, planning to do so in about a month. Can you explain why the grease should only be put on the CPU and not on the GPU?

Thanks!

Senser · #5 Post by **Senser** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:49 pm

dmar wrote:Senser,

If you have the time and energy, can you document your steps in a How-to photo documentary...I think the community would really benefit from it.

If not, maybe I'll do it once I get that motherboard up and running

I'll see what I can do, not sure when I have the time to apply the thermal grease, but I'll try to make a few pictures when doing so.

zaku · #6 Post by **zaku** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:23 pm

Senser wrote:
NS wrote:Just apply a thin layer on the CPU die will do and use a card to spread the grease evenly on the CPU die.

*Use AS5 as recommended by most of the members here*

Wipe off the old grease on the GPU and CPU thoroughly...
I've not opened up my laptop yet, planning to do so in about a month. Can you explain why the grease should only be put on the CPU and not on the GPU?

Thanks!

i think cuz usually the GPU has that thermal rubber pad for the heat transfer between it and the heatsink. and if you're not sure of what you're doing, better not mess with that pad or it might get worst

bopchie · #7 Post by **bopchie** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:10 pm

correct, the gpu will have the rubber thermal pad. I put as5 on my cpu and my x300 had the rubber pad on it. just remember to clean the factory thermal grease of 1st like "NS" and make sure that you dont overdo it, if you use too much you can basicly smother the die.....

NS · #8 Post by NS » Sat Mar 17, 2007 1:45 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xekr6eQL62U

^It is the same method applying thermal grease on your thinkpad CPU. I followed this youtube video and i have changed all my thinkpads thermal grease and yes, do NOT mess around with the thermal pads.

If you want to learn more about applying thermal grease on a CPU regardless it is a desktop or a notebook, do a simple google search with key words like apply thermal grease correctly.

Applying too much thermal grease on the CPU will not return you with a super cool CPU or super cool thinkpad. On the other hand, applying thermal grease in the correct amount like the video shown above will show you some amazing results.

Senser · #9 Post by **Senser** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:55 am

Everybody thanks! I'll give it a try soon!

gearguy · #10 Post by **gearguy** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:33 am

Using a card to spread the paste is not really nessecary, more than often the pressure applied to the paste between the two surfaces is enough to make it fill the tiny crevases in the surface of the die.

murray1 · #11 Post by **murray1** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 1:46 pm

Hey, NS I am currently planning on upgrading my processor and that movie was great, answered a lot of questions.

Temetka · #12 Post by **Temetka** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:22 pm

That video is very good.

gunston · #13 Post by **gunston** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:53 am

informative video

#14 Post by **Kyocera** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:00 am

There is lot of information, and some other videos regarding the application of arctic silver, the artic silver web site has it's own pdf's to help. It's a very easy process just clean off the old thermal pad with some pure Alcohol. I suggest loading NHC immediately after or before to monitor your cpu temps.

bopchie · #15 Post by **bopchie** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:14 pm

you also gotta give it awhile to burn in......

wearetheborg · #16 Post by **wearetheborg** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:04 am

Those instructions tell to apply the grease on top of the cpu.
The thinkpad heatsinks have the cpu area marked off, can I just apply the thermal paste on the heatsinks ?
I dont want to take out the processor...

#17 Post by **Kyocera** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:58 am

I think your best bet is to follow all the instructions, and if you are not changing the cpu why would you want to remove it. Lastly it is your machine after all you can choose any method you want.

wearetheborg · #18 Post by **wearetheborg** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:46 pm

I replaced the fan. I think I may have put too much thermal grease. I wanted to put a razor thin coating, but the proble was I could not spread it over the cpu, when I tried to spread it, it would scrape off.

Next time I just try to cover 75% of the cpu, and let pressure take care of the rest.
Even this time, there was not much thermal paste at the edges.

Pascal_TTH · #19 Post by **Pascal_TTH** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:26 am

zaku wrote:
Senser wrote: I've not opened up my laptop yet, planning to do so in about a month. Can you explain why the grease should only be put on the CPU and not on the GPU?

Thanks!
i think cuz usually the GPU has that thermal rubber pad for the heat transfer between it and the heatsink. and if you're not sure of what you're doing, better not mess with that pad or it might get worst

True ! Never use thermal grease between a part and a thermal pad. This will leed to really poor performances. If you want excellent heat transfert, replace the pad by some copper or aluminium plate.

agarza · #20 Post by **agarza** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:52 am

Replacing the thermal pad by good thermal paste is worth it, specially if you game a lot. I'm using AS5 on CPU and GPU, I had to bend the heatsink to make contact with the GPU chip. But I put a bulged piece of paper above the heatsink (so that the keyboard puts pressure on the heatsink to the GPU).

Ideally you should remove the thermal pad if you use a T60p where load temps climb very high.

Plz be aware that AS5 is a very known and popular thermal compound, but IT IS NOT THE best.
For any one interested in getting a excellent thermal paste, go grab either one of these:
1. Shin-Etsu
2. MX-1 (dissipates the heat even better when burned-in, *compared to AS5)
3. Zalman (I use it too)

Pascal_TTH · #21 Post by **Pascal_TTH** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:53 am

AS5 is not the best, that's true. It's the most common with good performances. But it need to be change every year because it dries and work less and less.

Senser · #22 Post by **Senser** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 3:17 pm

Hi,

Good to see that this thread is still active.

I finally applied thermal grease (Zalman STG1) on my own T43 today. It was relatively easy, only had to figure out how to remove the fan unit to get to the CPU. The rest was easy.

Now about the results, I have the feeling my CPU is about 4 to 5 degrees cooler but I hope to better results in the next few days/weeks.

After all I guess it was worth the trouble.

Applying thermal grease on T43

Applying thermal grease on T43

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