Akward question about Laptop cooling

[Fhistleb]

If I were to take apart my MSI Megabook g620-001 and replace all the current thermal paste with arctic 5, would it make the laptop as a whole run cooler? or am I just doing something silly?

 

[mfenn]

It could if the old thermal paste is dried and cracked.

 

[Fhistleb]

it still runs like a champ (even plays Starcraft 2 on high settings) I'm just wondering after two years would a new coat drastically change the temprature levels and if so rough estimate of how much.

 

[mfenn]

Hard give you a hard and fast answer. If the existing thermal paste is still in good shape, you will see little, if any improvement (nothing beyond what a good dusting would do). If the paste is in bad shape, you will see a big improvement. Unfortunately for you, it's like Schrodinger's cat because unmounting the heatsinks to look at the condition of the paste will destroy the paste's thermal coupling, forcing a reapplication anyway.

 

[TheStu]

My understanding is that generally speaking, thermal paste, particularly that applied by OEMs does not dry out.

But yea, a good cleaning would do better, especially if you can more easily access the fans/heatsinks without tearing it all apart.

 

[Fhistleb]

Thats the nice thing about this laptop. Everything is easily accessible. I already upgraded my HDD with a 500gb 7200 rpm one.
I've also been reading that heat is the cause for alot of issues.

 

[DSF]

If everything is running fine I wouldn't bother.

 

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't bother. A cheap cooling pad would give better results.

 

[mfenn]

My understanding is that generally speaking, thermal paste, particularly that applied by OEMs does not dry out.

But yea, a good cleaning would do better, especially if you can more easily access the fans/heatsinks without tearing it all apart.

It can very well dry out. Laptops use the white silicone stuff everywhere.

 

[fffblackmage]

If temps aren't a problem, it doesn't seem worth the trouble to me.

 

[mfenn]

If temps aren't a problem, it doesn't seem worth the trouble to me.

:thumbsup: This is what I was trying to get at.