Has anyone replaced the TIM on their MBP?

[ControlD]

So I have a 2011 13" MBP that seems to have overheating issues. In the past I had always figured that the somewhat frequent hard locks I was seeing were do to poorly ported programs. Now what I am seeing is that pretty much any game or processor intensive full screen application has a good chance to hard lock the computer. To make matters worse, it seems with OSX a locked program in full screen mode pretty much requires a power off / power on cycle to clear.

After doing a bit of research I see that the thermal compound application on many MBPs is about the same as any other Chinese assembled system (terrible at best). I have been looking into cleaning off the existing compound and applying something better but I have never taken a MBP apart (besides replacing the hard drive) and was wondering just how fiddly it is. I have looked at the iFixit teardown and it seems like there are lots of Apple's favorite micro sockets that take almost no force to break off so I am a little leery.

 

[Eug]

Are you sure it's not the memory? Do you have aftermarket memory?

What about an OS reinstall? (I know, unlikely, but just to be sure.)

I don't think I've ever had a problem with the CPU on a Mac, but I've had plenty of issues with bad RAM.

 

[ControlD]

The memory is what came with the computer.

I recently replaced the hard drive with a SSD, so I did a fresh install of the OS at that time. I didn't bring over anything with the new install, so it is completely fresh.

Maybe I will see if there are any good memory stress tests for OSX, that's a good idea.

 

[Eug]

There have been issues similar to what you describe with SSDs, but the SSD can be ruled out if the symptoms occurred before you put the SSD in.

One easy way of checking is simply to remove one of the memory sticks. If the symptoms persist, remove that one and put the other one in.

Apple does have a memory hardware test, but I'm not sure how good the consumer version is. I can't remember if it's on the rescue partition or just on the install disc.

 

[Rakehellion]

I changed the thermal compound in my MacBook, the fans spin up less now.

Maybe this is you: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/17/2011-macbook-pro-gpu-glitches/

 

[Theb]

I had a 2008 MBP that was overheating while playing video smcFanControl fixed it. Maybe I shouldn't say "fixed" because I never found the root issue, but more aggressive fan settings kept it from overheating.
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

 

[JEDIYoda]

I think apple of all companies would use top quality good Thermal paste....

 

[ControlD]

I think apple of all companies would use top quality good Thermal paste....

It isn't the quality of the paste in question but more the application (although I bet no companies use TIM that would be considered "enthusiast" grade). It isn't just Apple, many products come with huge gobs of paste applied which actually hurts with heat transfer to from the chip to the heat sink.

 

[Rakehellion]

I think apple of all companies would use top quality good Thermal paste....

Thermal compound is all the same. It's the plants in China where they're assembled that don't apply it properly.

 

[JEDIYoda]

It isn't the quality of the paste in question but more the application (although I bet no companies use TIM that would be considered "enthusiast" grade). It isn't just Apple, many products come with huge gobs of paste applied which actually hurts with heat transfer to from the chip to the heat sink.

In Apples case...nah

 

[ControlD]

In Apples case...nah

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean .... Are you disagreeing that Apple had (not sure if it still does) a problem with the TIM application or are you saying it shouldn't happen in the first place? If it is the later then I agree.

 

[mmntech]

The aluminum MacBooks aren't hard to work on, just time consuming. If you want hard to work on, you should check out the white iBooks. Those were a nightmare. Of course their new glued ones are a whole different kettle of fish.

I'd check your processor thermals. The MBPs do run a bit hot but they should shut down if they over heat, or you'll hear the fan whirr up to maximum. Could be bad memory too. Eliminate the easy to fix stuff first before you go tearing it apart.

 

[ControlD]

I'm starting to wonder if these issues all come down to the OSX version of Steam. It seems like all of my freezes are happening when running a game through Steam. I guess I'll run "yes" a couple of times in a terminal overnight and see what happens, but the memory checks out fine.

I never thought a Mac would be the least stable computer I own.

 

[sa7an1]

apple sends 2 small syringes with each mlb repair. i use a total of half of one for both the gpu, cpu and integrated graphics. factory? i would say a whole syringe if not more.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

I'm starting to wonder if these issues all come down to the OSX version of Steam. It seems like all of my freezes are happening when running a game through Steam. I guess I'll run "yes" a couple of times in a terminal overnight and see what happens, but the memory checks out fine.

I never thought a Mac would be the least stable computer I own.

Wouldn't surprise me, I've had numerous issues with Steam/OSX.