Question How often should I replace CPU thermal paste on laptop?

[inartcloud]

How often should I replace CPU thermal paste on laptop? And should I?

 

[LTC8K6]

You should replace it when there are indications that it needs to be replaced, such as higher temps than usual.

Or, if you know it is over a year old or so, and you are going in there anyway to do something else.

 

[Rayman30]

Any modern silver based thermal compound will likely last the lifetime of the product, curing or not, like LTC8K6 mentioned, I would only re-apply if it you are already going to be in or around that area of the laptop, and you are not happy with the thermals you currently get.

Also keep in mind the placebo affect that can occur as a result of the simple fact that not every application of thermal compound is perfect. It is very possible, that once you go to re-apply it, you may see cooler or even warmer temperatures as a result of this variable. If you are happy with the temps and noise levels you get now, I would not touch it, if not... maybe consider a liquid metal compound from Thermal Grizzly or Coollaboratory.

 

[IntelUser2000]

I would not suggest liquid metal on a laptop, unless you can be very precise about it. It will conduct electricity, causing a possible short. It also says something about incompatibility with aluminum surfaces. Regular TIM is far better.

 

[Rayman30]

I would not suggest liquid metal on a laptop, unless you can be very precise about it. It will conduct electricity, causing a possible short. It also says something about incompatibility with aluminum surfaces. Regular TIM is far better.

Yes good point, if you do decide this route, I would follow an online guide as it can be risky. Linus posted a video on this very topic a while back, I would search Youtube for it, but his results were a temp reduction of 20C! so it may be worth it if heat and noise are that much of concern... just be careful, as long as you have a copper heatsink you will be all set, as IntelUser2000 mentioned, liquid metal can cause structural deterioration of aluminum since its gallium based.

The good news is that its not hard to apply, if you purchase liquid metal, it will come with a small brush, you just want enough to cover the die and the area of the heat sink that makes contact with the die. I would also purchase some kapton tape, you can use this to tape anything around the CPU area that the compound could come into contact with, as this will insulate and protect aluminum or electronic components from the conductive liquid metal.

 

[IntelUser2000]

I would search Youtube for it, but his results were a temp reduction of 20C!

20C difference indicates either a CPU that uses a lot of power(150W or more) or the comparison device has very poor TIM application. If you compare against a top tier non liquid metal device, you might get few degrees lower at best. With lower power CPUs, you would be hard pressed to find a difference even against a properly applied, mediocre TIM.

 

[Rayman30]

20C difference indicates either a CPU that uses a lot of power(150W or more) or the comparison device has very poor TIM application. If you compare against a top tier non liquid metal device, you might get few degrees lower at best. With lower power CPUs, you would be hard pressed to find a difference even against a properly applied, mediocre TIM.

You may be right, he may not see any difference, or he may see a nice difference. This is the unknown variable with this type of thing.

But in the interest of facts, the 7700HQ used in the video has a TDP of 45W

See screenshot below of the factory TIM application.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Replace it only if you're going near it, or if you're proficient with laptop disassembly. It's more likely the fans / heatsink clogged with dust is the problem.

 

[IntelUser2000]

You may be right, he may not see any difference, or he may see a nice difference. This is the unknown variable with this type of thing.

But in the interest of facts, the 7700HQ used in the video has a TDP of 45W

See screenshot below of the factory TIM application.

You are overestimating the impact of TIM. Factory TIM being bad usually has to do with quality control. They churn millions of these devices, often as cheap as possible and with serious time constraints. There are tips used when repairing laptops to fix it by putting a thin copper slice in between to reduce the gap between the two. This falls in the bad TIM application category.

Try comparing liquid metal in a socketed desktop chip compared to the top quality non liquid metal ones. Typically few degrees at best. At higher wattages the differences are magnified, like when you are running AVX load on a 7980XE or something.

 

[grimham]

Never, unless you believe it's the culprit of high temps that are impacting the laptop (and usually that's got more to do with fans collecting dust). If it ain't broke don't fix it.