Question CPU no longer being cooled

[ringhloth]

I came home from a road trip with my ASUS RoG 502V laptop and turned it on and found it sluggish. Trying all the usual things, I was reminded to check my CPU's temperature, even though my laptop was (abnormally) cool to the touch. Lo and behold, my CPU was running at 95C as soon as i boot it up. I decide it probably needs new thermal paste, reapply it, clean the fans out, and turn it on. Slightly better, but still immediately getting into the 90s. I take a closer look, and it appears the screws on the 'arms' of the heat sink keeping it on the CPU appear to be not doing anything. They screw in tight, but the socket into the board appears to have popped out.

A picture of the arms of the GPU, which seem fine.

A picture of the arms of the CPU, with a noticeable gap.

Am I, uh, screwed here?

 

[thedeathclox]

Oooff. Tell you what, here is what I would try.

• Use pliars to hold the nut that was once part of the plastic casing.
• Find a solid / appropriately sized screwdriver (especially important since you already stripped the screw), do your best to unscrew it.
• Remove the motherboard completely.
• Get your hands on some REALLY GOOD adhesive / project cement. Like, super duper duper glue.
• Adhere the nut back into place, adhere it and let it sit in place overnight.
• Pray to god it's strong enough to withstand being pulled on by the heatsink
• Try to re-assemble. If it pops back out again, cry. If not, proceed with putting it back together. Might be a good idea to give it a couple of knocks to see if it comes loose while being used and bumped at the same time. If nothing budges, you might be alright.
• Check temps. If everything seems hunky-dory just be gentle and baby the computer, and remember to check your thermals from time to time to make sure it's holding tight.

Alternatively, you can cough up the amount it would cost to have it repaired.
Also, an other alternative would be to put the nut back in. Then, find some suitable plastic object you don't mind melting / destroying. Use a soldering iron to melt / adhere the nut back into place on the case. Make sure that it melts with the existing plastic. That might be strong enough to adhere it again. Best of both would be to make use of the plastic that is already there surrounding the nut, melt it around the nut carefully, then use some great adhesive.

Thats all I got. I know its been a while since you posted - hope you either already fixed it or hope that this helps.