Question Help with picking thermal paste/pad for laptop

retroforlife

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Apr 19, 2017
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hey so I've got a Legion Slim 5 16" Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7, RTX 4060 and the paste is rock solid only had it for less than 3 months and temps seem to be getting way higher hitting thermal throttle temps I've been trying to find what paste or pad would be best to use since it seems to be direct die to heat sink and a lot of what I've read is saying a lot of pastes dry out super fast so unsure what I should buy never done a laptop before so I'm clueless any help would be appreciated
 
Changing paste is usually wishful thinking.
And, opening up a laptop exposes you to causing damage where there was none.

I see many complaints about gaming laptops not performing well.
Usually gaming while plugged in.
One common cause is thermal throttling.
Laptop coolers must, of necessity be small and light.
The coolers are also relatively underpowered.
If you run an app such as HWMonitor or HWinfo, you will get the current, minimum, and maximum cpu temperatures. Set to see each individual core.
For intel processors, if you see a max of 100c. in red, it means you have throttled.
I think the number for ryzen is more like 85c-90c.
The cpu will lower it's multiplier and power draw to protect itself until the situation reverses.
At a lower multiplier, your cpu usage may well be at 100%
What can you do?
First, see that your cooler airways are clear and that the cooler fan is spinning.
Use a windows balanced power profile, not the performance profile.
Set a minimum cpu performance to something like 20%

It is counter-intuitive, but, try changing the windows balanced power profile advanced functions to a max of 90% instead of the default of 100%
You may not notice the reduced cpu performance.
 

retroforlife

Distinguished
Apr 19, 2017
218
16
18,615
Changing paste is usually wishful thinking.
And, opening up a laptop exposes you to causing damage where there was none.

I see many complaints about gaming laptops not performing well.
Usually gaming while plugged in.
One common cause is thermal throttling.
Laptop coolers must, of necessity be small and light.
The coolers are also relatively underpowered.
If you run an app such as HWMonitor or HWinfo, you will get the current, minimum, and maximum cpu temperatures. Set to see each individual core.
For intel processors, if you see a max of 100c. in red, it means you have throttled.
I think the number for ryzen is more like 85c-90c.
The cpu will lower it's multiplier and power draw to protect itself until the situation reverses.
At a lower multiplier, your cpu usage may well be at 100%
What can you do?
First, see that your cooler airways are clear and that the cooler fan is spinning.
Use a windows balanced power profile, not the performance profile.
Set a minimum cpu performance to something like 20%

It is counter-intuitive, but, try changing the windows balanced power profile advanced functions to a max of 90% instead of the default of 100%
You may not notice the reduced cpu performance.
it has definitely got worse after 3 months usage since i fully tested and checked temps updated bios drivers etc when i first bought it and already opened it to install a m.2 2nd drive since they said it perfectly fine and doesnt affect warranty same as the cooler if i dont damage anything just 8 screws i think and 2 fan plugs super simple with this laptop check google image pretty impressive how easy the layout it to work on

this is its current temps under light load using a browser and a few light programs using a under custom power profile much lower than the performance mode with fans running flat out your see what i mean on temps its got to be a contact issue or dry paste
View: https://youtu.be/vFdIgIKqfrc