[SOLVED] Re-applying thermal paste on the Nintendo Switch

[landrysaathoff]

Curious - has anyone done this and got better temps for their Switch? How about better performance and fps (up to 30fps, of course)?
I was thinking about re-applying paste on the APU and on the heat spreader and maybe adding thin thermal pads to the ram chips, as well as thicker pads on the heat spreader and between the copper pipe and the metal shield.

For those who don't know, the Nintendo Switch has thermal paste in three places:

1. Between the APU and a heat spreader
2. Between the heat spreader and a copper pipe that delivers heat away to a fan
3. Between the heat pipe and the metal shield that covers the components (this is what you see if you take the back plate off your Switch).

 

[hotaru.hino]

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2850-nintendo-switch-temperature-noise-and-throttles

Steady state temperature for at least the OG model appears to be 60C in an ambient environment of 24C. I don't think this is anything to worry about. As for better performance, the Switch doesn't run on the same principles as PCs. It'll run at the design performance regardless of temperature. It may thermal throttle, but that's about it.

In short, you could do this, but you're probably not going to get anything better.