Urgent "Repasting" question

[abdullah_mag]

So i have this alienware laptop, and on the GPU there is no Thermal paste/grease, the OEM uses these sticky pads (flat strips, sticky on both sides, exactly the size of the components).

In the past i've had 2 GPUs die, the first was due to an assembly error which resulted in a screw landing on the GPU and causing it to short circuit, and was replaced under warranty, the second time was due to these sticky pads drying out on the GPU dye, this time i had to pay for the new GPU myself but the people who replaced and fitted it again were different.

Now i want to replace these thermal strips/pads just as a precaution, but i can't find replacements anywhere and the guys who replaced the GPU for me before cannot procure a new one, i have no experience in applying thermal paste/grease and neither do they, and i don't wanna fiddle around with a $570 GPU on my first try, so i'm stuck here and i don't know what to do.

The precaustions i've taken since my last GPU replacement (7 months ago) were using nvidia inspector to limit my frames per second to 50~55 max instead of leaving it open all the time, i always keep the laptop dust free by cleaning the fans and heatsink (like twice a month), i ALWAYS monitor my temperatures to see if anything is out of the ordinary (thankfully nothing is so far), and i routinely check on the thermal pads to check if they're drying out, but i cannot check on the thermal pad sitting on the GPU dye and i don't wanna decouple the heatsink from the GPU to check as this will create air bubbles which won't seal again and will ruin the thermal conductivity between the GPU and heatsink.

So to the actual question now, Should i be worried about these pads giving up on me in a moment's notice??, do i really need to be chasing after a fresh set of stickies???, or am i just too paranoid??

 

[i7Baby]

Try - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=thermal%20pad&Submit=ENE

or clean off the old pad with isopropyl alcohol and put on some Arctic Silver 5.

 

[kwa-e]

Is this what you are looking for by any chance?

 

[abdullah_mag]

Is this what you are looking for by any chance?

Try - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=thermal%20pad&Submit=ENE

or clean off the old pad with isopropyl alcohol and put on some Arctic Silver 5.

The problem is though, i don't know the thickness this particular assembly requires.
Also, ordering online can be a little troublesome considering my country (Egypt)

 

[i7Baby]

The thickness doesn't matter. The cooler will take it up (within reason).

If you don't want to try a pad, then clean off the old pad with isopropyl alcohol and put on some Arctic Silver 5.

 

[abdullah_mag]

The thickness doesn't matter. The cooler will take it up (within reason).

If you don't want to try a pad, then clean off the old pad with isopropyl alcohol and put on some Arctic Silver 5.

i have no experience in applying thermal paste/grease and neither do they, and i don't wanna fiddle around with a $570 GPU on my first try, so i'm stuck here and i don't know what to do.

 

[i7Baby]

Take it to a PC shop and get them to help.

 

[abdullah_mag]

Take it to a PC shop and get them to help.

i'll try....again....but people are just useless here (in this country i mean).

 

[i7Baby]

The alternate is to but a new graphics card.

 

[i7Baby]

Try -
Nefsak
Souq Took the liberty to point to some of the parts... not well organized but some good parts.
e3050
Quality Data Systems

 

[abdullah_mag]

Try -
Nefsak
Souq Took the liberty to point to some of the parts... not well organized but some good parts.
e3050
Quality Data Systems

could you please point out the particular item fits you found?

 

[i7Baby]

? I don't understand - item fits?

 

[abdullah_mag]

? I don't understand - item fits?

i meant the items that you found that i need from those websites, because i'm not sure i'm looking for the right ones.

 

[i7Baby]

I didn't look for any items. They are recommended by Tom's. They might be able to help you with the repair.

 

[Lutfij]

Ya'akhi, Abdullah, As'salamu'alaikum

I know a bit of Arabic and that is as far as I'm allowed to communicate in a language outside of English Is it possible for us to know you entire system specs? From your initial post it looks like you own a laptop but you're trying to fix a GPU?

 

[abdullah_mag]

Ya'akhi, Abdullah, As'salamu'alaikum

I know a bit of Arabic and that is as far as I'm allowed to communicate in a language outside of English Is it possible for us to know you entire system specs? From your initial post it looks like you own a laptop but you're trying to fix a GPU?

My specific laptop is alienware m17x r4 and the gpu is nvidia gtx 675m

 

[Lutfij]

Alright what have you tried so far apart from giving it to the people found at your local computer shop?

 

[abdullah_mag]

I tried cleaning all the dust from the heatsink and the fans, i checked whether any of the visible thermal strips are dry from anywhere, i limited my fps to 50~55 to better control the temps.

 

[Lutfij]

Okay have you verified that you're within or outside the warranty period to go ahead with tearing down a laptop of that caliber?

 

[abdullah_mag]

Ouside warranty

 

[Lutfij]

Did you follow up on the procedures during dis-assembly and assembly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP4myeDK-3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITj5XV7XimU <- since it deals with your GPU in particular but look through both guides.
^ thermal pads can be found in the link in the video description. Since you mentioned the thermal pads drying out, have you brought up the issue with the guys at Dell(Alienware)?

 

[abdullah_mag]

I know my laptop inside out, i've partially disassembled it before and i always follow the user manual and tutorial videos, this time i'm just too cautious because there's potentially a large amount of money at risk if i should fail or don't pay attention to signs of problems.

The main thing i wanted by this thread is straightforward answers to the few questions i put at the end of the original post.

All help is appreciated though, and i thank you for that.

 

[Lutfij]

The main thing i wanted by this thread is straightforward answers to the few questions i put at the end of the original post.

So to the actual question now, Should i be worried about these pads giving up on me in a moment's notice??, do i really need to be chasing after a fresh set of stickies???, or am i just too paranoid??

Akhi, having a spare set of thermal pads at hand is a good thing if you know your laptop inside-out and know for a fact that they are (under your observation) running dry. Thermal pads come in varying thicknesses and if you don't get the correct thickness you either end up with:
a| dry thermal pads
+
b| a VRM or mosfet(power regulator) not making contact with your cooler/heatpipe.

With a+b that does lead you to wonder that the heat from the power regulators aren't being transported to the cooler heatpipe assembly and efficiently thrown to the outside of your chassis so that leads me to assume that the high temps are due to the heat build up produced from your VRM's that aren't contacting the cooler. This may also explain why you see favorable temps when you limit your GPU load.

Now if you have access to good thermal pads make sure they are of the right thickness or if you're going to go all out and ship it from abroad then might as well look into Fujipoly thermal pads - they are the cream of the crop thermal pads and perform very well. There is another side to the advice though, how much more do you want to invest in it? You've dropped a good amount into it by now and the best thing you should do is leave it as is as any further investments may just give negative returns i.e dead lappy.

there's potentially a large amount of money at risk if i should fail or don't pay attention to signs of problems.

That doesn't give us much confidence to hear that from you as we're only capable of directing you via text in order to resolve any/all issues. You've also stated that the people in your locality aren't competent at working with your hardware - so if you may, habibi, what sort of an advice can I provide to give you ease at heart ?

All help is appreciated though, and i thank you for that.

Afwan - You're welcome but you seem frustrated at not getting a clear answer.

 

[abdullah_mag]

Thank you for the reply.

The main reason why i asked these questions was to determine whether i should be vigorously pursuing a fresh set of pads starting Right Now, or there is still plenty of life in my current ones and i'm just worrying too much.

I have contacted the guys who got me my last card and asked them to get me a new set of pads or supply me with a solution and hopefully they will reply, but the last time i asked them for these pads they took 3 months and they still hadn't arrived (they are dell subsidiary) and probably never will, so in the end, when the lappy starts showing signs of drying pads, i'll stop using it and look into those fujipoly ones.

The help i'd want now though is help determining the thickness, dimensions, and type of pads to order, and which ones to apply where on the gpu.

Just to make sure, the laptop is an alienware m17x r4 with an nvidia gtx 675m.

 

[Lutfij]

You're very welcome but we're not out of the woods yet, bro, we've only touched up on possible causes for the issue.

I found this through a quick search:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/thermal-pads-for-m17x-r4s-gpu-gtx-680m.693341/

Since I don't own the laptop nor have I worked on one the R4 seems very similar internally to the R3 and going by the above linked thread I'll suggest going with the 1mm thermal pad however what you could and should do is take a ruler and measure the thermal pads thickness. If they are all 1mm in thickness then you can order a large pad and even if they are a mix of 1 and 2mm then you can apply a double layer of 1mm thermal tape/pad.

Contrary to what i7Baby had suggested, you use:
TIM's when you have a level surface i.e when a plate makes a very good flush contact with heat surface
Thermal pad's when you have an uneven mount or surface

its a good thing you didn't throw away the thermal pads and gone ahead with the thermal paste application to screws things over even more.

What sites do you access to from Egypt in order to purchase? anywhere in the world or specific sites or parts of the world like USA only? Fujipoly is out of stock and currently unavailable on amazon.com while frozencpu is actually closed due to a dispute(prefer not to disclose) so I'll need to know if you are willing to work with other brands.

Furthermore this is what your GPU PCB looks like:

and this is what a GTX680M looks like:

again;

GTX 675M

GTX 680M

Is there any way you can contact the guys ask for the thickness(if you're uncomfortable in opening up the laptop)? State that you're trying to look for a better quality thermal pad then what they are offering.