Solved! Persistent overheating after applying new thermal paste

[gekko668]

My laptop has a persistent overheating problem even after applying fresh thermal paste to the CPU, GPU, and the southbridge. The thermal paste that I use is Artic Silver 5 but the laptop's temperature is always around 140F during idle and around 160-180F when watching videos then shut down afterward. I've put the copper shims on both gpu and southbride but it doesn't help at all, not even a 1 degree drop. The fan is working fine and I've even try thermal pads too but it didn't help at all. I'm at my whit right now. Please help

 

[mouse24]

how much did you put on? to much and it will overheat, as with to little

 

[gekko668]

I didn't put on too much and spread it out evenly. The size is slightly smaller then a water droplet

 

[larkspur]

My laptop has a persistent overheating problem even after applying fresh thermal paste to the CPU, GPU, and the southbridge. The thermal paste that I use is Artic Silver 5 but the laptop's temperature is always around 140F during idle and around 160-180F when watching videos then shut down afterward. I've put the copper shims on both gpu and southbride but it doesn't help at all, not even a 1 degree drop. The fan is working fine and I've even try thermal pads too but it didn't help at all. I'm at my whit right now. Please help

I will assume that the reason you applied fresh paste was because the laptop was overheating to begin with. So I will also assume that applying new paste didn't help (it shouldn't anyway). Please correct my assumptions if they are wrong.

Typically computers overheat when their heat sink fins get filled up with dust. Have you blown out all of your heatsinks especially the CPU one? Have you confirmed that all of your fans are spinning properly? Are you setting your laptop on a surface that is blocking its air ports? Make sure these ports are dust-free. Sounds like bad airflow or improper CPU heatsink mounting.

 

[gekko668]

Yes I've cleaned out the copper fins and the fan does works and blows strong. During idle, the fan spins at highest speed but the temp is around 140F. I wonder if the copper heat pipe is bad.

The laptop is Everex XT5300T - an off brand that I bought it from Newegg. It works great for about a year then start overheating and I haven't been able to find a solution for it.

 

[swifty_morgan]

first thing i thought of was what larkspur thought of. the heat sink not being re-installed properly. you should check it.

 

[gekko668]

What do you mean not reinstall correctly? because after reapplying thermal paste to the cpu, gpu and southbridge chip I screwed it in tightly and make sure there isn't any movement at all.

 

[gnuman]

Have you checked what the temps are saying in the BIOS? I find it hard to believe that you're running at 140F.

I know desktops and laptops are different but normally you would have temp shutdown to prevent damage due to overheating. Maybe the thermal sensor wasn't put back properly or is defective.

Is the air hot to the touch? At 140F you would really feel it being hot

 

[gekko668]

Yes I can feel the hot air being blow out to the point of burning sensation if you leave your finger there for too long. As for the bios, the bios is pretty stripped out and wont display temperature.

 

[swifty_morgan]

What do you mean not reinstall correctly? because after reapplying thermal paste to the cpu, gpu and southbridge chip I screwed it in tightly and make sure there isn't any movement at all.

kinda like putting a tire on a car. you don't tighten one lug nut and then another. you try and alternate between them. not doing one and then the other but doing them all a little at a time. working around in a star pattern so the wheel goes on right. ... same thing with the heat sink. And I agree it should be tight but was it "extremely" tight when you unscrewed it. over torquing may be in play here ? ( or lopsided heat sink,,, not fitting flush on the processor.

 

[gekko668]

that's is interesting idea, I never thought of it. I'll give it a try

 

[joshybo7]

i noticed you said you spread it out evenly, if so do you mean with you finger or an applicator? spreading it out will cause air bubbles in the thermal paste which decreases heat conductivity between the processor and the heat sink, you should let the heat sink spread it out under its own weight, that helps make an even, air-bubble-free layer of compound.

 

[gekko668]

That's is an interesting because all of the PCs that I've built in the past I spread the thermal paste using my fingers but never would have thought about causing air bubbles. I'll give it a try and see if it still overheating

 

[vigilante212]

also arctic silver has a break in period of like 200 hours. There are better compounds out now that have little to no break in time.

 

[mouse24]

yeah using your fingers is a really bad idea using a credit card is slightly better but still do it the way joshybo described

 

[gekko668]

I guess the applying thermal paste using your finger doesn't work well with laptop GPU/cpu/southbridge chip. I'm out of town right now and give it a try when I get back.