Solved! Persistent overheating after applying new thermal paste

gekko668

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Jul 22, 2009
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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
 
Solution
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.

larkspur

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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

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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.
 

gekko668

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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

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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

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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

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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.
 

joshybo7

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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.
 
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gekko668

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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