2

I have an ASUS G51VX that I've had for about 5 years and it ran fine, except when watching HD videos; then it had a tendency to overheat and turn off. I took the heat sync off to apply some Arctic MX-2 Thermal Compound; I also found a fair bit of dust was clogging the fins that come out the side of the laptop, I did away with this using some Kensington Dust Guardian, which turns the dust into a substance of a muddy consistency.

When I pulled the heat sink off, the thermal pads on two of the RAM Chips on the CPU ripped and I'm wondering if I need new thermal pads now; I mean they could just mush back together when the chips heat up, but I'm not certain if this will be the case, so I was wondering if I needed new thermal pads and which ones would the the appropriate ones for the job.

Torn thermal pads by the NVIDIA chip towards the bottom of the screen

You can see them just towards the bottom of the image.

leeand00
  • 23,552

2 Answers2

5

You probably should get new thermal pads. The old ones have taken the shape of the chips below them. If you reused them, air could get trapped between the pads on the chips making a poor seal. If the pads were put there by the manufacturer, then odds are they are needed for optimal heat dissipation. Pads are cheap, far cheaper than having to buy a new laptop when a chip burns out.

As for which, it doesnt matter to much. Just get some that will fit appropriately over the components.

Keltari
  • 75,447
1

To my knowledge, the general rule of thumb is that if a thermal pad or thermal paste is separated from the heatsink/chip, it should be replaced.

So yes, you should replace them.

timelmer
  • 228
  • 1
  • 13