I am replacing the thermal pads of my laptop. Namely, it uses six thermals pads:
- One on the gpu
- One on the northbridge
- Two on the video memory
- Two on the VRM
(Plus thermal compound on the cpu)
The original pads from the manufacturer (or last technician who repaired it) have the following thickness:
- 0.5mm on the gpu
- 1.5mm on the northbridge
- 1.5mm on the video memory
- 1.5mm on the VRM
Surprisingly, when I measured the gaps using a feeler gauge, I realized that the pad on the northbridge was particularly thick compared to the gap. The gaps according to my measurement are:
- 0.35mm on the gpu
- <0.02mm on the northbridge
- 0.5mm on the video memory
- 1mm on the VRM
So my laptop was using a 1.5mm pad on the northbridge while the actual gap is less than 0.02mm.
What thickness of thermal pads should I use on each one?
Also, what sizes should I cut the pads once I decide the thickness? Should the pads be exactly the size of the chip part touching the heatsink? Or should they be smaller/larger?
