FireMrshlBill

Repasted it with MX-4. It wasn't my best pasting job, but when I started it up and did Cinebench, the temps now jumped between 95.3C - 97.7C with some bumps to 98.5C and drops to 93C. It was now jumping between 2.9-3GHz and a score of 590. So a little improvement at the top end. My stock paste wasn't actually dried out like others. I did get a refurbished model, so maybe Apple repasted it during the refurb process and used better paste? They still used a little too much, but wasn't really that bad. So that is my guess. Idle is jumping between 53-65C, so it seems overall the lows are lower and the highs are the same or slightly higher even than the stock paste but I am getting a higher clock under load. Like I said, its not my best pasting job and the paste was just applied. So I will use it for a week or so and see how it does over that time period. Was really hoping to get under 50C at idle and get turbos higher than 3.0GHz under load during Cinebench (the highest I saw was 3.12GHz, or maybe it was 3.012GHz). I should note that those previous tests were with a monitor connected via the HDMI port so the discrete graphics is on and generating more heat. Unplugging that and the idle temps drop to 44-47C with just the Intel utility or that and a Safari window open doing some browsing. Cinebench was only maybe 0.4C lower, but it stayed closer to the 3GHz even sometimes hitting over 3.1GHz, and the score jumped up to the 593-596 range, one run even hit 601, but was pretty heat saturated after that and didn't go over 595 after. Plugging the monitor in and it goes back to 51-53C idle/browsing temps. Anyway, I'll wrap it up with that. Dusting/cleaning is a must. Pasting is more of a YMMV depending on condition of stock paste. edit: the next day, no monitor plugged in, it is idling in the mid-30c's now after waking from sleep and jumps up to the mid-to-upper 40c's when I go to a new web page or some other menial task, but then drops back to the 30c's. So daily use it will be in the mid-30's to mid-40c's. Very happy with the repaste if it continues with this trend. Would recommend it for any MBP old enough to be out of extended Apple Care.

Got the new P5 screwdriver in and opened it up and blew out the dust. There was visible dust on the fan blades and a little dust bunny trapped against each heatsink. My laptop has mostly been on a Rain MStand, so it doesn't collect dust off the surface of the desk, just in the air for the most part. So I'd imagine others that use theirs more on the couch, bed, or directly on the desk would have more dust at this point in theirs (and I don't live in a particularly dusty area and the humidity usually keeps the dust low). Put the bottom back on without screwing it in and ran Cinebench again. Temps hit up to 98.3C but really stuck in the 96.0 - 97.6C range with some dips to 93C. CPU was mostly in the 2.8-2.9GHz turbo boost range, while it was pretty much locked at a 2.7GHz boost due to throttling prior to me taking an air duster to it. So my Cinebench score got up to 581, a 10 point improvement. Just doing daily tasks like web browsing and running a youtube video, the temps are 55-64C, where they were more in the 62-68c range before. So I'll try the repaste sometime over the weekend, and while I have that heatsink off, give it a more thorough cleaning in case the dust bunnies got trapped somewhere rather than blown out (didn't see where either went after hitting it with my electric air duster). Already happy with that improvement, and worth it to anyone who has a MBP that is out of AppleCare (otherwise just take it to them to clean out before your apple care runs out).

Just ran Cinebench but my CPU is the i7 4870HQ, so that won't really help you out. It got a CPU score of 571 and was hitting 98.2-98.9C most of the test with a few drops to 96.xx here and there. So definitely want to give it a good cleaning and repasting. Ya, I am debating if I want to use MX-4 or Kryonaut when I repaste mine. The MX-4 is a little more "runny" so was thinking of Kryonaut and manually spreading it out like I always do with that (do the pea/rice sized drop method with other pastes) since the pressure from a laptop heatsink isn't quite as much as with a desktop cooler. I also have an unopened tube of Noctua NT-H1 or whatever that is highly praised that I could use, but will probably save that for whenever I run out of the MX-4. I doubt there would be any performance difference between the three in this use case, or even over AC5. I'll have to do some research on what you mentioned about it breaking down over 80c, that is pretty surprising seeing how it is marketed to OCers and whatnot. If you are worried, may as well just use the AC5 you have on hand and just replace your stock with something with higher thermal performance later. Like you said, a 2014 MBP probably only has a couple more years of daily type use to her before she'll want to upgrade and then it will be someone else's problem, and I'd assume any application of new paste would be better than stock at this point. I'm honestly surprised I am still using mine as I used to be someone that upgraded laptops every 2 years or so, but really have no plans to upgrade this in the near future. Will post my results here once I get it all done if you or anyone are curious and still debating if its worth the trouble. edit: can't find my P5 screwdriver so had to order a new one, guess it will be the weekend before anything happens.

Been thinking of doing the same to my mid-2014 as well, both cleaning and repasting. What’s your cpu? I’ll run Cinebench this week and can share the results to compare. If you are having temp issues and confident in replacing the paste, then give it a try. Plenty of people do it and get favorable results if it was a poor paste job at the factory, not uncommon to read 10c drops and/or less fan noise during normal operations. I haven’t used AC5 in years but if you have it on hand then use that. Otherwise, I use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (not their liquid metal) or MX4 on my builds (Gelid Extreme is also favored by many but no personal experience). Kryonaut is a bit pricey but I think worth it if ou are someone that doesn’t go through paste quickly, MX4 is a great price with great results. Just stay away from liquid metal. It’s too risky in a laptop, won’t give much better results with this cooling system and some people have had issues with it pitting their heatsinks and cpu/gpu heat shields even within a year or two. But ya, will try to run Cinebench tomorrow or the next day and may do the cleaning and repasting this weekend.

Unless you are planning to really push OC's and bump up voltages, I wouldn't worry too much about VRM temps. Most of the complaints you read are people who are doing that with a R5 or R7, running Aida64 for 20 minutes and then complaining their VRMs are 100-110C, while admitting they max out around 75-80C under typical real world heavy load scenarios. I was worried about VRM temps and went to a handful of forums and that was the typical scenario. So, if that is your plan, then you should be looking to spend another $50 or so on a X470 with better heat management (like the Aorus Gaming boards with the extra heat pipes and decent heatsinks). Of the cheaper boards, I've seen better reviews with the ASrocks compared to the Gigabyte and MSI boards when it comes to VRM temps and OC'ing. Again, if you are looking to be a heavy overclocker, then any of the stock AB350 mobo's probably aren't your target boards. That Gigabyte AB350-DS3H that is usually the popular budget seller was on sale for $52 on Prime Day this week. Heck, I was tempted to grab one for a HTPC build, but ended up going the mini-ITX route.

Nice build. I like the design a lot. How are temps on the stock heatsink? Also, great minds think alike. I just finished my main rig (2600x + RX 580 like you mentioned you were originally going to do), and I have parts on order for a 2200g mini-ITX build in a 3.3L case (INWIN BQ656T w/150w psu built-in). Hopefully I can get enough work done to have time to get that mostly put together this weekend though the ram won't get here from newegg until next week. Same motherboard I believe, got it over the Gigabyte since Microcenter had it on sale + $10 MIR, and they also had the 2200g for $20 off. Was going to mess with it a bit and then transfer it to something like an Antec Elite 110 or something that I can toss a gpu in down the road to use a htpc and Steam streaming (for games the 2200g can't handle well enough). However, I like your case's form factor a lot. Does the GPU being on the other side prevent it from being placed horizontal, or are there feet/enough ventilation to allow it to go sideways with the gpu on the bottom?

There are some decent sales on Amazon right now. 1600 is $149, 2600 is $169 and 2600x is $188, if you are in the US (but maybe Canada or elsewhere has similar sales?) I bought the 2600x 4 weeks ago on sale for $209 since it was only about $20 more than than the 2600 and comes with a better cooler than the 2600 (the Spire instead of the Stealth). Buying the 1600 over the 1600x made more sense, for <$20 more, buying the 2600x over the 2600 makes more sense unless you are going to go the water cool and heavy OC route. So for $20 more you get the 2600 over the 1600, but for another $20 you get the 2600x which is already higher clocked and has a better cooler and you'd want to spend $30 on a cooler if you were going to OC the 2600 to 2600x levels. So I would just splurge on the 2600x or just grab the 1600 for $40 less and OC that (it comes with the Spire as well and can handle mild OC on stock cooler). If you have that $40 to spend, I'd just grab it now and you'll be good for a few years. The 2600/x is plenty for most people. It plays all those games with no issues, my RX 580 is my limiting factor in any game I play now.