Laptop Thermal Compound Upgrade: Is it worth it?

[esevre]

I am in the market for a new laptop, and noticed an option to upgrade thermal compound. 

I don't know much about thermal compound, so I was wondering if it was worth it.

 

I was looking at OriginPC for a laptop, and they have this blurb for thermal paste:

Quote

GELID GC-Extreme CPU Application

Created for Extreme Users on highest level the GC-Extreme thermal compound achieves the best heat conductivity from your CPU to your cooler/Heatsink. Reducing temperatures a whopping 18 degrees Celsius* in some cases over stock thermal compounds. Used by competitive and extreme overclockers as the go to tool for that competitive edge. So if you want that extreme edge we highly recommend GC-Extreme.

• Ultimate Heat Conductivity
• Non-Electrical Conductive
• Non-Corrosive & Non-Curing

 

Density (g/cm3):	3.73
Thermal conductivity (W/mK):	8.5
Viscosity (Centipoise):	85000

(Similar claims are made for the graphics card compound)

 

I will be doing some high performance computing, and usually just use computers other people have built.

Running 2 and 3 hour computations is not uncommon for me, so I was wondering if this would make a difference in heat and CPU/GPU performance.

I do plan on trying to compute on both the CPU and GPU.

 

For laptop specs, I am looking at an i7-8750, GTX1060 6GB, and 16 or 32GB of RAM.

 

 

Will thermal compound really make that much of a difference in temperature and performance? If it reduces temperature, that would be awesome for my work, especially since I often do long computations and I get nervous about my laptop getting so hot.

[mxk]

I think it might be a better option to buy some compound and apply it yourself. Origin isn't bad but I personally wouldn't trust a company to do it, I'd rather do it myself to know that it was done well.

 

It should help drop temps, hypothetically.

[Jurrunio]

GC Extreme is a good paste, but no guarantees that they dont screw up the application itself.

[genexis_x]

Which model you're looking at?

 

Most stock paste in laptops suck so a repaste is highly recommended

 

GC Extreme is an excellent paste

[esevre]

Thanks for the quick replies!

 

27 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Which model you're looking at?

I was looking at the EVO16-S. I'm looking at the gaming laptop, because I want a laptop that can work for my research, but also can let me game.

 

If I order a laptop from Origin I will probably have them apply the paste. I have never applied the thermal paste to a laptop before, so as long as they are competent they will do as good a job as I would be able to.

 

Thanks again for the replies. I have fallen out of the world of hardware, and I am glad to see the LTT forums are an awesome place I can come ask questions as I get back into the hardware world!

[esevre]

55 minutes ago, mxk. said:

I think it might be a better option to buy some compound and apply it yourself. Origin isn't bad but I personally wouldn't trust a company to do it, I'd rather do it myself to know that it was done well.

 

It should help drop temps, hypothetically.

Thanks for your input, but I don't know what I am doing so if I buy a laptop from Origin, I will just have them apply the thermal compound for me. 

[markr54632]

If you are buying the system new and expect to retain warrantee just pay for the option and have them do it.

 

As for using a high performance thermal compound in a laptop, there is a reason manafacturers do not use high perfomance compounds. In bare die applications they tend to "pump out" from the center of the die rather rapidly. Manafacturers tend to use a thicker paste that favors longevity over thermal properties.

 

It pretty much comes down to live with poor thermal performance, that will remain poor, but more consistent. Or choose a higher performance thermal paste and expect to reapply once a year.

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, esevre said:

EVO16-S

It's the new Clevo P960 which don't have any reviews for now