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Repasting CPU, GPU, and thermal padding (MSI GS65 Stealth)

Hey all,

 

I'm the new owner of an MSI GS65 Stealth-006. Going into this purchase I was aware that this laptop is particularly difficult to modify due to the flipped motherboard. I've had a fair bit of experience working with laptops in the past, and am willing to take the risks that come with disassembling it and making modifications myself. I know it's challenging, but I think as long as I'm willing to take the time and be gentle, nothing should get damaged.

 

I intend to repaste my CPU and GPU. I've done this before with a friend of mine who had already purchased thermal paste, so I'm not super familiar with which one would be good to buy. I'd like to get a recommendation on a thermal paste I can purchase from Amazon or Newegg that will give me better performance. I don't necessarily need the top-of-the-line paste (ICE diamond), unless it's only a couple dollars more. I want something that's good quality but don't want to overpay just to see a percentage or a fraction of a percent of performance, you know?

 

In addition to this, I've been reading that adding a thermal pad below an NVMe drive can help improve it's performance. I hadn't heard this before and I'm curious if it's worth doing, and if so, where I can find a couple at a decent price. Most of the ones I've seen on amazon are packs of a dozen or more, and I just don't see myself needing that many. Also, are there any other places I can add padding to help disperse heat? I want to help add or replace padding to help ensure the most efficient cooling on the laptop, so it can last longer and perform better. If anyone has had experience with this exact laptop, that would be even better!

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Unless the thermal paste application during assembly was botched, you won't see much improvement beyond a degree or two even with the best of thermal compounds, especially in a laptop. On a new unit still in warranty, it's totally not worth it IMO.

 

As far as putting thermal pads on the NVME drive, you won't see any improvement in performance, just better thermals. I suppose better performance can encompass avoiding thermal throttling and damage prevention due to heat, but that's kinda playing with semantics. Your drive likely isn't in thermal trouble. You can always check with disk benchmarks and HWiNFO,

MacBook Pro 16 i9-9980HK - Radeon Pro 5500m 8GB - 32GB DDR4 - 2TB NVME

iPhone 12 Mini / Sony WH-1000XM4 / Bose Companion 20

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2 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

Unless the thermal paste application during assembly was botched, you won't see much improvement beyond a degree or two even with the best of thermal compounds, especially in a laptop. On a new unit still in warranty, it's totally not worth it IMO.

 

As far as putting thermal pads on the NVME drive, you won't see any improvement in performance, just better thermals. I suppose better performance can encompass avoiding thermal throttling and damage prevention due to heat, but that's kinda playing with semantics. Your drive likely isn't in thermal trouble. You can always check with disk benchmarks and HWiNFO,

Is there a way I can check and compare my CPU's performance to other CPUs, just to gauge if the thermal paste is doing it's job? That way if it's fine I don't even have to bother opening it up if it's already doing well.

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1 minute ago, joev14 said:

Is there a way I can check and compare my CPU's performance to other CPUs, just to gauge if the thermal paste is doing it's job? That way if it's fine I don't even have to bother opening it up if it's already doing well.

Comparing benchmarks for your specific chip would be easy, comparing thermal results a little harder because you need to find reviews with your exact CPU/GPU spec. What parts do you have? What are your CPU temps under stress and GPU temps under extended gaming or benchmarks?

MacBook Pro 16 i9-9980HK - Radeon Pro 5500m 8GB - 32GB DDR4 - 2TB NVME

iPhone 12 Mini / Sony WH-1000XM4 / Bose Companion 20

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1 minute ago, Vitamanic said:

Comparing benchmarks for your specific chip would be easy, comparing thermal results a little harder because you need to find reviews with your exact CPU/GPU spec. What parts do you have? What are your CPU temps under stress and GPU temps under extended gaming or benchmarks?

I have an i7-8750H, and an RTX 2060. I just got it so I haven't actually run any stress tests on it yet.

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25 minutes ago, joev14 said:

I have an i7-8750H, and an RTX 2060. I just got it so I haven't actually run any stress tests on it yet.

I just spent what feels like an eternity looking for reviews of that model that provided temperature testing but couldn't find anything, lol. For a slim machine with those components, you'd be aiming for simply not thermal throttling. Looking at reddit, most people say they see around 85-90c under synthetic stress testing on the CPU on your specific model. That's of course subject to your local ambient temperature.

 

Run some tests and see where things stand. 

MacBook Pro 16 i9-9980HK - Radeon Pro 5500m 8GB - 32GB DDR4 - 2TB NVME

iPhone 12 Mini / Sony WH-1000XM4 / Bose Companion 20

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