Repasting 2012 Macbook Pro

[LordPaisey]

Hi Guys! 

 

EDIT - I hope this is in the right place please move it if necessary! 

 

Massive deep PC building/maintenance newbie here first time I've done this

 

Ive recently torn down and repasted my 2012 15" Macbook Pro (a1286) with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (See time lapse here)

 

The machine is running fine but I didn't get the reduction in temps I was looking for. Ive included some pictures of the GPU and CPU as well as the heat sink before cleaning as well as my process below.

 

 

 

I was going to use some alcohol wipes from a medical kit to clean the GPU and CPU but then found them to be non alcohol.

So did it with some kitchen towel and 99% isopropanol I know not great but my macbook was in bits and I had no alternative!

I cleaned all of the paste off from on and around the chips and off of the heat sink as well. I made sure as far as I could see there were no fibres from the kitchen towel left on the chips.

 

I then proceeded to put a pea sized bit of paste on the small chip and a long grain of rice size on the large chip (I forget which was which)

 

Then I put the heat sink back into place all be it it slid around a bit but I managed to get it back on and then do the screws up nice and tight. 

 

I out everything back together and the machine is running ok but still getting quite hot and not having the reduction in temps I was expecting to see... 

 

Did I do anything wrong?

 

Should I do it again with proper Noctua wipes?

 

Has the kitchen paper towel fucked me over?

 

Does there need to be loads of paste in the recesses around the chips like before? 

 

Should I have spread the paste over the chips according to Thermal Grizzlys guidelines? all the material i read said that peas and rice then a firmly applied heat sink was fine? 

 

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me! 

 

And as I said at the start Im a newbie to anything thermal paste related so please be nice! 

 

 

Thanks 

 

Olly 

 

 

[Shimejii]

These tend to not really reduce much in temps and thermals, as you are generally allowing them to boost to higher speeds.  Or in some cases it just doesnt change anything

[LordPaisey]

4 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

These tend to not really reduce much in temps and thermals, as you are generally allowing them to boost to higher speeds.  Or in some cases it just doesnt change anything

I was just hoping that maybe it would run a bit cooler and the case would maybe not get as hot just like 8 years ago when it was new and i was a fresh faced 18 year old starting university!  haha  

[markr54632]

Keep in mind when using a "performance" thermal compound you will need to reapply every 6-12 months as the performance degrades. Thermal compound pumps out rather fast in bare die applications, which is why you see manufacturers use much drier, thicker pastes.

 

You are more limited by the minuscule laptop heatsinks and stock fan curves than the thermal compound.

 

Hopefully you cleaned all of that dust out while you were in there.

[LordPaisey]

20 hours ago, markr54632 said:

Hopefully you cleaned all of that dust out while you were in there.

Of course!