Chastity's Repaste Experience

Chastity · 08-02-2010, 06:24 PM

After all has been done to my poor baby, let me pass on some of my experience to those thinking of whether to repaste or not:

With Hellcry nagging anyone who would listen about stress testing your GPU with FURMARK, I decided while enjoying my lunch break to run this FURMARK thingy on default settings and see how well my poor G73 handles it. In a nutshell, it GSODs. Every time. No matter what clock settings I used. Longest run: 02:34. Prettiest color of GSOD: Lavender. Temps: 102C was highest before flickering and subsequent DEATH. Now when I game with, say, Dragon Age, my MemIO temp would hit about 96C.

Irked by such a freaking poor performance, I decided to do something about it. On another lunch break, I went to MicroCenter (AWESOME PLACE! It's a permanent Computer Show) to discuss getting some repasting done. They said sure, and needed to order some pads. After reading about pads here, I ordered some .5mm pads. (PROTIP: Don't get .5 mm pads, they're too skinny. Get the 1mm pads) So on that note, I wasted $13 on pads. Grrrr.

So last weekend was kinda slow, so I got anxious and decided to do my own disassembly. (ProTip: be VERY VERY gentle with removing the keyboard from the 2-way "ZOMG IT STICKS LIKE F'KN GLUE!" tape they use.) (ProTip: I hate the ribbon cables. Seriously, take a pic before removing them to make sure how far they go in.) The BTOTech was a godsend for doing this, except on keyboard removal... (ProTip: New keyboards are $70 to replace)

So, if you are a novice, seriously, let a pro do this. If he fux up, then he can fix it.

Many places will do it if they're Authorized Asus Warranty Service centers and under warranty. Just gripe about the high temps and the GSODs. Bringing your hot gf/sister will get you free Rush Service.

(They're male and geeks)

So after all the ripping apart, I get to the GPU. First thing I check was the heatsink mounting. And yep, the screws still had some play in them. Which means the heatsink could have been a little tighter and sucking up more therms, but not for me. (We're talking about at least a good 1/4 turn)

So I unscrew, and pop off the heatsink. This is what we have:

The heatsink:

And 2 pics of the GPU itself:

Seems whatever they used, they glopped it on, and most of it puddled outside of the heatsink. Note that most of it spread AWAY from the center, and how thick it gathered around the center. Good signs of poor heatsink mounting AND using TIM as a gap fill. I also am not fond of that plastic "heat funnel" but whatever, I left it there. I did however cleaned off all that craptim with 90% alcohol and Q-Tips. For the final clean, I use coffee filter paper and alcohol. (It's lint-free and disposable)

Also note on the Heatsink pic all the scrapes and gouges in the copper surface. Yep... monkeys. This is where Viscious would discuss lapping, but I digress. I noticed that the heatsink had border cutouts to mark the GPU area. Anyone want to bet they apply the paste to the heatsink, and then plop it on?

I'm sorry to say I forgot to take a pic of it cleaned and the paste applied. However, once all the old TIM is cleaned off, and don't forget the stuff on the side of the GPU, it's time to select your paste. For my endeavor, I selected Ken Lee's current favorite: IC Diamond 7 ($6.99 at MicroCenter. What can I say about a retail chain that stocks ICD7?

) My previous experiences have been with Arctic Silver 5, and I have 2 tubes of it, but I was curious about the IC, and it was staring at me lovingly on the shelf. (ProTip: Immerse the tube halfway in hot water before applying, else the stuff comes out like putty.) Now this stuff transfers heat. Like mad. Like so mad the stuff gets cool quick and puttifies. I wound up cutting a Q-Tip and using the stick end to center the stuff on the GPU surface.

The amount doesn't have to be huge. I used an amount that would be the size of a small pea, or about half the size of a kernel of corn. I then placed the heatsink straight down with the screws aligned, and gave it a minor twist to the left and right to help with the distribution of paste and elimination of air. (Once the paste warms up from the GPU, it will spread out like the dickens and settle. This is a good thing.

) I tightened down the screws as far as they would go, without overdoing it by hand. They are pring mounted, so you won't be able to go too far, unless you go BEZERK and pull a Hulk on it.

So getting it back together was FUN. Wouldn't turn on until the 3rd reassemble. Joy. Keyboard got fubard. ($94 with 2-day shipping. I feel raped.) Touchpad not working, dunno why yet. However, the fruits of my repasting was a joy. I turned it on, and my idle temps were initially 47C, with a slow warming to 49-50C. Damn. Furmark runs on default settings: 77C Max. With PostFX and xTreme Burnin on: 80C Fullscreen (02:18:00), 81C Windowed (02:00:00). BTW, thanks to Asus' hardware deviations from reference designs, I needed the 705/1100 timings OC to get stable results. I also disabled PowerPlay and used High Performance power settings to eliminate any ideas that the GPU was downclocking at anytime. Ambient temp was about 20-21C. (My AC battles with my desktop rig) I did keep the bottom elevated during tests, since I didn't know yet how well the job went. (I sat it on my Targus Lap Chill on the bed. It looked so comfy.

)

Now, these temps aren't unusual. Ken Lee was showing about 82C on some of his runs. So either I did an awesome job, or ICD7 rules. (or both)

Kaelang · 08-02-2010, 06:32 PM

Wow! 47C! That's pretty impressive. I wonder if I should do that myself sometime...

mindinversion · 08-02-2010, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Wow! 47C! That's pretty impressive. I wonder if I should do that myself sometime...

You go right ahead. Chastity confirmed what I already suspected was the case from watching the youtube vid: it's more trouble than it's worth.

Chastity: I'm really REALLY glad you got it working again! Grats on the lower temps ^^. Now. . you wanna do the rest of ours as well?

I have to tell ya, I'm absolutely in SHOCK AND AWE over the condition of that heatsink. The thermal compound I suppose I can understand, but WOW that thing is torn up.

FruitSaladExtreme · 08-02-2010, 06:41 PM

I'll never know what entertainment everyone gets out of running furmark.

47C idle is nice though.

<MarkS> · 08-02-2010, 06:44 PM

Nice post Chastity.

Who gouged you for a $70 keyboard? If I had known you'd pay that much I would have sold you my spare for $50, and still doubled my money

Hell, I should have bought them all back in March and sold them for $100 each heh.

Chastity · 08-02-2010, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Nice post Chastity.

Who gouged you for a $70 keyboard? If I had known you'd pay that much I would have sold you my spare for $50, and still doubled my money

Hell, I should have bought them all back in March and sold them for $100 each heh.

Finding them online is a PITA. So, OK, I panicked and I forgot Ebay.

Chastity · 08-02-2010, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindinversion

You go right ahead. Chastity confirmed what I already suspected was the case from watching the youtube vid: it's more trouble than it's worth.

Chastity: I'm really REALLY glad you got it working again! Grats on the lower temps ^^. Now. . you wanna do the rest of ours as well?

I have to tell ya, I'm absolutely in SHOCK AND AWE over the condition of that heatsink. The thermal compound I suppose I can understand, but WOW that thing is torn up.

Hey, if you want to come over and bring your baby, sure! You're removing the keyboard, however...

DRevan · 08-02-2010, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chastity

Hey, if you want to come over and bring your baby, sure! You're removing the keyboard, however...

-15-20C on memIO? Wow, thats nice.

IKAS V · 08-02-2010, 09:31 PM

Nice job!
All I have to say is unfortunately the factory thermal paste application is the norm, everytime I opened any laptop I owned it's always sloppily applied.
So new rule for me when I first get a new laptop, always repaste with a good quality product.

panzer06 · 08-02-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IKAS V

Nice job!
All I have to say is unfortunately the factory thermal paste application is the norm, everytime I opened any laptop I owned it's always sloppily applied.
So new rule for me when I first get a new laptop, always repaste with a good quality product.

Yep, same issue with Mac laptops. They must use those machines that glop condiments on assembly line burgers. It's always a huge mess to clean up. My G72 is much, much easier to work on.

Cheers,