Just finished a repair where I swapped a $40 thermal pad for a $2 tube of paste

The pad dropped temps by 15 degrees under load, no contest. Anyone else find that pads are way more consistent on older laptops?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_henderson1mo ago

Yeah, that 15 degree drop is huge... I saw a teardown video where they said older laptop heatsinks warp over time, so a thicker pad fills the gap better than paste that can pump out. Makes sense why the consistency matters so much on worn hardware.

fiona_lewis371mo ago

But a warped heatsink sounds a bit much...

theamason1mo ago

wait, does the pump out issue get worse over time with paste? i had a old thinkpad where the paste was completely dry after like 2 years, but pads stayed put. seems like the constant heat cycles just squish the paste out eventually, especially on the die edges. pads might be thicker but they dont migrate as much.