AW13 i7-7700hq inconsistent core temps even after multiple repastes

Hey everyone, I am looking for some advice on getting my CPU core temps closer together. I have repasted twice now and both times I have gotten core temps of around 93C on cores 1 and 3 while cores 2 and 4 run at around 75C. I have built over 10 desktop computers myself so I am not a stranger to pasting/repasting, but I have exclusively used Arctic silver for the desktop repastes. For my laptop I used a new tube of thermal grizzly kryonaut, which has a very different consistency than the Arctic silver I am used to working with. I applied the paste using the "pea" method (more accurately the grain of rice method) both times and gave the paste at least a day to set up. It has been several days now since my last repastes and my core differentials are still pretty high.

Anyone have any advice? I know core temps vary wildly on the desktop 7700k because of the garbage they put underneath the IHS, but I don't know if that problem applies to laptop processors. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

its more of a heatsink issue on latest alienware models, Iunlock made a good thread about this, just pm him, he might be able to give some suggestions, as i dont have experience with new models.. try ICD instead of TG.. and check if ur thermal pads are correct sized.. and also the heatsink horizontal angle..

 

When did you receive this machine? Newer heatsinks should be better machined.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll look for that thread.

I got it September of this year, but just now got around to doing the repaste.

 

This issue is a combination of two problems: Warped heatsink and VRM thermal pads being the wrong height, lifting the heatsink and causing insufficient pressure on cores 1 and 3.
Unfortunately it's hard to tell if it's one factor or the other or both. But usually a complicated re-pad using thermal pads of a smaller thickness (e.g. replacing 1mm pads with 0.5mm pads), which is the easy part (the hard part is knowing which pads are a different thickness than other pads, because you want them all to have contact; see iunlock's posts or pictures), and for slightly warped heatsinks, there is sometimes a way to slightly bend the heatpipes carefully a TINY amount, involving heating and slight bending, to correct unevenness, but this is far harder to do; because one mistake and metal fatigue, and the heatpipe is ruined. If it's just too thick thermal pads and NOT a warped heatsink, that's much easier to fix.

 

I jsut noticed that you own the AW13R3, i thought the AW13 range was free of this issue :S

 

I just received my 13r3 (i7-7700HQ) last week. It is a "certified" (haha) refurbished and I'm not sure of the build date. My max temps can range from high 50's to low 90's.
I ordered paste and I'm considering trying a repaste, this would be my first attempt, but this thread makes me wonder about how effective it will be.

Dell tech support L3 (level 3 I guess?) Relied to me yesterday and said that temp differences in cores is not a problem.

Like any big company, they seem to be taking the "deny, deny, deny" approach not realizing that the customer can use Google.

Still contemplating return vs attempt to repaste myself

 

Thanks for the synopsis! I saw that thread about this issue with the 15s and 17s and I went ahead and bought some 0.5mm pads that should get here Friday. I will try that and bending the single screw to increase pressure on that side. I don't need temps within 5c of each other to feel satisfied, but I have to get some improvement over what I'm working with now. I'll post back when I've done everything

 

So after countless repaste attempts and trying a lot of other things I will not mention, I finally figured out that BOTH the thermal pads above the cpu were too thick, even with 0.5mm pads. The issue is that the memory modules are not even with each other and some stand higher off the motherboard than others.

Core temps are within 5c of each other with those pads removed. Obviously I did not spend much time testing this as the memory modules weren't covered, but I did at least identify the issue. For now I have covered the memory modules with the pgs tape from the PCH mod and covered that with a tiny bit of as5 paste. Is this a terrible idea or should I just look for thinner pads? I looked for 0.1mm and couldn't find any. I did see 0.2mm from modDIY but they are not cheap, would hate to buy them and find them to be the wrong size.

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

Or just use K5 Pro viscous thermal paste

 

Looks good, I will give it a try. That's exactly what I need, thanks!