CPU / GPU / Heatspreader Lapping?

A few years back (2004) I owned a Sager NP5660 which suffered a fair amount from excessive heat. I followed the procedures described in the following forum post and this lowered all measurable temperatures by a good 8 to 10 C, under all load types I was able to apply. This translated into significantly lower fan noise level, much greater system stability, and I could run it without using an extra laptop stand (powered) that forced additional cool air into the chassis.

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread11362.html

The visual difference between a pre-lapped and post-lapped heat transfer surface was very pronounced. The pre-lapped surfaces looked like oxidized aluminum, but after lapping it was almost a perfect mirror.

Are there similar procedures for the m17x-R2? I have been following the discussion about replacing the heat transfer pads and using paste to span a 1mm gap and with the experiences I had on that Sager I instinctively want to question the use of pads (or paste!!) to fill in contact gaps that can be measured in millimeters. A millimeter gap is huge when it comes to thermal transfer.

Have thermal pads really improved that much in 6 years that a 1mm pad can perform as well as a properly lapped heat transfer surface with thermal material only a few microns thick?

 

Hi there these 2 links should help.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...placing-thermal-compunds-gpu-cpu-m17x-r2.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ll-internal-cooling-mod-huge-improvement.html

 

I am familiar with those threads, which is what prompted my question originally.

Lapping is a significantly more involved process than simply replacing thermal paste and pads. You end up taking some metal away from the conduction surfaces. It is a much more "delicate" operation if you will.

FWIW I don't really have any heat problems on my R2, temps rarely go over 65c in normal use even while gaming. But lower temps mean that the fans dont spin as much - and quiet is good.

 

I looked into this for a moment, but concluded that it would just be too difficult to get a level sanding considering the amount of material that's in the way preventing it from just sliding around on a piece of glass or something. The HSF's in this laptop have large chuncks of metal tabs in the way along the die contact area that just get in the way, so there's really no way to lap it correctly without removing that material, and then you have to cross your fingers that you never fry anything in your laptop. The surface is acutally pretty good already, and the washer mod is going to give you sub 70C temps anyway, which is a lot more than any amount of lapping will do.

 

Thanks Lozz, that was the kind of information I was looking for. I have yet to poke around this machine's heat dissipation parts and wasn't sure if lapping was even viable. Based on your description of the contact surfaces and the interfering tabs, I doubt any meaningful improvement could actually be made via lapping.

The CPU die might be the only surface possible to lap effectively, but as I am on a 820 right now (which is OC-locked as far as I know), there is no reason to even worry about it for the CPU.