GPU upgrade question

So for all my troubles with my m17x r3, dell upgraded my gpu from the 460M to the 580m for free. Now.. we had to use the old 460m heat sink and take the black part off the heat sink so it would fit the larger card heat die. Seemed to work fine, is this the correct thing to do? and second question. the new card didnt come with these mounting brackets in the back, so we had to take it off the old card, and stick it on the new one using a bit of thermal paste, im a bit worried about this one though, it would seem that isnt the correct way of installing it. The mounting brackets i'm talking about are on this link. Was the new card supposed to come with them? whats the purpose of this thing? Will the thermal paste used as adhesive to stick it on ruin the card ( it was glued to the old card). Sorry for all the questions. thanks guys.

IMAG0293.jpg picture by DanDan112988 - Photobucket

 

The 460M back plate looks the same as the 580M back plate. I got the heat sink and backplate for a 460M with my 580M (Dell seems to mix and match these items indiscriminately). I also has to remove the thermal material on the face of the HS to get direct contact between the entire CPU die and the copper HS. It worked fine. Also, once the heat sink is attached and screwed down, the screws will serve to keep the backplate positioned properly regardless of the holding power of the temporary paste application, which will deteriorate with time and heat. That metal wing on the backplate should cover a thermal pad attached to or overlaying the backside of four VRAM chips. Those chips get hot on the 580M and the wing serves as a small heatsink to facilitate cooling. I don't know how much it actually helps, but it can't hurt. You also want a large squarish shaped thermal pad covering the other VRAM chips and extending almost to the edge of the card. One should have been included with your 460M, which you can re-use. I'm using the backpad that came with my 6990M, and it works perfectly with the 580M.

 

Is there A step by step guide to replace the 460 with the 580 ?

 

Hmm sounds good. So that metal wing has to be pryed off the old one and just stuck on the new one ? No glue or anything ? Because it was glued to the old 460. Think I should clean that paste off back there so it doesn't ruin anything ?

 

No, just use the old backplate that you took off the 460M shown in the image in Post 1 and put it on the 580M. The wing is already attached to it. Unless I misunderstand the situation.

 

The question is.. on the old one its glued on, if you pull it off the glue is gone. Now the tech put it on the back of the new one with no glue at all, just some residue from the old glue and some thermal compound. My question is.. is that safe to do that or are you supposes to glue it ? And should I take the thermal compound used to stick the backplate onto the new one off. The tech put the paste because he was afraid of metal on metal contact between the back plate and something else since the glue no longer worked . Not sure if that may ruin the card though , the paste on the back I mean.

 

I got you. When I got the 580M, the backplate was already glued on. However, I faced the same problem you have when replacing a 5850M with a 6970M in a M15x. I was able to insert the posts through the card (after inserting the port connectors) and then gently lower the card into place while using a plastic spatula type tool to stabilize the backplate position until the card could be screwed down. Then, the pressure from below held the plate steady so that the heat sink could be screwed into the posts,which had the effect of both tightening down the heat sink against the core die, while simultaneously securing the backplate against the card. My Plan B, which may be required here, was to attach the heat sink to the card before inserting it into the MXM port, holding the backplate in place by hand until the HS was attached. Should work here. With respect to the paste, so long as it is nonconductive, like MX-4, it seems like a good idea to use a very small amount to provide some insulation of the backplate from the contacts on the back. The card manufacturers use two sided tape to attach the backplate; it's hard to find and difficult to fit and apply, but it's the ultimate solution if available. One of the foregoing approached should work.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

yeah. i got it all installed and it works fine. probably going to get some double sided tape and reapply it because its on with some of the old tape and some thermal paste. thanks for the advice though. I wonder why the cards they send dont come with this thing already on?? if the tech just put it on bare with no adhesive or paste it might short something out couldnt it?

 

is there anywhere i can buy another one of those things with the adhesive on it? some kind of kit or something i can buy? Its driving me crazy i feel like im on borrow time here with the way it was installed

 

Honestly, once you have it installed, it should be fine. Separate backplates are occasionally available on eBay or in the NBR Marketplace, but it's hit or miss. NBR Marketplace. I think Dell considers the heat sink and backplate a unit, not available separately, but you might find a cooperative sales person in the parts department. You can also place a Want to Buy notice in the Marketplace and see whether anyone has one they are willing to sell. Widezu69 is selling a 580M, with heat sink and backplate available separately. http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...6-fs-gtx-580m-backplate-m17x-r3-heatsink.html. Maybe you can work something out with him.