M17x-R3 CPU & GPU Re-Pasting Guide w/Pics!

Ok guys at the request of a few people I'm doing a guide with pics on how to repaste your R3 and the results I got from doing so. First off keep in mind a few things:

-Repasting is risky, if you don't know what you're doing you could harm your components which invalidates your warranty. Now as long as you have some technical skill and go slow you should be fine but as always I take NO RESPONSIBILITY if you damage your hardware. If you have a question ask it before proceeding to prevent damage.

-Some of the steps below may be slightly different depending on what GPU you have, all of the CPU's will be the same however.

-The temps I was getting and that most have reported with the Nvidia GTX 460m are very good even with stock paste, if you're not going to be benchmarking or applying heavy overclocks you don't need to do this unless you have experience and want the lower temps.

Now that that's out of the way let's get on to the fun stuff

Here are the items you'll need:




-Paste: I recommend MX-4, TX-4, or OCZ Freeze. I used MX-4 in this guide.

-Pads: The pads I used are Fujipoly Premium 0.5mm pads that I purchased from frozencpu.com. Depending on if you want to replace all the pads or not you may also need 1.0mm and 2.0mm pads(see below).

-Either Arctic Clean -OR- Alcohol(not the drinking kind lol): I used Arctic Clean here but honestly after using both the Arctic Clean is no better and is more expensive than good high purity rubbing alcohol. If you use alcohol get 90% or higher as it cleans better and leaves less residue.

-Cotton Swabs and Lint Free Cloth: The cotton swabs need to be quality tightly wound swabs or they'll leave cotton residue, also a good quality lint free cloth that hasn't been used on anything else to prevent residue.

-Precision Screwdrivers: I can't stress how important it is to have a good set of precision screwdrivers, a bad set of screwdrivers or using non-precision size screwdrivers can easily strip screws and/or cause damage. If you don't have any you can pick them up at Radio Shack, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

Temps with Stock Paste:

Below you can see the temps are very good for stock paste, but good is never enough and the temps could always be better. After running Prime 95 and Furmark at the same time the max CPU temps were 84 degrees and the max GPU temp was 75 degrees. These were at stock clocks on the GPU and a 100.0 BCLK on the CPU. I didn't take idle temps as idle temps are nice to compare, but really they don't matter on a gaming rig.



Battery and Bottom Panel:

First remove your battery, under it there will be two small screws that need to be removed to slide the bottom panel off. Once the screws are removed slide the panel toward the back of the computer(toward the heatsinks).



Now you'll have a view of the internals of the laptop, the CPU and it's heatsink/fan are in yellow, the GPU and it's heatsink/fan are in green.



GPU:

First remove the screws highlighted in yellow on the fan, also disconnect the fan cable highlighted in green. Once those are disconnected remove the fan by lifting it on the end where the purple arrow is pointing then sliding it out. Once the fan is out you can remove the heatsink, the screws for the heatsink are circled in red. By each screw there will be a number, it's important to remove the screws in this order 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 by backing them out in small increments(1/4-1/2 turn) then moving to the next until they are all the way out to prevent bending/warping the heatsink. Once you have done this lift the heatsink on the same end as the fan carefully and pull the heatsink out.



Once you get the heatsink off you'll see a bunch of funky colored pads on the heatsink, and a whole ton of gray molasses looking junk that Dell calls thermal paste on the heatsink and GPU core You'll need to remove the "paste" by placing a few drops of either alcohol or step 1 of the Arctic Clean on the paste on the heatsink and gpu core, be careful to get it on only the old paste as making a huge mess of the paste or cleaner can cause problems also avoid getting any on the pads as well. Allow the cleaner to soak for a minute or two then use the cotton swabs to wipe it off carefully, you'll likely have to repeat this multiple times until the swabs no longer have any gray/black color to them. If you are using Arctic Clean once you have a clean surface apply step 2, let it soak and wipe it clean.



Once cleaned your gpu core and heatsink should look something like this:



Now you'll need to cut and replace the pads, I used only .5mm pads and all of them will go directly on the heatsink and are gray colored in the picture. The only pad I didn't remove from the heatsink is the purple one outlined in the picture because it's in the 2-3mm thick range and seems to work just fine based on the results.



Now the one thing that threw me for a loop were the pads on the backside of the card, yes underneath it. The pads underneath work just fine as I reused them so unless you're more experienced you can skip to the next step. There is a large, approximately 2mm thick pad that has a rubbery texture between the mobo and one bank of the Vram, there is also pads between part of the backing plate and the other bank of Vram. I really have to wonder what on earth Dell was thinking here especially on the Vram under the backing plate. Feel free to replace them if you want, I just left them there not wanting to mess with the backing plate and not having 2mm pads.



Now that everything is cleaned and in place you need to apply the thermal paste to the GPU core. I used slightly more than a half of a grain of rice worth of paste right in the center of the core, once the heatsink is reapplied give it a slight(a few degrees is all you need) rotation and screw the heatsink down in the reverse method as you used to remove it. Then install the fan again and the GPU is done!



CPU:

Again the first step is to remove the fan by removing the screws in yellow. Then pull the cable in green and lift the fan on the end near the purple arrow to slide it out. Once the fan is out loosen the screws in red in the 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 order(1/4-1/2 turn each at a time) and lift the heatsink on the end near the arrow to slide the heatsink up and out.



The pictures of the heatsink and CPU show more of what kind of mess you're in for that our good friends Dell have left behind. Apply the thermal material cleaner, let it soak, and wipe it off with the swabs. Repeat if necessary until the swabs are no longer gray/black. Again if you're using Arctic Clean apply step 2 now, let it soak, then wipe it clean.



Once you're finished it will look something like this:



Now that it's all clean you'll need to apply your thermal paste to the CPU. I used a line slightly thinner than a grain of rice, in the center of the CPU about 1/3-1/2 the length of the CPU. Once your paste is applied put the heatsink back on, give it a very very slight turn(again a few degrees), and retighten the screws in the opposite direction as what you took them off. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 in very small increments(1/4-1/2 turn each) until tightened again. With the CPU try to have it as level as possible as if it's not flush with the CPU you may have to try again to achieve improved temps.



Once you're done with that re-install the CPU fan, bottom panel, and battery and you're done.

Here are my temps after repasting with both Furmark and Prime95 running simultaneously for 33 mins. You'll see the max temp of the CPU dropped to 74 degrees an improvement of 10 degrees, and the max temps of the GPU dropped to 67 degrees an improvement of 8 degrees. Definitely something I can live with



As always if you have any questions or want to see anything else like: guides, synthetic or game benchmarks, etc just shoot me a PM or post something and I'll get it up.

 

You beat me to it. Since I took the card apart I was going to make one...

+1 rep once I can...

 

Very nice - repped. When i was installing my RAM, i noticed one of the screws for the CPU heatsink was not screwed in compared to the other 3. This is a screw with a spring so I tightened it to match the other 3. The paste jobs seems to be holding though since my temps don't go much about 70. I'll have to test with Prime95...

 

Nice guide! The R3 is definitely easier to repaste than the Asus G73jh!

+1.

 

Thanks for writing this up!

 

Thank you!

 

Much appreciated!

 

This is good for us nubs I will +rep once my 24hour wait is over lolz.

Do you have a photo for how much paste to put apply for the gpu? Too scared and don't want to mess up when it comes my time to do this

Where does one buy the thermal paste? Google yields zero search results for OCZ Freeze. Also, where can one buy IC Diamond 7 for cheap?

Thanks as always!

EDIT: Just kidding. Found OCZ freeze. So weird, now it pops up.

 

Dookie, I bought my ICD 7 here. $6.99 shipped for a 1.5g tube. Ships fast! Thermal Compounds at SVC.com

 

Cool! Any tax?

 

Dookie- Yeah sorry I had a pic but forgot to post it as I wrote this at 1am lol. OCZ Freeze is very very hard to find, don't know if it's even made anymore but it's very good. I'd go with MX-4 then which can be had a lot of places. As for the IC DIamond 7 I'd stay well away from it, especially if you're new to repasting. IC Diamond is literally made out of ground up Diamond, if you're not VERY VERY VERY careful it will scratch the 7734 out of your GPU and will void your GPU warranty if damaged. IC Diamond doesn't really work any better than MX-4 or TX-4 in 99% of situations so there's no point to the risk and extra cost

Typecast- I don't know how experienced you are with pasting but really it's not worth the risk unless you're very experienced with it, if you are then by all means use what you prefer

 

mx-3 is 2 degrees better than mx-4, from my experience...

 

They charge taxes.

I didn't know about that. I've repasted my g73jh two times with ICD 7, no problems encountered. Over at the Asus gaming forum, the ICD 7 is the most recommended paste for GPU's. I didn't know it could harm your gpu with that. Are there other sources which support your claim? Thanks. And also, What is the 7734?

 

Yah, that's where I got the ICD7 idea from--the Asus threads. Have only been reading about MX-4 recently here on the AW threads.

Who knows which is really the "best"....

 

Now with the ICD7 crossed out, What paste to buy?! There's a lot of paste out there, I'm going crazy.

 

The top pastes for AW's are MX-3/4, TX-4, ShinEtsu G-751, OCZ Freeze. All are going to perform so closely to each other that it doesn't really matter which you use. Just keep in mind ShinEtsu is the most expensive and probably hardest to apply. I've personally used both MX-4 and TX-4 with amazing results, the TX-4 achieved a few degrees cooler than the MX3 on my M15x so I use only TX-4 or MX-4.

On the ICD 7 side, the chances of scratching the die are very slim but still possible, the most likely chance you have of scratching it is if you manually spread it rather than just put a drop and allow the pressure to spread it. Another downside to ICD 7 is a lot of people have said it stains the core and leaves "scorch/burn" marks after prolonged use.

 

TX-4 or MX-4 it is! Where do you buy it?

 

I bought everything: the pads, paste, and arctic clean from frozencpu.com.

 

lol

Most thermal compounds are Liquid sandpaper or lapping compounds by definition.

Light gray compounds are usually/mostly made up of aluminum oxide.

Aluminum oxide is what they make sandpaper out of.....MOHS Hardness scale 9

Diamond on the MOHS hardness scale 10

Copper MOHS 3

To be abrasive you just have to be harder than the material to be cut.

Most thermal compounds have particle sizes in the range of 600 - 800 same as your 600 - 800 sandpaper

Abrasive Grit Sizes

If you are ambitious you can calculate cutting speeds and material removal between diamond the hardest (cubic boron nitride is actually harder than diamond) and the second hardest aluminum oxide.

For the insignificant speed- distance traveled, light pressures, minuscule time slice You will not see any difference between the two under normal use.

Abrasives have to move to work,

For all compounds- if you are a habitual abuser who reinstalls his sink 20 times a week or constantly rotates the sink under pressure then switch to something less abrasive like a zinc oxide compound .

 

Excellent guide Dane!!

+1 rep for you sir.

 

thanks for the excellent guide mr.dane, this is really gonna help a noob like me.
+rep good sir

 

What thermal paste you use is irrelevant. There is no more than a couple of degrees C difference between the most expensive crap you can find, and the the AS5 at RadioShack.

 

Thanks for the guide. Will add rep once it allows me .

 

There's a thread in the hardware or gaming forum showing how great toothpaste is as thermal interface...until it dries out an hour later lol.
I highly doubt it really matters what you use, as long as you use it PROPERLY.

Nice stuff Dane

 

True, I just prefer MX-4 and TX-4 as they're good, no cure time, and aren't electrically conductive just in case something gets on another part next to the die.

 

Welp. Whichever's cheapest down the line is what I'll go with. I think I should be fine with the stock though, unless I see high temperatures a week in.

 

No idea on the temps of the 6970 but I can tell you that unless you're planning on running Prime95+Furmark 24/7 or are planning on running insane levels of overclock on both the cpu and gpu frequently the temps I had at stock were just fine for daily use, I just plan on doing some heavy benching this week with high overclocks so I need the repaste for added stability and lower temps at those overclock/stress levels. As for cheaper they're both about the same price but the MX-4 gives you an additional gram(about 25%) in the tube for the same price.

 

Hey dane, Ive read in some sites that the mx-3 runs better that the mx-4. Any recommendations about that?

 

Great Guide

 

Ahhh okay. MX-4 it is, then (if I happen to go thermal paste shopping). Thx again!

 

They're slightly different consistencies so it depends on the computer you're using. I can't remember which but one is a bit thicker(MX-3 if I remember) and harder to spread which will work well for larger gaps between the heatsink and gpu, the other(MX-4 if I remember) is a bit thinner and will work better in tighter gaps as it spreads a bit better/easier. Honestly I don't think it matters which you use as they're both awesome pastes, just MX-4 is a bit easier to find for me so it's what I got.

 

Okay, Thanks for your awesome help dane!

 

Thanks DaneGR!

I don't have pads or non conductive paste right now so I just did the CPU... which was really worring me on temps (76c when playing bfbc2, didn't run prime because I didn't have the chance)

Man that Dell crap is THICK.. almost like rubber. I had to physically pick at it with my nail (covered in cloth, of course).. Got it off and stuck some OCZ FreeZe (Leftovers from desktop builds, paste of choice ) and screwed it back together.. Pressed power...

Nothing.

Forgot the battery . Once I got loaded in I can't break 68c now. That paste from the factory was seriously crap.

I'm also assuming my warranty is still fine?

 

As long as you don't damage any hardware repasting your warranty is fine, I actually had a Dell Engineer tell me that the paste they use is crap and if I applied TX-4 I'd be doing them a favor! LOL! Yeah it's the consistency of dried molasses literally. And if you have OCZ freeze why not use it on the gpu too?

 

Isn't it conductive? I was going to just wait and order something thats a little safer on that type of thing.

I'm not sure on GPUs as I've never repasted them (most desktop gpus use decent paste)... I know putting stuff like freeze on northbridge / southbridge was a HUGE no-no.

 

Hey guyz,

Please advise.

The most I'll do is SC2 on ultra, like what I asked Dane to benchmark for me. What temps should I be watching for (max), for cpu and gpu? At what degree mark should I consider a re-paste?

 

I'd try to avoid 80c on CPU and GPU while gaming, JUST above it while stress testing isn't uncommon but try to stay much below that gaming and near it stress testing.

 

So if I see 80c on either one, then I should be alarmed? At what point should I worry and return the thing back to Michael Dell?

 

Just ordered from SVC.com, It's cheaper to buy there than on frozencpu.com. Plus it includes free shipping.

 

Why dont you wait until you receive your system?

Seriously, 80c is not going to kill your GPU, especially if its under stress. When the temp is more than the GPU can handle, you are going to start seeing issues on-screen. That is when you begin looking at temps, etc. I've seen 80c on the 280 GTX in the 17xR1 and its been able to handle it.

As dane mentioned in his opening post -

Just be sure you have adequate free air flow (no obstruction of the intake on the bottom of the system).

@dane, +1, nice guide.

 

Thanks BB. Honestly guys this isn't needed by any means for most users. I run OC's of 825/1650/1450 all the time just for daily stuff and run OC's of even higher while frequently benching, so for me it made sense. If you want better temps the best thing I can recommend is elevate the backend of the computer 1/2" and keep the vents clear and clean, that by itself will usually lower the temps by 5+ degrees. 80c isn't something to be worried about but 80's are usually the line where you want to keep an eye out. If you're up in the high 80's or low 90's something is wrong as these cards run much cooler in good situations even on stock paste while being stressed. Even furmark couldn't throw my temps that high on stock paste. The CPU is a bit different, it can bounce up into the 80's under extreme stress and be just fine, again the 90's is where you want to start finding what is off.

 

The reason why I worry about temps, is cuz it gets really hot at my house during summer, and we don't have AC here. My room fan will just blow hot air back at the computer My desktop's thermometer thingy on the case says 82.5F when the room temperature is around 60F right now. And this is a pretty well ventilated tower. So I'm sure the lappy will possibly get hotttttt in the summertime. In the case of 90F indoor temperatures, what temp should I look for (as a max) on the lappy?

 

If its 90 degrees indoors, dont expect the aftermarket thermal compound to help much...

90 degrees is bit high for an ambient temp to think you are going to be ok gaming for any extended period of time. Personally, I'd be putting my head in the pool instead of sweating it out gaming on a laptop.

 

One day, BB...One day, I'll own my own house and have a pool

So in 90F, I should still be watching for the 80C that you guys were talking about, right?

 

Yeah, And you would invite us for steak right?

 

Most definitely. And of course to play some good ol' vidya gamez.

I guess I really don't need this guide afterall. But it was an awfully enjoyable read Thx Dane!

 

Do you guys use a cooler under the laptop? Or just on a table and that's it?

 

I punish this system on a daily basis with no cooler and stock paste. Recently, my CPU temps have gone as high as 85 which is a bit of a concern to me (only happens at max load @ full turbo multiplier, which only lasts like 35secs).

Simply raising the back end by an inch or so and moving it away from a wall reduces the max temp by at least 5C. In all honesty, I don't feel a cooler is required for this laptop for the purpose of cooling - they are fantastic for using the notebook on your lap though.

PS: I'll be repasting in a couple of weeks and will surely reference this guide. Thanks, Dane.

 

85C doing what?

@Dane or anyone else who has some time, can you play some SC2 and see how high the temps will go? Also, please let us know your approximate room temp?

Thx all!

 

Rendering (3dsmax 2011)....for the first 35 seconds at least.
Rendering is pretty much the only thing - other than benching which I rarely do - that drop kicks my CPU in the throat like that.