Me vs GPU thermal upgade = FAIL!!!!

So I must be the worlds biggest idiot.......and what a way to make a first post....

On Friday I finally took delivery of my MX17 i7 940XM, 8GB DDR3, SLI 1GB GTS285M.

I'd been reading here how simple it was to replace the thermal compound and pads, and what a huge difference it made to users on here.

So in anticipation for doing this mod ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...placing-thermal-compunds-gpu-cpu-m17x-r2.html ) I ordered up two tubes of TX-4 and Fujipoly thermal pads, and some Jonard tools......

I had the computer it one night, and was blown away, but noticed the fans cranking into high gear when playing MOH.

So today I set about doing the above mod......

Now I'm a smart guy (aerospace engineer, pilot, built many a PC, disassembled and fixed all range of stereos and digital cameras, so I thought this should be a cinch!

Sadly it wasn't.....it took me a good 8hrs to do this. The first graphics card was the learning experience....the second went much quicker. I fired her up and everything looked good!

I downloaded furmark and ran that. When the GPU's got to 68C, the screen went magenta and liney.....I escaped and after a few minutes the screen came back ok as the graphics cards cooled. I shut down and restarted, and on the reboot it flickered a little, and there was the odd artifact.

So I shut down and went about pulling the machine apart again. Out came the left card, and I tried to clean up my job. Trimmed the laminate of thermal tape, cleaned off the paste I'd put on the memory chips and anything else that had originally had tape on it (I applied past and tape to everything that had had tape originally - that might've been my undoing, reassembled and low and behold when I turn it on it's like a star field in 8 bit color. I let it boot, and confirm that it's still max resolution and it is....F*CK!

I suspect I've screwed my cards....and I know Dell won't warranty them. So I'm going to have to buy a new pair from them, and probably send it off to have them fix it.

What a pain in the arse....

I just had to vent....

And in case you were wondering I used ArctiClean along with a can of Max Professional Contact Cleaner for cleaning the chips and card.

So I guess I was just too meat handed for my own good.....

 

Wait... You put both paste and thermal pads on the memory chips?

 

They may not be dead yet... I was getting crazy white screens on my 260M when I first did it and it was caused by the memory chips not getting good thermal conductance with the old pads I put back on them. I ended up taking the pads off and putting AS5 on the memory chips as well. This stopped all my white screens and I can game again but temps still need some work.

I ordered some fujipoly pads and MX-4 to redo everything just waiting on arrival.

Redo your memory chips and just use your fujipoly pads no paste and just paste on your GPU... Make sure the mosfets are making contact with your Heat sink as well, using your fujipoly pads.

 

Hey there chiefs,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

I would suggest to open the beast up again. If your just starting out 1st time attempt I would recommend just changing the original thermal pads with the new pads that you ordered. So like in your case the 285Ms need 1.0mm pads if I recall. Double check the thickness of the pads. Flip the GPU side ways to see if they are indeed making proper contact or just sitting slightly above in mid air.

Use the thermal paste where ever thermal paste was used before. So where the GPU and CPU dies are. Remember you will need to use enough to make sure that sufficient contact is being made otherwise overheating can occur real quick.

So give it another go chiefs. If you want take some pics of the job and post them up for us to have a look for you.

Actually if I remember correctly looking at the pics that Lozz put up last time from his 285s I wouldn't even bother touching most of the small pads cause theres just too many of them. You can try changing the 2 long strips but thats as far as I would go. Then of course just do the thermal paste on the GPU dies.

Good Luck chiefs.

Cheers.

 

Lines and artifacts = sounds like a memory problem.
Do what reborn suggested to do and make sure the pads are making good contact.

 

Thanks guys for the quick response.

I'll order more fujipoly pads and give those a go. I have no idea what the pad thicknesses should be to be honest. I had a sheet of 1mm, and 0.5 mm fujipoly, but I almost used it all making new pads to replace them all. With the exception of the memory pads which I ended going with a 1.5 mm, layer I was non technical about it all and just tried to match the original thickness pads. Turned out to be 4 mm....I probably went about that ask wrong, but in the end from what I could see they looked to be making contact.

If it should be 1 mm for a 285 then I was way thick and still only making light contact. There's no problem with spraying that cleaner all over the board is there? I ended up doing that to clean my paste mess.

M

 

Yeh becareful about spraying the cleaner all over the board. You really dont want it getting on the board to much. make sure to wipe it all dry.

I would strongly recommend that you just put back all the original thermal pads on chief. Honestly there are way to many to replace on the 285m GPU cards. Then repaste the GPU dies with the thermal paste and see how you go from there.

If you really do want to replace the pads then just replace the 2 long strip ones only for now. See how you go again. I normally also wouldn't recommend putting paste on the mem chips 1st off if its your 1st time. Just change pads for pads and paste for paste.

Cheers.

 

Thanks for your sharing! Now I got it, It's helpful to me.

 

I would also advise that you exercise some discretion when it comes to informing Dell of your situation. You don't need to tell them what's happened and how it might be your fault. Simply inform them that your cards are acting funny; give them the low-down on the issues you see, and let them replace without further inquisition.

 

^ Listen to this man. He has had many a contact with Dell!

I've had my share, too. Never be afraid to use the " customer" approach. It's what they immediately expect from each support request. And I agree with the others - there's no point in messing with your cards, especially if you have an extended warranty on them. If you don't, then sure play around with them NOW while you're within the warranty period. Just don't let them know you did it .

If you're looking to reduce temps, a $20 notebook cooler may do a similar job for cheaper and less work. I'm using one that also elevates the rear so it's easier to use than it was before.

Kade and I both came from M1730's, where the fans kicked on far too hot (75C instead of the M17x's 68C). This means the cards heated up too quickly and fluctuated all too often. The M17x's fans are great. There's no need to mess with cooling IMO unless you intend to do intense 25/8 gaming.

Sit back, play some games, and enjoy the laptop!

 

I'll add that you should listen to this man as he knows exactly what he's talking about; from his knowledge of Dell support to his reinforcement of the widely accepted notion that the M17x is one of the coolest laptop designs in its league.

As implied, this is quite a trivial case. Contact Dell support and let them know that the display is wonky on both your LCD and external units; describe the symptoms without getting into the details and let them deal with the matter. They will most likely recommend a service call to replace your graphics cards. Allow the service call to run its course and enjoy your repaired system without a worry.

 

Call Dell, i had problems last week with my CF, in two days i had the tech at home with both cards and CF cable brand news. Main card had the repaste done, they didn't even look at the card nor realize that it was been taken apart for a repaste..

 

^^ Well that's a sad story ending well for you.