Very dissapointed

So today i received my thermal pads and pk1, proceeded to remove and repaste my CPU, worked flawlessly, old paste job not bad, temps are 8 C cooler with better paste. Next i removed the GPU and unmounted the heatsink. To my horror the thermal paste job was atrocious, it looked like someone had done a paste, then removed the heat sink to check something, then put the heat sink back on without redoing the paste job. I also look a bit closer and some of the thermal pads are missing from the heatsink! The big 2mm pad on the bottom looks like someone ate a part of it, a big chunk is missing, and the screws for the heat sink are stripped, almost completely. I dont mind getting in and redoing a paste job, i prefer doing it myself anyway (make it my own, know what i mean?) but this takes the cake. I waited for a month to get the system and the GPU is pasted horribly at best. Anyway, the problem is solved mostly, i had pads of decent thickness (not Fujipoly Premium, just old ones laying around, i have Fujipoly Premium on order to replace those) but does anyone know where i can get new screws for the heat sink? I may just end up buying a new heatsink and x plate. Also the large 2mm thick pad on the bottom, any idea where to get that? And can anyone recommend a particular thermal pad brand? (in 2mm thickness)

Just needed to vent a little frustration, and I hope this is an isolated incident, and no one else has had this type of problem, especially on a brand new system like this.

Regards,
Howard C

 

Unfortunately, this is more the norm than the exception. A repaste is almost required upon receipt. The stock paste jobs are horendous

 

Most OEMs just glob on cheapo bulk TIM as they are judged by how many units they output, rather than the quality. Yes it looks like someone double checked something and screwed it up. Maybe call up Technical Support and have them send a technician to your home to replace parts if the stripped screws are that bad.

 

That's what I was afraid of while waiting on mine. I haven't looked at the paste job yet but all I kept thinking was they were going to hurry the these out the door and do a rushed job on the important little things.

I plan on redoing mine at some point but as of now I haven't had any issues. I had even pushed it to 800/1600/1800 and it never went over 74C playing BF3 on ultra for a little over an hour. For some reason though it won't run 3DMark06 with those settings but that's off-topic. Anyway, maybe I got lucky but when I get around to re-pasting I'll report back on how well the job was done.

 

the other thing to note too is that the stock paste is built for longevity, and not best temps. The stock paste is built to last the life of the laptop without ever having to repaste. Aftermarket pastes should be reapplied at least once a year

 

Look at hobby shops for screws. Shops where they sell elektric or nitro driven cars, those cars use tiny screws like you need.

Ah my old hobby

 

Actually, you can call Dell and have them ship you a screw kit. Tell them about the stripped out screws and their location and tell the tech support guy to send you out a screw kit. There will be at least 2 kits though, one for internal and one for external screws. Least that is the way things used to be many, many years ago.