Replacing the thermal paste on the M15X. Why it's worth it!

So, you would expect when you are buying a high end laptop, like Alienware they would use some sort of high end thermal compound as well.

I can tell you, they do not.

My temps were running slightly high, around 84-85 when stressing the GPU so i decided to open the laptop up and have a look, result was a dry, hard and dried up thermal pasta all over the GPU.
I ran some benchmarks before applying, and afterwards, with the videocard on stock setting and overclocked.

Stressing/benchmarking software: Furmark
Temperature/sensor software: HWiNFO64
GPU: ATI HD RADEON 5850


Alienware thermal compound:
Clock GPU: 625/1000
Average FPS: 62
Max Temp: 83C
Vcore: Stock

Clock GPU: 700/1100
Average FPS: 68
Max Temp: 89C
Vcore: Stock

Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound
Clock GPU: 625/1000
Average FPS: 63
Max Temp: 74C (9C Difference to stock compound)
Vcore: Stock

Clock GPU 700/1100
Average FPS: 68
Max Temp: 77C (12C difference to stock compound)
Vcore: Stock
Additional info: I got a grey screen/lockup with these settings once, so a slight increase in Vcore would be of use here for better stability (0,05/0,08)


Conclusion:

So, 9C and 12C is quite a big difference, with these temperature gains there is defiantly room for a bigger overclock.
It is worth replacing the compound, if you are after a higher clock/better results on benchmarking. If you are just a casual user, unless its running 90C+ not worth it.

Some pics:

 

Nice pictures, illustrating perfectly the mess Dell makes with the factory paste pads. Great results. You'll find that the 5850M normally needs 3d clock voltage increased to 1.10v or 1.15v to be stable with o/c's much over 750-800/1100. Reflashing to 1.05v often gives you the best of both worlds, keeping temps low for normal use, but allowing you to increase voltage to max levels of 1.15v with TriXX as circumstances require. Enjoy your new toy and welcome to the M15x family.

 

Good write up highvoltache, the pictures look great, im sure this will prove very helpful to newcomers, ill be seeing u around +rep and welcome

 

After having repasted for the first time, i definitely agree with the OP. dell does a rubbish job.

 

Well, Dell doesn't actually apply paste on the die, the heatsink comes with a thin film of paste on it, just as on desktop cpu coolers. I already handled some factory new M15x heatsinks, and you can also clearly see this on the pics above.
This method works amazingly well, is cheap and you really can't do anything wrong. It's easy to mess up with thermal paste, but with this method you simply need to mount the heatsink and you're done, and the results are always ok, as long as the thermal paste layer didn't get damaged in advance.

Since the M15x comes with different GPUs (with different die sizes) the area covered with paste is bigger than the 5850m die, thus it can get messy once the paste gets heated up.

I've seen much worse factory pasting than this. Also some manufacturers use pads, that's even worse.

 

Changing the thermal paste was one of the first things I did, I used that Arctic Cooling MX-2 stuff (I think, lol).

Great photos, thanks for sharing.

 

Yeah, thanks! I think that if you would use Artic silver the temperatures would even go down more. I'm going to see if i can grab some in town today and make a repost in comparison with the Noctua paste. See if all the fuzz about Artic Silver is really tru.


EDIT: I just applied Artic Silver 5 and the result were horrible! (Re-applied twice to confirm it was not a poor spread on the chip). The temperatures were about 12 to 15C higher then the Noctua compound.

 

My 6970m has been heating my laptop up a bit, and I've been using Dynex thermal compound. I've heard Arctic silver is good, but do the two make that much of a difference in lowering heat temperatures? I also have some green thermal pads (I believe) on my heatsink from when I was using my 260m, and left them on when I installed the 6970m. Are those thermal pads useful in lowering temps as well, or would it be better to remove them? Sorry if this is off-topic, I just thought that it was somewhere along the same track

 

I just tried Artic Ailver 5 on my GPU, and the temperatures were MUCH higher then the Noctua thermal compound. I re-applied twice (to confirm it was not a poor spreading on the chip) and they still were about, 12 to 15C higher then the Noctua.

So, proof here is that Artic silver isn't great in all occasions. Maybe it reacts differently on smaller surfaces, or different types of material (copper, alu etc)
Or maybe, Artic Silver is not that great after all?

 

Not sure how good the first paste you mentioned, but I used mx-4 which I've heard from lots of people is a great paste. I re-used my thermal pads that were on the heatsink from my 260m as well. As long as they are in good shape, they should be perfectly fine to use. And yes the thermal pads do help.

@highvotache how long did you let the as5 settle in for, I've heard it has a curing time of about 200-ish hours (can be helped along through prime and occt).

 

Many of us have had excellent results with Arctic Cooling MX-4. It's easy to work with, nonconductive and highly effective. One source -- Arctic Cooling MX-4 Super High Performance Non-Conductive Thermal Compound (4g) - FrozenCPU.com.

 

I did not cure it. Are the results better when you let it cure for 200 hours? Its hard to believe that the temps would go 20C lower after 200 hours of curing .

 

Yes it is better if you let it cure, as I said AS5 takes some time to set in properly before you get a good temp from the paste job. You wouldn't expect 20c lower as that is unrealistic regardless of which paste you use. However, a good repaste with an elevation for you laptop will give you very solid temps.

From my experience, even before my repaste I started elevating my laptop while gaming and my temps went from 91-93c to 77-80c tops.

 

Yeah, mine were about, 76-80C stock, (625/1000 @ 1.000V) And now with re-pasting the GPU I have the same temperatures with 750/1100 @ 1100V.

 

Thx for your sharing!! Read this today and i directly go to my nearest comp shop and get a tube of thermal compound, since my m15x is really showing some sign of bad heat transfer. And u know what, Dell really mess up the paste inside.. =.=, can't believe they do this kind of job in premium line...

i only use coolermaster thermal fusion 400 (as i have good exp with my desktop w/ this brand - and also because it have 0 curing time) and it already worked really good so far!!

before this my m15x GPU normally idling at 60+ degree and will reach arround 80 when i browsing and watching HD video, now i barely can manage it to reach 70!! and it idling at 45+ only, Happy!

Thanks again!