Chastity's Repaste Experience

After all has been done to my poor baby, let me pass on some of my experience to those thinking of whether to repaste or not:

With Hellcry nagging anyone who would listen about stress testing your GPU with FURMARK, I decided while enjoying my lunch break to run this FURMARK thingy on default settings and see how well my poor G73 handles it. In a nutshell, it GSODs. Every time. No matter what clock settings I used. Longest run: 02:34. Prettiest color of GSOD: Lavender. Temps: 102C was highest before flickering and subsequent DEATH. Now when I game with, say, Dragon Age, my MemIO temp would hit about 96C.

Irked by such a freaking poor performance, I decided to do something about it. On another lunch break, I went to MicroCenter (AWESOME PLACE! It's a permanent Computer Show) to discuss getting some repasting done. They said sure, and needed to order some pads. After reading about pads here, I ordered some .5mm pads. (PROTIP: Don't get .5 mm pads, they're too skinny. Get the 1mm pads) So on that note, I wasted $13 on pads. Grrrr.

So last weekend was kinda slow, so I got anxious and decided to do my own disassembly. (ProTip: be VERY VERY gentle with removing the keyboard from the 2-way "ZOMG IT STICKS LIKE F'KN GLUE!" tape they use.) (ProTip: I hate the ribbon cables. Seriously, take a pic before removing them to make sure how far they go in.) The BTOTech was a godsend for doing this, except on keyboard removal... (ProTip: New keyboards are $70 to replace)

So, if you are a novice, seriously, let a pro do this. If he fux up, then he can fix it. Many places will do it if they're Authorized Asus Warranty Service centers and under warranty. Just gripe about the high temps and the GSODs. Bringing your hot gf/sister will get you free Rush Service. (They're male and geeks)

So after all the ripping apart, I get to the GPU. First thing I check was the heatsink mounting. And yep, the screws still had some play in them. Which means the heatsink could have been a little tighter and sucking up more therms, but not for me. (We're talking about at least a good 1/4 turn)

So I unscrew, and pop off the heatsink. This is what we have:

The heatsink:



And 2 pics of the GPU itself:




Seems whatever they used, they glopped it on, and most of it puddled outside of the heatsink. Note that most of it spread AWAY from the center, and how thick it gathered around the center. Good signs of poor heatsink mounting AND using TIM as a gap fill. I also am not fond of that plastic "heat funnel" but whatever, I left it there. I did however cleaned off all that craptim with 90% alcohol and Q-Tips. For the final clean, I use coffee filter paper and alcohol. (It's lint-free and disposable)

Also note on the Heatsink pic all the scrapes and gouges in the copper surface. Yep... monkeys. This is where Viscious would discuss lapping, but I digress. I noticed that the heatsink had border cutouts to mark the GPU area. Anyone want to bet they apply the paste to the heatsink, and then plop it on?

I'm sorry to say I forgot to take a pic of it cleaned and the paste applied. However, once all the old TIM is cleaned off, and don't forget the stuff on the side of the GPU, it's time to select your paste. For my endeavor, I selected Ken Lee's current favorite: IC Diamond 7 ($6.99 at MicroCenter. What can I say about a retail chain that stocks ICD7? ) My previous experiences have been with Arctic Silver 5, and I have 2 tubes of it, but I was curious about the IC, and it was staring at me lovingly on the shelf. (ProTip: Immerse the tube halfway in hot water before applying, else the stuff comes out like putty.) Now this stuff transfers heat. Like mad. Like so mad the stuff gets cool quick and puttifies. I wound up cutting a Q-Tip and using the stick end to center the stuff on the GPU surface.

The amount doesn't have to be huge. I used an amount that would be the size of a small pea, or about half the size of a kernel of corn. I then placed the heatsink straight down with the screws aligned, and gave it a minor twist to the left and right to help with the distribution of paste and elimination of air. (Once the paste warms up from the GPU, it will spread out like the dickens and settle. This is a good thing. ) I tightened down the screws as far as they would go, without overdoing it by hand. They are pring mounted, so you won't be able to go too far, unless you go BEZERK and pull a Hulk on it.

So getting it back together was FUN. Wouldn't turn on until the 3rd reassemble. Joy. Keyboard got fubard. ($94 with 2-day shipping. I feel raped.) Touchpad not working, dunno why yet. However, the fruits of my repasting was a joy. I turned it on, and my idle temps were initially 47C, with a slow warming to 49-50C. Damn. Furmark runs on default settings: 77C Max. With PostFX and xTreme Burnin on: 80C Fullscreen (02:18:00), 81C Windowed (02:00:00). BTW, thanks to Asus' hardware deviations from reference designs, I needed the 705/1100 timings OC to get stable results. I also disabled PowerPlay and used High Performance power settings to eliminate any ideas that the GPU was downclocking at anytime. Ambient temp was about 20-21C. (My AC battles with my desktop rig) I did keep the bottom elevated during tests, since I didn't know yet how well the job went. (I sat it on my Targus Lap Chill on the bed. It looked so comfy. )

Now, these temps aren't unusual. Ken Lee was showing about 82C on some of his runs. So either I did an awesome job, or ICD7 rules. (or both)

 

Wow! 47C! That's pretty impressive. I wonder if I should do that myself sometime...

 

You go right ahead. Chastity confirmed what I already suspected was the case from watching the youtube vid: it's more trouble than it's worth.

Chastity: I'm really REALLY glad you got it working again! Grats on the lower temps ^^. Now. . you wanna do the rest of ours as well?

I have to tell ya, I'm absolutely in SHOCK AND AWE over the condition of that heatsink. The thermal compound I suppose I can understand, but WOW that thing is torn up.

 

I'll never know what entertainment everyone gets out of running furmark.

47C idle is nice though.

 

Nice post Chastity.

Who gouged you for a $70 keyboard? If I had known you'd pay that much I would have sold you my spare for $50, and still doubled my money Hell, I should have bought them all back in March and sold them for $100 each heh.

 

Finding them online is a PITA. So, OK, I panicked and I forgot Ebay.

 

Hey, if you want to come over and bring your baby, sure! You're removing the keyboard, however...

 

-15-20C on memIO? Wow, thats nice.

 

Nice job!
All I have to say is unfortunately the factory thermal paste application is the norm, everytime I opened any laptop I owned it's always sloppily applied.
So new rule for me when I first get a new laptop, always repaste with a good quality product.

 

Yep, same issue with Mac laptops. They must use those machines that glop condiments on assembly line burgers. It's always a huge mess to clean up. My G72 is much, much easier to work on.

Cheers,

 

Nice temp drops, but I am quite stunned at the condition of the heat sink. Doesn't that warrant some sort of replacement?

Now I am tempted to open up mine just to see if it is equally dinged and scratched; its like dented ffs, is it even able to do its job properly in that state?

 

Yeah it's not unusual temperature with IC Diamond, some people even think I was testing the unit in a fridge.

You did a good job and congratulations.

 

Ken if i order the G73 from you guys and order the ic diamond instead of the stock compound would you be the ones to apply it or would that come from the factory?

 

It won't be me apply the IC Diamond, it'll be our people applying the thermal compound.

 

LOL thats what i meant , gentechpc not especifically you, since you know some been saying that the thermal compund is not been aplly right at the factory's so was kinda curious.

 

Ambient of 20-21C does help .
Ill get back to you how far my temps drop when these hellish 27-28C drop to something reasonable here .
But good job to you! (except the touchpad and keyboard part, but think of it this way, if the touchpad is broke you certainly shouldnt get any more missed keystrokes )

 

I don't get anymore missed keystrokes! Disable pinch zoom in the mouse menu and I think the IO conflict is gone. I disabled all multitouch gestures to be safe, as I found them predominantly annoying, especially as dust gathers on the touchpad, just putting one finger on the touchpad registers as multiple and multitouch is automatically activated.

I also took apart the keyboard, took it apart into multiple layers and remounted the conductors so that may have to do with it.

Does reapplying paste void the warranty? I like my warranty

 

I tried that. It doesnt work, at least not for me. Perhaps you type slower or dont rest your palm on the touchpad while typing.

 

I type at 80 WPM and I don't have any problems unless I physically miss a key which happens like once in a blue moon. The keyboard is better than that of my old Dell Precision M90 and is one of the best I've ever used after I disabled multitouch. I don't rest my hands on the touchpad - I rest it on the palmrest.

If you want, you can try to use one of those programs that disable the touchpad while you're typing

 

meresenne, i had it disabled while i typed, ive also tried similar software as touchfreeze and the keyboard still misses keystrokes. It does not work for me to just disable those functions, as it doesnt for others, the only solution for us is to get rid of synaptics drivers and disable the tocuhpad in bios. Ive tried it on multiple fresh installs and its always the same.
And this is the worst keyboard i ever had. When you press in a button and it "clicks" it doesnt yet register the keystroke, but a bit beyond that (i can press in a button to the click and hold it there and nothing will happen). All my previous keyboards registered the keystroke with just a light press just when it makes the click sound, so this is horrible for me since i unconciously hear the click sound and the feel it and my finger already releases the key and goes to the next one, but nothing was actually written. It also flexes very much at sides which i also do not like. And as far as backlighting goes, its the crappiest ive seen, i mean couldnt they close the light bleeding from all sides of the keys?

 

It looks like the heatsink isn't the same for everyone because for me there is less than 0,5 mm of room between the heatsink and RAM. No matter where I tested this on the vid card.

The heatsink is so badly produced that mounting it in a mass production environment means Asus has to use all that useless gunk between the GPU.

 

That heatsink gouged up like that, and the paste job is bull. As much as I wanna tear my machine down, I don't have an extra $70 to blow on the mandatory keyboard replacement.

 

1) If you're more careful than I was, apparently, you won't need to replace the keyboard. Also, ebay has them for 1/2 the price. I just wasn't thinking and used Google.

2) Apparently my monkey description was on the mark.

3) I got repped by Ken Lee!

 

I got my keyboard off just fine and had no trouble. But i took time and was careful.

 

That 2way tape was like glue. It wouldn't give very easily, even with taking my time. I think it's done intentionally.

 

I took the keyboard off slowly by putting all my fingers under it and slowly pushing parts up. After that I removed the tape completely because it useless.

There is no less flexing of the keyboard because on the back of the keyboard is an aluminum film that is only connected to the keyboard on the sides. The only thing the tape does is keep the aluminum film connected to the aluminum backplate. The keyboard itself still isn't pulled down. That whole tape there is pointless and the amount of it even more.

 

I posted this question but you seem to have missed it, did you completely took of the motherboard or applied the paste in a vertical position

 

you can flip the motherboard over but will need to put a towel or padding between that and your screen if you don't want to take it completely off. BTO guide says the fan plugs are fragile so you may break the brackets if you try to pull those plugs out.

 

I am repeating Chastity's story exactly. I ran Furmark because she ran Furmark because HellCry kept talking about it. I found out that my paste is crap because my machine shoots to shutdown temp. Now I'm awaiting ICD7 that will be here Thursday and I'm going to try to break down the machine without messing anything up. I'm looking forward to my new 47C idle and 81C max temps!

I saw that the keyboard backing is mostly a thin metal shield. I'm wondering if I can work a thin plastic putty knife under there as I go along popping the top loose and apply slow upward pressure on the tape to make it release. I think I can... I think I can...

Thank you for the pics and the write up!

BTW: I wish I had purchased my machine from GenTech and gotten the ICD7 upgrade now.

 

I took the motherboard completely out and took the gpu out of the motherboard as well (since i replaced it, but id have done it either way since its easyer to clean it if its out).

 

Just some updated temps: (get tissues for drooling)

Idle: (ambient Temp 24C)
TSS0: 45.5C
TSS1: 46.5C
TSS2: 45.0C

Dragon Age 1920x1080 4xMSAA 40min run
TSS0: 71.0C
TSS1: 73.0C
TSS2: 71.5C

Furmark Windowed PostFX / Xtreme Burning
TSS0: 77.5C
TSS1: 79.5C
TSS2: 78.0C

Idle temp after 1 min of rest: 53.0C

 

And thats only new paste? Because I had the factory add the IC Diamond paste and mine still hits 94C TSS1

 

Then more likely, the individual puts on too much, or isn't tightening down the heatsink. I used only a small amount, about half of a kernel of corn, in the center, then placed the heatsink straight down, slight twist in both directions, then screwed down in the order they are numbered on the heatsink. (That's important since it maximizes even pressure quickly.)

 

Wow because thats a huge difference and now im kinda mad I did not just do it myself.

 

She did pay quite a price for getting those temp's.... I'm only afraid of the keyboard. I once disassembled my old Nikon D70 to do a mod. Had so much trouble getting it to work again. Some of these cables are so fussy that they work only in a certain position. I had to redo it like 10 - 20 times before i got it working again.

 

Congratulations, chastity! You did a really good job on that. Sorry to break into your post coz I can't start a new post in this forum. I have a question, does people know what causes the PSOD in G73JH? I got a A2 version last month and I recieved PSOD a few days ago. Have to RMA it back I've been reading posts around here and there is a suspect that PSOD may be due to a mis-placed LCD. However, I am wondering the possble correlation between GSOD and PSOD. Do you think flash the vbios will help on solving PSOD problem? Thank you in advance.

BTW, I also wanna thank ziddy123 and hellcry for your dilligent work on trying to help all the G73 users. I learned a lot from you guys

 

Lowering the voltage could possibly help avoid the issue, tho I have no way of testing.

 

I wouldn't standardize it. I bought mine from gentech and still reach high 90s.

 

PSOD always results in an LCD replacement as far as I know. I don't think PSOD is GPU related.

 

I think the temperature differences after repasting can also be explained by a more hot running version of the 5870m and how borked your heatsink is. It looks like the heatsink isn't the same for everyone.

 

I don't understand why the tower is necessary for?

 

yes, except some guy who claimed on the forums that he changed the powerplan and it wen't away, but he was probably talking about VSOD (Vertical SCreen of Death)

 

You don't completely disconnect the screen and motherboard, so they wind up laying on each other. The towel protects the panel. I used a nice all-cotton shirt.

 

I saw the video, but protects it from what? I don't plan on touching it

 

When you flip the motherboard over, it lays directly on top of the LCD. The towel (or whatever you choose) protects the LCD from getting scratched and pressure being applied to the screen.

 

Oh you are supposed to flip the motherboard all the way down?
I though (from the video) that you only flip it in a vertical position, and that going further will damage it, thanks

 

almost forgot to ask, you got those new nice temps without using a laptop cooler/anything else besides new paste, right?

 

PSOD is indeed an RMA, they replace the LCD (and if you're lucky, reassemble the bezel properly - I had to snap mine back together upon receipt).

 

Every GPU die varies in a number of ways, including its heat output at a particular clock speed and voltage.

Chastity is getting some curiously low temps IMO. Maybe the GPU was not making good contact with the heatsink before. I don't mean just paste (paste differences are almost negligible), but it's possible that the heatsink was not sitting level.

I actually added some washers to my heatsink screws. By putting washers between the springs and the heatsink, it adds tension to the heatsink. Tension seems to be an issue with this cooler because of the thermal pads putting pressure against the heatsink. The heatsink's spring-loaded screws are rather weak against the pressure.

 

Does this void the warranty in any way