Did I screw up my TIM paste job?

Why hello there IT specialists.

I own an Asus G60VX-RX05 that I've had for about two years. I bought it used and since then, I have never done any mods or mandatory cleaning for the laptop. Well yesterday I grew some balls and opened up the laptop. To my surprise there was tons of dust, especially build up in the fan and heatsink area. Aside from the cleaning I did, I also applied new thermal paste, Arctic Silver 5. Now what I noticed about the previous TIM is that it was hard and crusty, both on the CPU and GPU. It was very difficult to remove and I was using isopropyl to help me. I also removed the crusty TIM from the heatsink both on the CPU and GPU side, which was also very hard to take off. On the GPU side of the heatsink, the crusty thermal paste was so hard to remove that I had to use a flat head screwdriver to scrape it off. Now this came with negative consequences. Finally removing the paste of the heatsink, I found that I created scratches on the heatsink, where the GPU sits. They are grooves I made with the flat head scraping the paste away. Running my finger above the area, I felt little valleys and grooves. Yes I know I messed up here, but the paste was unbelievably hard to remove from the heatsink and I believe it wasn't changed since the manufacturing of the laptop.

But my problem starts when I booted up my laptop. I happily found that my CPU temps dropped by about 10 degrees from the previous idle, which used to be around 45 degrees. It must've been the dust clean up I did because I've read that AS5 takes a while to set and break in, so I doubt it made any difference yet. My GPU? Now this is where I'm worried. I found out that my GPU is fluctuating in temperature. It first starts at 72 degrees, when the fan is completely off. Then gradually it will go all the way up to 91 degrees before my fan turns on and cools it back to around 72 degrees. It's been fluctuating since I changed the TIM and did my laptop cleaning, and it's not stopping.

I put a very thin amount of TIM on my CPU, and it's running fine. I also put a very thin amount of TIM on my GPU, and it seems like it's working overload. Could the problem of my GPU be because of the thin amount of paste I put on it? Should I have put a little more? Or is it because of the scratches I made on the heatsink area where it sits on the GPU?

This has been bothering me quite a bit, and I hope I don't need to replace the GTX 260M or the heatsink for it...

 

The best method for beginners is called the "pea" method, so named because you place a "pea" of thermal paste on the core and use the pressure of the heatsink to spread it. Really you should use a rice grain, worth trying that first before ordering any new parts, a scratched heatsink should be workable.

 

I would try to sand it with 220 grit, then 600grit then 1000-1200 grit. This is called lapping the heatsink and it's not that difficult and does aid in cooling. Since you scratched the surface you'll need to smooth it back out.

Also as Meaker stated above the "pea method" is actually called the compression method, but it is the best way to make sure you don't get any air pockets between the heatsink and the processor die. I use automotive electronic contact cleaner to clean both surfaces and then flush with rubbing alcohol. You can actually shine up a copper heatsink by polishing with contact cleaner. You can get it at any automotive parts store and it's completely safe to use on your laptop. I also usually chop off the end of a qtip and use the hard part to scrape off the old thermal compound. You can not damage the heatsink by scraping it with a qtip.

Here's a link explaining the different types of application for thermal compound.

Application

 

The only problem with sanding is notebook coolers are set at a height difference, if you sand down the entire surface you are just moving more of the heatsink further away or have a lower overall pressure.

 

Thank you both, VERY MUCH for the replies. I was a little worried that I would have to scrap this laptop, when it is my first laptop and I've had very good and notable memories with it. The G60VX was a beast in it's time, and it's still quite a beast today, I don't want to replace it anytime soon.

 

Well even a new heatsink would be cheaper than a new machine! So let us know how you get on

 

Man, I don't even know what's going on. This laptop problem has really bummed me out.

I still have GPU temperature fluctuations... My GPU temp starts at 70 degrees, gradually goes up to 90 degrees, my laptop fan turns on bringing the temps back to 70, fan turns off, and GPU then goes again all the way back up to 90 degrees. Rinse and repeat. This is all happening whether I'm using the laptop, or if it's just on idle.

I don't know what the hell I did wrong. When I did my first TIM paste job, the CPU and GPU thermal paste was so crusty, so hard, that I had to work a sweat just to remove it. Maybe when I was removing it, I damaged the GPU in the process? Does anybody know about this...?

Do I really need a new GPU? The Nvidia GTX 260M goes for like $200 bucks+ on Ebay... That's used!

 

Sounds like you may need to redo the paste. You may be suffering from uneven cooling.

 

See if you can get some ideas from these:

G60VX Massive Performance Boost

More Cooling Modifications for Asus G60VX

Graphics Card Thermal Paste Application Guide

 

Might be worth reflashing the BIOS/EC perhaps the fan table is a bit off.

 

It sounds a little high, but the GTX 260M does run hot at idle. Use GPUZ and check the clocks at idle, if they stay at full, something like 500mhz or whatever, it will be hot at idle. Try using a program called Powermizer Switch, you run it and then turn on powermizer and then reboot. It allows the GPU to downclock when no load, it will allow the idle temp to be low, it will not change high.

If you cannot get the temps to lower you may need to get a new heatsink, you could also try bending the arms slightly so that more preasure is put onto the GPU, it could be that its not tight on there. Otherwise, try the powermizer and see what happens with idle, the card runs hot, so you're not going to be running the same temp as CPU, probably 10c higher at least.

 

Heatpipes can get damaged if bent many times, you can always check by submergin one side in hot water and checking if the fins get hot quickly (obviously check its dry before putting it back in)