Installed 920XM, found some deep scratches on GPU heatsink

So I was installing my 920XM and decided to repaste the GPU while I was at it. The GPU heatsink was scratched badly. I'm going to assume it happened when I sent it in for RMA for the GPU failing. I just ran Furmark at hit 85oC at the 5 minute mark. I did also replace the thermal pads with some 0.5mm fresh pads.

What does everyone think? Should I lap it? If so what process should I take since it is attached to the fan still.

It runs around 58oC with no load on the GPU.

Here are some pictures:

 

Nice scrapage. Was that you? blimey.

If not someone has cleaned that with sandpaper and not an alcoholic swab which is a little bit silly to say the least.

Even so the only problem you will have is the smooth conducting surface and if you used ICD that should fill the gaps and you should be ok.

Those temps seem fine.

 

RGR.

NO that wasn't me. I do know better than to use something other than swabs and alcohol on copper.

 

I would not lap it... I've never noticed enough of a difference while lapping to justify it (unless I simply want to). With the complexity of the heat sink, I would be worried about doing more harm than good. Instead, I would focus on doing the best paste job possible with a good quality paste- IC Diamond or Arctic Silver MX3.

Also, in the future, do not discount the value of a good cleaning. I ordered an ArctiClean kit from petrastechshop and wow... After using elbow grease and isopropyl alcohol for 10 minutes I can use arcticlean and have a noticeably, obviously better clean with almost no work. If you get those scratch cavities clean then refill them with MX3, you will find it still works great!

Lap if you like, but be real careful of course. I sure wouldn't!

 

I ended up using ICD on it. We will see how long the paste lasts, and I might just purchase a used one on ebay down the line and polish it up.

For now I need to focus on OC'ing the XM.

 

Silly previous owner then fella. Surely not an Asus tech

920XM movie complete. Could take a few to upload and will make a post now.

 

ICD7 will outlast the time you use your laptop. And ICD7 is great for that since it will spread and fill any crannies and any spaces for best cooling. No need to get a new heatsink or lap it.

 

Yea previous owner, wait I'm the first owner.....it must have been the US Asus Tech

Looking forward to the movie! Been playing a bit, but not too much.

 

I'm occasionally OCD about minor details. The scratches are very noticable. I doubt you'd notice much of a difference for the contact plane but I'd lap it. Start low like 800 and work up to 2000, preferablly 2500. Then polish and it'll look like new

 

ICD and be done with it. Perfect product for the job. My heatsink has nice screwdriver marks, and I have one cool-running mofu.

 

Damn! I love how the light hits the heatsink in your second picture, its wallpaper-ish that one .
Maybe I'm wrong, but doesnt more surface ( carvings in the heatsink) lead to more conduction aka better cooling ?

 

^^ not vs a fine/flat surface. What about the areas directly under the gaps??

 

You fill em up with ICD ofc
My reason told me that a bigger surface implements more heat dispersion.
However, since the heat has to go trough the same amount of ICD, the gain of surface aint beneficial..

(was taking the theory of an aircooler, the more thin copper plates it had, the better it cooled. But thats with air, thus there's more space to let the air out. We're stuck with the same area of paste.)

 

Look what I just found when looking over the second picture

 

Looks like the Asus tech must have put that on the heatsink when he saw what the work experience student had done to ur heatsink

 

Wow, are you kidding?! Looks like the work of a digruntled employee.
Is your laptop still under warranty? I would get Asus on the phone and demand that they send you a new heatsink.

 

Strange company Asus, you get pure genius and new ideas - right from my tiny Seashell R101 Eee PC to the ROG G73JH, even with all the various problems!

But when I look at these pics posted here, then Asus really, really need to have a closer look at their staff at the RMA Centers.

Or maybe it´s even at the assembly line, who knows?

It´s a disgrace what happens...

Pure genius mixed with utter stupidity!

 

Well if I hadn't changed out my CPU I would have had warranty, but I don't anymore.

 

Well if you still have the original...

 

But there is a sticker that tears when you remove the processor. Besides, that is fraud. I would rather just spend the 50$ to purchase a replacement heatsink.

Karma, can be a "female dog".

 

Lol at the smiley, it is actually a partially erased #. In any case, i would wet the HS surface with ICD7. Apply a thin layer, spread it, let it sit for a couple of minutes, clean gently with alcohol swabs and the cracks should stay filled with ICD. Wait for it to dry up and apply that 3mm bead on the GPU and reseat the HS.

If you order a new one, try lapping the one you currently have for even better contact surface .

 

My GPU heatsink was pretty bad


However, I think my CPU heatsink was a little worse


So after a little help from Mr. sandpaper this is what they now look like




I would have to say that i could have did it a little longer for a brighter shine, but I was happy enough with the results.

 

I would love to see you apply 0.3mm amount of ICD considering it comes out of the tube as 1mm :laugh:

 

How is this fraud? because you replaced the cpu? Yeah so you're not under warranty anymore but it's not fraud. I'm not saying that you should try to get an RMA but you should at least contact Asus and email them this picture. In the end it doesn't matter because you can still get good temps.
But to me this tarnishes Asus' reputation because it sorta looks like someone in their service dept intentionally vandalized it or at least saw it and used the part anyway.

 

Oops, i meant 3mm

 

That is a similiar state to what mine are in. What sandpaper did you use?

 

For a desktop, you usually start with a medium grit, i would guess ~800 IIRC then move up the chain to a very fine grit to get this mirror like surface.

For a laptop, it might be a good idea to start higher since you want to remove as little copper as possible.

 

Might have been a bit extreme, but I started off with 400 and worked my may up the line 400-->800-->1000-->2000

 

Bugger wish I had done this before my most recent repaste. Im pretty sure that my heatsink wont survive another go as the screw thread is near the end of its life and dunno where to get some more. Same for my CPU screws haha!

 

It always depends on what you do, 400 would be too rough for my taste, but hey opinions differ and i tend to stay on the safe side of things. Not like a friend's co worker who lapped his heatsink and CPU IHS for his desktop. you have to be crazy as well as know what you're doing to lap a IHS... Note, laptop CPUs are bare dies so don't go lapping those...

 

I agree with 400 being to rough.

I wouldn't recommend anyone start with 400 except for on extreme surfaces. Of course Asus heatsinks would be considered to be extreme surfaces for some people. Usually I would start around 600 to 800, but usually 800 most of the time. Some manufacturers just really don't care about quality sometimes. I wouldn't even touch my on die CPU heatsink with anything more than 1000 starting out. Then again all you are removing on a cpu or gpu is just the words. They are usually good to go to begin with.