Repaste GPU on G73 or send it to Asus?

I had high CPU temps 62c-67c idle 90c-99c load and normal GPU temps 54c-56c Idle 82c-84c load. So I decided to take my G73JH apart and repaste the CPU as I wanted to overclock with SetFSB. I decided to go ahead and repaste the GPU also as it had the same crappy thermal paste. I didn't expect much of a drop on GPU and was hoping for a decent drop on the CPU. I used AS5 and wow! My GPU now idles @ 44c-46c with an overclock of 800/1100 and I still need to test it under load. My CPU now idle 50c-55c and @ 100% load 68c-70c max with twin turbo on. I can't wait to see if I can hit 2.0GHz on all cores with SetFSB. Before I was able to get 1.83 GHz on all cores. Any one has questions PM me. I don't know why companies such as ASUS bother saving a few dollars on thermal paste. Why not do it correct the first time?

 

I noticed different results with my CPU overclock after my recent repaste and they actually decreased.

Remember that overclocking is not temperature related unless it is reaching the T junction and throttling. You may see an increase if the CPU overclock but dont expect any difference from the GPU as overclocking is limited by the chip itself and the voltage.

However, running cooler is more efficient, quietier and produces less heat. Along with prolonging the life of the hardware. All good things

 

OK. So I did a repaste both GPU and CPU yesterday and want to maker a little summary about it.

It was not hard to disassemble the notebook following all those guides (video, pdf). The only difficulty i had is unplugging GPU fan header. Somehow it was tough to pull out. But later i realized that it was not necessary to do it to get to air vents in order to clean it.

I must say that both GPU and CPU were horribly pasted originally by ASUS. There were more paste around the die than on it. It is good there is a protection film surrounding the die. Otherwise it could cause short circuit.

For repaste i used IC7 Dimond follow Dallers recommendations. And i have to say, it is harder to apply than MX-2 for example. IC7 is very viscous making it harder to spread round the die evenly. So i deiced to apply it to copper base of the heatsink instead. The base has marks limiting the area for paste to apply and it is easier to create thin layer of paste while holding the heatsink in your hands rather than having the motherboard lay down on the table while applied the paste directly on die.

Moving to GPU, i was planning to change T-Pads too. I got Phobya's 0.5mm high-performance thermal pads. First thing i noticed is new T-pads are dry and don't stick to memory chips unless you press it with the heatsink. Moreover, when i flipped a board a bit with new pads applied one of them just fell off. Which mean for me that 0.5 are to thin to make a good thermal contact. Therefore, i decided to leave the old ones.

Checked the imprints on both dies before assembling the notebook. Before the first start after a repaste I left the back lid opened and aired it with DIY USB fan in case some parts get overheated. But every thing went well.

First start and temps are 45 for GPU and 40 for CPU in IDLE (without USB fan). Then temps kept rising a bit and stopped at 55 on GPU (power play disabled) and 44 on CPU. Well, i am satisfied with both temps, since before a repaste i had GPU temps around 58 deg with a working USB fan and Powerplay turned to Max battery to reduce temps a bit and CPU was running at 53 in IDLE. The ambient temp was around 26 deg.

Before
IDLE: GPU 58, CPU 53 (+ USB fan and Powerplay set to Max battery life)

After
immediately after start IDLE: GPU 45, CPU 40
3 hour late IDLE: GPU 55, CPU 44

On the other hand, i see GPU temp can be better as i noticed the screw 1 on a heatsink did not provide enough pressure for perfect thermal transfer. So i guess i should dissemble the note once more to fix it.

I did not test the card at full load, but ran a game which loads GPU to 88% that has resulted in final temps just below 65 deg. Same game before repaste resulted in around 72 degrees with working USB fan and a Powerplay set to Max battery life.

Overall the result for is GOOD!
What do you think?

 

It's even easier to make a 3mm ball in the center of the gpu and just squish down the heatsink on it. Why people feel the need to spread it themselves is beyond me.

 

Hardwired sandwich making instincts maybe. A 50mm ball of peanut butter between two slices of bread, then squish it down.

lol

 

Well, is easy to say when you are not doing it(notebook repaste) for the first time. And I believe it works well on square chips whereas G73's CPU and GPU dies has rectangular shapes. But i'll keep that in mind for my next repaste.

 

Its more just about preventing bubbles occuring in the paste which then means part of the chip is not covered in compound and causes temps to raise and could lead to damage.

This was clearly seen when I removed the heatsink from Asus RMA repaste:

 

Is re-pasting still required even for a brand-new G53/73 notebok WITHOUT using it OVERCLOCKED? (mine is G53JW though)

If the answer is yes, my solution is simply, won't buy an Asus again!

 

I never repasted. All I do is air-can. Although, taking the number of RMAs and overheating topics I've seen in general, I have stupendous luck in having the only G73 not shoddily pasted by Asus. Without touchpad issues too.

I'm currently in a rather hot region (temps go to 46C, 115F) and indoor temps go to about 36C, 97F, and when gaming windowed, (without airconditioning) I don't go past 90C.

Crysis 2, Global Agenda, Killing Floor, BFBC2, MW/MW2/BO etc.
Furmark pushes me to 100C but it isn't a game.

The only G73 series that had 'serious' heating issues was the G73JH. The Nvidia refreshes ran much cooler.

I would love to re-paste, but I'm aiming for a minimum 90% resale value and don't want to risk damaging anything. So if you got your G73 as a second hand bargain, by all means repaste it. If its brand new, and unless you're experiencing thermal shutdown under normal operating conditions, then you don't need to repaste.

 

It was an issue with the 5870M units. The TIM process was reviewed and changed with the newer units, ala nvidia chips. As you can see on the forums, we don't get anything in the way of any 460m or 560m complaints regarding units overheating.

So it's only something to be aware of for the JH model.

 

Interesting to see the varying results in temps after people post their re-pasting experiences.

About 18 months I was horrified when my 6 month old G73J crapped out and had a temp shutdown after playing SC2.

Being an electronic Engineer and having built many desktop systems I was still somewhat hesitant at pulling my precious (and expensive) laptop apart.

However, I did and am so glad I didn't RMA it as I now know how to take this thing apart, I can maintain my own machine easily now.

I was getting load GPU temps of 105c and Idle of around 83c.

The first re-paste I stupidly used a no name brand and saw a small improvement. However I got more practice taking the beast apart which was invaluable.

My last repaste I stumped up an bought some Prolimatech PK-1 Thermal Compound.

I now never go over 84c (Anno 2070 on Max settings) and that's in the height of summer here in NZ.

If your 'Tech minded' Id do it, the paste that ASUS put on mine was shocking, it was dried up and frazzled out.

Now I can run pretty much everything withnice eye candy without worrying, although now I see people with GPU loads in the 70's I might go for another, probably try the thermal pads next I reckon.