M1530 and Arctic Cooling MX-3 issue

Hi,
I recently replaced the thermal compound on my CPU and GPU (8600M GT) with some Arctic Cooling MX-3 and to my disappointment I noticed that my GPU temps seem to be ~3C higher than before (with stock thermal compound). Since I've read other posts in which other M1530 owners had positive results when changing the thermal paste I was expecting to see at least a 1-2C drop on my gpu temps. I've done this many times on my previous desktop computers and this never happened before. I tried various methods of applying it but so far I had no luck in bringing my temps back. Before applying MX-3 my GPU used to idle at 58-62 and now it reaches 65 when the fan kicks in and drops it to about 52. Likewise, GPU load temps go beyond 70-71 which did not happen before. The CPU temps however seem the same as before. I'm really confused as I expected more from this particular thermal compound. Although the stock thermal compound was messily applied and in rather large quantities it seems that it performed better than this one

Any thoughts ? Did someone else use the Arctic Cooling MX-3 on the M1530's gpu and had such disappointing results ?

 

2 thoughts:

either you applied wayyy too much paste and its actually isolating your stuff, or you applied too little paste and its not making full contact, either way, i would wait a bit for it to settle in. At least a couple of days of normal use and gaming, turning on and off, etc..

 

let it settle in

 

The compound is very good, what you have done is used it without modifying the the cooling unit correctly.
Once you removed the thermal pad from your GPU or cooling unit heatsink there will be a gap between the cooling unit heatsink and the GPU. No amount of MX-3 will correct this you need to get a bit of copper or ally 1mm or 1.5mm thick dont quote me on the thickness search the forum for info (copper mod).
Just follow this guide and you should be alright.
Note: The thermal adhere pad are a light blue in color and square...

 

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I applied the paste a week ago and it seems that the situation remains about the same (maybe it dropped 1-2C, not sure). Since I'm not that much into gaming and didn't have time to mess around with the laptop lately I suppose it will take a while longer for it to settle in. Still, I doubt it will drop my temps below those I had with stock paste and even if it does I feel that it will be unnoticeable (not to mention that it seems like a rather slow process). One thing I did notice is that the gpu temps don't exceed 71C anymore (tested with MW2, FarCry2 etc.) which is a slight improvement.

To BlackRussian : Thank you for your reply, however I own a M1530 not a M1330. My 1530's GPU is not covered by a thermal pad. It has thermal paste like the CPU.

 

always good to have your specs in your signature man, helps us a lot to give you accurate help

 

OK no worries I know you have the as the title states in this thread but did you remove the one on the processor?
As according to your service manual they have thermal pad, I was not aware the M1530 had no thermal pad on GPU side.
But if you think the temps are getting higher just try re-seating the cooling unit.

 

Someone already said this, but maybe you did apply too much. I used Artic MX-3 on my CPU and GPU in my M1330, and noticed significant temp drops (with the copper mod as well). The coating that I put on was probably .5-.75 mm deep. It really doesn't take much.