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    Help with replacing 1555 motherboard

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by crispo, Apr 9, 2012.

  1. crispo

    crispo Newbie

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    Hi, i'm looking for some help to replace my motherboard using the existing chip and heatsink. Not looking to upgrade, just get it working again.

    It's a Studio 1555 (Win7, 4GB RAM) that's died from (i suspect) a faulty charger.

    I've replaced the AC jack but the board is still unresponsive from a new (working) charger. The light on the charger goes out as soon as it's placed in the AC port.

    So, following advice from others on here i want to replace the board, but slightly unsure what i need to do to reseat the heatsink. I've only really installed this before on basic boards with no GPU but is there anything special i need to bear in mind when replacing an existing one?

    When i take the existing board out, and remove the heatsink, it looks like CPU is attached to it via thermal paste (some of this has come off so i'll obviously need to get a new tube) and the GPU is only attached by a flimsy-looking thermal "pad"(?).

    Can i just reuse this, or is it more prudent to replace it with a new one?

    And how should i fix the pad onto the GPU so that the contact with the copper part of the heatsink is sufficiently true?

    Any hints, tips or links to how-to's would be greatly appreciated. Couldn't find anything on youtube for 1555

    Also, once i've installed the new board with the old chip and heatsink, will i need to do any software updates to the OS or chip? The machine isn't that old so i've never had to do any Bios updates before.

    Thanks for any help!
     
    crispo, Apr 9, 2012
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    Concerning the CPU, you should just ensure that you remove all of the old paste before re-pasting.

    Concerning the GPU, it's always good to replace the pad if you can, but if you can't, it's generally okay to reuse the old one.

    You should not need to reload drivers, etc, if you got the same motherboard.
     
    Commander Wolf, Apr 9, 2012
    #2
  3. crispo

    crispo Newbie

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    Awesome. Thanks for your help again
     
    crispo, Apr 11, 2012
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  4. JimmyDeemo

    JimmyDeemo Notebook Enthusiast

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    You probably already know this but I find that those little boxes of pads you can buy for removing nail polish is perfect for getting off old heat paste. They aren't too saturated with the fluid so no excess can drip on other parts.
     
    JimmyDeemo, Apr 17, 2012
    #4