Do I need to repaste? 780m

Hi folks,

I just got my new P150SM from PC Specialist. I went for the optional thermal paste but I'm seeing temps of 90C when running Crysis 3 with no overclock. Does this sound normal? Do I need to repaste?

I'd hope that PC Specialist would've done a good job but you never know...When I repasted my Alienware it made a big difference...

I'm using the laptop on a cooler (cheap crap one tbh) in a WARM room tho... I just don't know what to think..

Thanks

 

How high is your ambient temperature? Have you tried using the laptop without the cooler and instead raising its back a little? This can help the fans get all the air they want, some coolers will actually block the airflow.

 

Its hard to tell how warm my room is but last night I had the windows open and it wasn't so hot in here. I'm using the laptop cooler without the fans on, it raises the back of the laptop tho.

I'm starting to wonder if its just a card that runs hot.. was hoping to overclock...

 

I'd just repaste it. If done properly, it can only help, right?

 

Crysis 3 is a very demanding game, however, 90C and over seems a bit high, mid to low 80s seems more reasonable. Repasting won't hurt, go ahead and do it, your temps will probably lower by a few C. Chances are the person who put together your new laptop did a poor job in terms of applying the thermal paste to the gpu and cpu.

 

i'm sensing a recurring theme here with the 780m in the SMs. i've pretty much given up all hope of ever putting one in my EM even if the vBIOS ever gets sorted by Prema or whoever, oh well, a 680m will still be a nice upgrade over what i have now, especially as it continues to drop in price.

OP, please do update if you decide to repaste.

 

How do I know if my paste job will be any better?

 

apply a small drop of thermal paste (IC diamond) and thin the layer with something like a credit card. reapply the heatsink and check to see if the temps are lower with things like gpuz, cpu id, or afterburner.

 

Ok I will give it a try, I've got some Arctic MX-4 here. You'd think PC Specialist would do a better job than me tho haha

 

You would be surprised. Sometimes I have seen little tags (like actually pieces of paper) over my gpu and heatsink. 90 is too high; room temp and all. Repaste and report back.

 

It's the same with my P150SM with 780M, it hits 91C in unigine valley. I will repaste with Gelid and report back here.

 

Yeah looks like I will do the same. Was hoping this would have been done correctly at the shop, hope its not the 780m just being a hot card... haven't started overclocking yet...

 

if its the gpu hitting 90C then something is wrong, I would send the laptop back, if its the cpu then thats slightly above average, mine hits max 85C while gaming, so I wouldnt be too worried, but I would still repaste and see if it makes any difference

 

You just suggested sending the laptop back and repasting

 

I said send it back only if the gpu reaches 90C

 

Since 780M is still built on 28nm like GTX 680M but offer more cores, this is Keplers GTX 580M. Meaning hot temperature is to be expected.

HTWingNut did an amazing review on his P157SM and he got 71C with Crysis3. He didnt say anything about room temperature though and that will indeed affect GPU temp. Im thinking 90C is too high, but you should expect maybe 80s in a hot room.

Id say you should repaste.

Edit: I see you are using a notebook cooler as well. Well then its clear, def repaste!

 

Ok just repasted.. Haven't done extensive tests yet but just by running unigine heaven a couple of times my temps went up to 70C. I used to get around 85C or a little more!!!

So much for PC Specialist haha, whats the point of paying extra for an optional paste job?

I also removed the stupid "warning hot" thick sticker on top of the copper pipes.. can't believe they leave it on...

Anyway, it also looks like I've got the copper gpu cooler, isn't that worse than the aluminium one?

 

No it is not. Copper has a heat conductivity that is almost double that of aluminum. The only reason you'd want to consider aluminum is because it is lighter.

 

so, should the vBIOS get sorted, it's not crazy to think that the EM cooling systems can handle a 780m?

 

I thought there was much of a difference between the two's cooling systems, other the fan tables?

 

Good to see the OP get the temps sorted with repaste.
Was going to say those temps are quite high. My 680m and 7970m @28nm only produce max 70C and this is with crysis 3 for 30minutes game time.
90C is way too high for 780m.

 

7970m, 70C max load? That is some solid cooling you have there my friend!

 

Agreed, how teh hellz??

 

Rule number 1 after receiving a new gaming laptop: repaste.

Never trust the manufacturer because automated processes just never seem to do a consistent and good job. Manual TLC is required.

 

How about a system builder like Mythlogic?

 

You may also want to take into consideration the issues presented with the 320.18 drivers. Perhaps the heat issue was overlooked or not repaired "well enough" to make such a difference. I went from 320.49 to 314~ on my desktop and saw a 10C drop in temperature.

Drivers are so very important. I'm sure everything will be optimized soon enough.

 

I can see why thats true but I would've hoped that a smaller company\builder would take a bit of extra care... especially when you pay extra for it.

 

Did a repaste as well, first run with unigine valley hit 71C second run 75C, before repaste was 91C. 3Dmark13 hit max 78C, so no heat problem with the GPU, only sub par paste job.

 

Cool, good to know the 780m's don't run that hot... Did you buy your lappy from PC Specialist? and did you remove the warning stickers on the copper pipes?

 

They should be better but are still mass assembled. Clevo laptops especially are so easy to access and repaste it's silly *NOT* to do it yourself.

 

Bought it from pc-konsulten.se here in sweden, but I opted out on the Arctic MX4 thermal paste going with the standard paste, as I always do a repaste on a new laptop. Was suprised that temp went down 20C this time around.
BTW, would that make a difference if I remove the stickers on the copper pipes, they are huge though, and cover i big area on the heatsinks?

 

Your temps have dropped more than mine! It is a little warm here tho in my room at the moment. I don't know for sure how much of a difference it makes but it just makes sense to me to remove them. You don't need a PHD in physics to figure that a big thick sticker on the copper pipes isn't going to help the cooling efficiency haha which is why I don't understand why manufacturers leave it there!? (health and safety?) It left some sticky glue from the sticker which I also removed using some of the paste removal stuff.0

One of the screws on the heat sink was actually rather loose. Not too impressed with my first order from PC Specialist if I'm honest. But whatever, its fixed now and this is the fastest computer I've ever owned! and believe me I've had loads..!

 

The stickers on my heatsinks are there for warranty purposes... removing either of the heatsinks voids my warranty and this is stated on those stickers. Not sure about yours though...

 

To be honest I didn't really look but I think it just said "warning hot!". I like to think that the "warranty void if removed" kinda thing is a bit of a myth. I sure would be upset if PC Specialist turned around and said: "Yeah, you removed a sticker, its your fault its broke".

Having those stickers on the copper pipes just makes absolutely no sense to me. Its ridiculous. Perhaps it makes no difference at all and I'm just being stupid but you can't beat good old common sense.

 

Yeah tell me about it, I live in Australia and none of the resellers here give you the option to remove anything, doing so voids the warranty. Even for a simple repaste you have to send it in. Pretty ridiculous but that's just how it goes

 

Hi i have a orign PC eon17-s (p177sm) with the gtx 780 bought a month ago and im hitting 94'c (stock) (room is 30+) so i bought sone phoyba nanogrease and will be doing a re-paste asap anyone know where i can find a guide for this pc? and also if they have done it did it drop the temps?

 

I'll repaste tomorrow and let you all know how it goes. I'm getting temps in the 90's and this laptop's only a week old. Repaste is necessary.Got myself some Arctic MX-2, should do the job.

 

Ok after reading this thread and further to my previous comment in the other 780M thread it looks like a repaste is on the table tonight.

My laptop is effectively a "stock" PC Specialist build bought through Ebuyer - which ended up cheaper than buying direct, go figure

Will have to crack out the Artic Silver tonight and the screwdrivers (and hope I don't get a "shakes" episode).

 

Hey guys,

I have the same laptop from PCS, P150SM GTX 780M, and I ordered it with repasting and after reading the topic it feels like
it hasn't been done properly...

I have recorded several time the temp with MSI afterburner, nvidia inspector, openhardware monitor and they all agree on the temp
while running unigine valley extreme test. I easily reach 88C...

Therefor I have several questions for the experts here :

- Which paste is the best for GPU ? I have read :
- IC Diamond 24-Carat Thermal Compound
- Arctic Cooling MX-4
- Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra

And Im sure there is more.....

- How do you repaste really ? Anything that I shouldn't do ?

- Any advice ??

Well really anything you have in mind I attached screenshot of the temp after unigine.
Thank you very much for your help.

 

Your temps seem fine to me, but of course you can never go wrong with re-pasting.

 

According to Zill :

It looks like I could easily reduce my temp by 10C... And like you said you can never go wrong BUT I need advice on paste and tips for repasting tho. Never done it before, and want to do it properly. Come on guys I am sure there is a specialist in here

 

I have repasted my P170SM several times, most recently about 2 months ago. I noticed temps at stock clocks fell by 4°C in Unreal Valley benchmark from 92°C to 88°C and about the same amount in idle temps from 36°C to 32°C. But that still doesn't really give me any overclocking headroom in the most demanding games like Crysis 3 or the new Shadow Warrior

I have used Arctic MX-2 and Prolimatech PK-3 [currently applied]. Apart from the disastrous first attempt, each subsequent repaste took temps down by one degree each time as I improved. However, I don't think I can get any better now. I might try some other thermal paste but really, would it make that much of a difference if I used Arctic Silver 5 or IC Diamond instead of Prolimatech PK-3? I don't know.

As for tips I'll direct you to a thread I made a few months ago when I was first attempting a repaste. Lots of folks helped out and gave their advice! Might help you too

 

I've tried a bunch of the premium thermal pastes and found that how you apply the paste is a very important factor, if not the most. You probably won't find much variance between the pastes you mentioned as long as they're applied correctly. It seems like you've got the experience to realize it's not too difficult to apply yourself and even easier to improve upon it. At this point, with already using something like Prolimatech applied correctly, you may not find any improvement. It's always fun to try and beat your best, though.

 

Thanks for the link it looks good. Anyone tried this one ? Liquid ultra paste

 

You were seeing 92C with the 780M? That's hot for a mobile GPU...

IC Diamond will work much better.

 

Hey guys, I heard that Artix MX-4 from PCSPecialist paste job is only done on CPU, that is probably why you see high GPU temperature on your laptop after buying from them and asking for repaste.

I am about to repaste with IC-Diamond both GPU/CPU and I will update my result here.

 

Hey,

After repasting my GPU (780m) with IC-Diamond I dropped my temps by 8C on heavy load ! Also before I would hit 80C and over with furmark or unigine valley after 5 mins of benchmarking because my start temp would be already quite high. Now Im most of the time between 70C and 80C ! I should have taken photos but the 780M is really a tiny square and there was paste all over the heat sink (probably like 2mm thick...) and a lot around the GPU. I cleaned with artic cleaner and applied a tiny pea in the middle an reapply the heatsink. I played bf3 since and no more than 78C. My CPU is even higher on temps than the GPU now... I intend to repaste it too soon. Funnily after and before repasting, same settings, i increased my score by 50 in furmark and the GPU core recorded by furmark was 110Mhz lower after repasting, not sure if it has a meaning.

It was my first time and it is quite scary when you have never done it but it is quite hard to do something wrong so I recommend it to everyone.