Gateway FX 7811 CPU Thermal Paste TIM

I was having very bad heating problems on my Gateway FX 7811. The fan was coming on (complete with "fan sync on sound") even when I was just browsing the web. I opened the bottom of the laptop and cleaned out the dust. To be honest not much was there but I did remove what was there.

I have since downgraded the bios from 9C.20 to 9C.17 and am feeling very bad that I allowed my computer to sit on 9C.20 for as long as I did because the fan is not coming on as much and the laptop feels dramatically cooler. My question is now should I replace the Thermal Paste on the CPU? Is this an easy and worth while endeavor? While cleaning the computer, the CPU looked fine but of course I didnt lift it up to see the state of the paste, which due to the bad heating I had might have melted... The laptop is about 2.5 years old. I would be using Masscool Shin-Etsu Thermal Interface Material, Model: G751. What are your thoughts? To paste or not to paste? Thank you!

 

If you are now running cool leave well enough alone. With the stock CPU it should never get that hot. Now if the fan blowing air out on the left side was the original issue then the bios change solved your issues there as that is the GPU and bios 9c.20.00 is know to cause heat issues.

 

Thank you for your reply TanWare! Any thoughts on how I could help cool the GPU? Wold updating the Video Driver Firmware help? I am considering getting this : NVIDIA DRIVERS 306.23WHQL

 

What temps are you seeing? I use the 306.23 here on the 260m and the new 675m and they work fine. I am not sure with the older 9800m how well they would work...............

 

Drivers don't really affect temperature. Sure optimizations in newer driver releases will result in the GPU working less hard, therefore less heat, however it depends mostly on the application you are running.

That said, Gateway did modify the fan profiles from 9C.17 to 9C.20. It is normal for the GPU fan to start at ~45c with 9C.17. That is why it starts when you browse the web.

Personally, I perfer 9C.17 because it keeps the GPU overall cool.

 

I have never touched the original TIM on my 7811. I employed the "if it ain't broke" principal. Just sayin'. I idle at 30C in a mid 70F room. I have not blown out the vents in a while.

 

With the original CPU's they never got that hot. So if the paste never bakes out then there is no issue with replacing it...................