Northbridge unknown substance?

I just opened up my p7801u to replace the chassis, but this required me to remove the CPU heatsink. I recognized the cpu well enough, but there some was something near it that was also covered by the heatsink. I think it's called the northbridge. I'm not sure what it is but it doesn't really matter because I'm covering it as soon as I replace the chassis.

The problem is that this is this rubbery, thick, easily ripped, and greyish substance on top of the northbridge. It's like a sieve for the northbridge. I am not sure it is thermal paste because the slimey substance on top of the cpu (i presume is the thermal paste) is nothing like this rubbery substance. Does anyone have any clue as to what this might be?

I am thinking about removing it to cover it with thermal paste but I am not sure if I should...

 

Never mind, I think this is a thermal pad. Hmm, I think I'm just gonna apply the paste on top of this pad since this thing ripped.

 

you may need to get a new thermal pad since that one is ripped, I'm not sure if the heatsink will touch the actual chip without the pad in there (if it's just paste)

 

Is it possible for me to "piece" it back together using a small screwdriver? I am not sure where to buy one of these things.

 

Once the thermal pad is compromised, there is nothing you can do to repair it. You need to get new ones or invest in some thermal paste.

 

I see, well this is really unfortunate. I already spent a month researching and ordering parts and if only I was a bit more careful I wouldn't have to spend another week on my laptop...

I was doing some reading and some people mentioned that ICD7 thermal pad is a good alternative, but I can't seem to find it on Amazon or Ebay. Where can I buy a pad of ICD7?

 

Instead of the pad for that laptop you can just use a copper shim covered in thermal paste(Both sides). If a shim is hard to come by then a smoothed out penny made before 1982 would suffice.

 

oh and if you're getting new thermal pads. double check the thickness as well (personally a copper shim with thermal paste would work much better than any thermal pad)

 

it's thermal pad.

piece it together again and that will do the trick. I have one of those on top of my GPU heatsink so that it will touch the keyboard as to use it for additional heatsink, and mine ripped apart every time I opened the laptop ... so every time I piece it back together and it's all fine.

those chips dont heat up as much so that they would need perfect pad or better thermal paste, so no biggie.

 

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't aware that the thermal pad isn't as crucial as thermal paste in relieving heat.

Actually, my thermal pad has gotten pretty mangled as to be beyond repair. I was thinking about using thermal paste to cover up the holes, but that stuff is very thick and won't seep into the holes of the pad. I've already bought one of these things:

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

It looks about right. I think the pad I have is 14mm x 14mm x 1 mm so i'm probably going to cut it down to size. Does it matter that it says it's for GPU rather than Northbridge? I mean, you'd still use the same thermal paste, so I thought it should be the same for thermal pad.

I have checked the shims, but they are all too large at about 20mm x 20mm x 1mm.

 

I would avoid shims, if improperly placed/wrong thickness it can destroy the die, especially on GPU's or ruin other surface mount components around whatever you are placing the shim on.