Default/OEM thermal compound for Sager/Clevo?

Hey, new here. I'm thinking of buying the Sager NP5175 / Clevo W170HR. Only problem is that when I go to customize, it allows me to upgrade the thermal compound to IC Diamond or keep whatever OEM compound they use. Do you guys know what the OEM thermal compound is? Is it Arctic Silver? If so, I won't upgrade; if not, I guess I'd have to. I can't imagine a laptop with the components of NP5175 not having thermal protection like Arctic Silver, but thought I'd check...

Thanks!

 

The OEM thermal compound is a thick gray pad with the consistency of clay and it's actually not too bad, I only changed mine out manually later because my laptop was serviced and had it's heatsinks removed/reinstalled breaking the thermal effectiveness of the original compound.

Right now I'm using AC MX-2 and will later be trying IC7 Diamond, AC MX-2 was all I had on hand at the time.

Overall the stock compound is really not too bad, temps were fine with it on my NP8130.
If you're really worried about it and don't like the idea of applying it yourself by all means get the upgrade but if you want to save a few bucks and don't mind self applying go stock route for now.

 

The default compound wasn't too good in my case (hit 98C playing Arkham Asylum!). Your mileage may vary, maybe mine wasn't applied all that great from the factory. Most thermal compounds seem to be pretty much equal when applied correctly though. At most you might save 5C if you're lucky and use a top of line compound.

 

Thanks for the responses!

While you're here, is it worth an extra $45 to upgrade from 4 to 6 gigs of RAM if I plan on Win 7 64 bit and lots of gaming?

 

You might as well go further and move up to 8GB RAM if you have the budget, 4 to 6 makes little sense both in performance and financial benefits.

 

Dammit! I did 6 gigs... I wonder if I can change the order now...

 

Send an email to [email protected] (if you ordered it from there) with the title Order # xxxxx -- Changes. All you can do is ask. if they have built it already they may not.

 

I am wondering if new compound will help with the annoying fan spinup at 40 degrees

 

When I changed out my stock compound for IC7 my temps only went down 2-3c each. Having only used greases like Arctic Silver, I was dismayed when I first squeezed out the IC and tried to spread it! After reading up on proper application, I was more nervous than I'd ever been with AS compound. But being nervous made me extra careful and it worked out fine.

BTW, this is what I use to prep for a new compound. I love this stuff!

 

Do it yourself for peace of mind. The CPU application was fine and I never had any problems with CPU temps with the stock compound...but the application on the GPU was bad. I was hitting over 100C under load and idling around 52C. After applying ICD7 myself, my GPU temps almost never exceed 80C under load, idles at 42C.