My 5 Year Old NP8170: Time to Change Thermal Pads too?

Hi guys, my NP8170 is reaching its fifth year with me and I noticed that the thermal pads look really dirty and somewhat falling apart.

Should I go change them or leave them be?

 

Yes.. You probably should also look at getting a new laptop

 

Thanks haha, I wish I have the funds now to get one too! Am looking at getting a new one but let's see how Pascal/Polaris pans out first

 

Couldn't really hurt to try out new pads. They don't need to be reapplied quite like thermal paste does, but it might be worth a shot to give the system a little bit more life to make it to the next GPU releases, whenever that may be.

 

Thanks! Just to be sure, do I still use thermal pads or can I use thermal paste instead of pads?

 

Usually you replace them with pads or use a copper shim in its place - that shim does get thermal paste if you chose that method.

I replaced pads with shims on my system and the difference was negligable, until I also applied Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra... Maybe a couple of degrees improvement.

 

Usually you replace them with pads or use a copper shim in its place - that shim does get thermal paste if you chose that method.

I replaced pads with shims on my system and the difference was negligable, until I also applied Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra... Maybe a couple of degrees improvement.

 

Hmm copper shims remind me of those mods I have to do on a HP Touchsmart tx2 (notorious for heating issues)... I guess I will have to order more thermal pads then!

 

You would still want to use thermal pads where you remove the old thermal pads. The thermal paste would be on the CPU/GPU.

 

Yes, it's not required to use anything else even if you were overclocking. Decent thermal pads of the right thickness do the job well and can be easily replaced or adjusted.

 

HAHA if it's working hold on... Polaris/Pascal will be a huge upgrade...

 

Thanks guys, I will stick with thermal pads then! Let's see if I can find those with the right thickness...

That's what I am thinking too lol, just that I won't be able to play most of the games for now since 560M is really too weak for them.

 

Ok, I managed to find someone selling Laird Tflex 740 Thermal Pads (15*15*2.0mm) for 4 SGD per piece.

Are these ok?

 

Update: I sourced for cheaper (and faster to get) thermal pads. Not branded but I think it will do. Will start another thread though cos need to ask different set of questions...

 

Ok, I tested the new thermal pads... and triggered the failed shutdown/restart issue. (refer to other thread for details)

Apparently, the NP8170 is really picky on thermal pads; it will boot up normally (and then work normally) only with its stock thermal pads. And even then, thanks to that issue, it took a while before normal operation is possible.

I suspect that the thermal pads I am using are too thick, or that the NP8170 is really that picky. Any thoughts on this?

 

I gotten myself a thinner one; applied Arctic Silver MX4 on both sides as recommended by the shopkeeper and replaced the old thermal pads.

So far so good, now testing it out. Is 55 degrees Celsius for dual display setup a good temperature?

 

That is fine for an idle temp for a 580M tbh...

 

Lol, I wished I had gotten myself a 580M (or even a 6990M?) when I ordered, but as it is right now, it is a 560M. Maybe that's why it is still working nicely now...

 

The 560M was certainly a LOT easier to cool down.

 

Thanks, I have decided to just stick with thermal pads as shipping copper shims to where I am now is not worth the effort

Yeah, it is really easy; just realised that I don't need a cooling pad for it. Just that there are times I wish that I have a bit more GPU power than what I have right now...