Need HELP My new D900F NP9280 is overheating!

So here is the scoop.

I purchased this laptop from a guy who used the laptop for 2 weeks and got a macbook instead since it did not power a 30 inch TV to the full resolution like he wanted it to.

The laptop runs fine but when I stress all cores to 100% the temperature rises up to the tjmax which is 100c.! Idle is about 55c.

I tried installing a new heatsink and even changed from the i7 920 to the i7 950 and I still have the problem.

The room is cool and the thermal paste has been applied many different ways to test them out. The fans are not clogged at all.

I use prime 95 and occt to test and they both climb up to around 100c after 5 minutes.

I think what is happening is that the heatsink is not going down all the way to make contact with the CPU heat spreader. Because unless I use a lot of thermal paste it does not even spread.


I will test to see if the mounting bracket is in the way. It seems to be sticking up at the same level as the cpu. I will test this using a piece of glass.


If anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated.


And yes, my laptop has plenty of airflow, on a flat surface and the latest bios.

 

What type of thermal paste are you using? How are your thermal pads placed on your heatsink?

 

I am using formula 5 silver thermal compound. And also tried Diamond. The heatsink also had a thick layer on it. Seems to be put on by a machine. It was an even layer. If I do not use enough compound the temps get hot much quicker. Which is what makes me believe the contact is not right. I will use a piece of glass to test this theory tomorrow.

And what do you mean by thermal pads? Here is some pics.

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a368/intermezzo_/misc/


Thanks for your help!

 

Using too much thermal paste will cause it to trap heat instead of helping dissipate it. If you have to put a "thick" layer on then you almost certainly have a contact problem.

 

That is what I was figuring. But, if I do not put enough paste down it does not spread at all. I am unsure what is causing this. It might be that the bracket that holds the cpu down is getting in the way of the heatsink, I dunno. Guess I will need to check that next. But after that I am not sure what I can do. I called Sager and their customer support is the worst. I will contact Kobalt systems (place it was purchased from) but they never pick up the phone!

 

I'd check very carefully every contact point for the heatsink to see if anything is getting in the way of it sitting properly. I've seen this happen when components aren't seated correctly or when thermal pads move/get folded over which push the heatsink up, screw mounting points getting bent out of position, etc...

Worse comes to worse, you can get a copper shim to close the gap.

 

Really? A copper shim would work better than extra thermal paste? I can see now that when I put a thin layer of paste down on the cpu, then tighten everything down, that the heatsink does not get any paste on it. This tells me it is a contact issue for sure.



Also, I used a piece of glass to make sure the bracket is not in the way of the cpu heat spreader. It looks fine since the thermal paste transfers to the glass fine.......


For some reason the heatsink is not making total contact. I have tried 2 heatsinks...so I don't know what the issue is.

 

Copper shim does not work....

 

put a small blob in the center. use the corner of a credit card or the like to spread it thin and evenly around.

 

Already did that. The problem is that the heatsink does not actually touch the CPU. I bought a new heatsink and this did not solve the problem. I don't know what the issue is. And the laptop is way to expensive to ship from China to get repaired, especially since the warranty just expired....

 

Why didn't the copper shim work?

My heatsink doesn't touch my northbridge, I cut my own copper shim, sanded it.

Then I made a sandwich, Northbridge <> thermal paste <> shim <>thermal paste <> heatsink.

Just make sure you have the right thickness of the shim. Can buy some on ebay, might have to sand them though.

You can even buy a shim on ebay that is silver (saw a few under $15 a while ago). Slightly better than copper, I would use one on my GPU if I had to.

Also try using ICdiamond thermal paste if you don't want to use a shim.
Their paste is thick and supposed to be almost as good as a shim if you have a big gap. I tried it on my NB and vram, worked well till I made my copper shims.

If you really want you can use a thermal pad on the GPU, not what I would do since pads are not great for cooling.
If you do use one, make sure it's the good type, some are only made for vram and other parts that don't get as hot as a GPU die.

 

Well I think the shim was not thick enough. Only 1mm. And it was only 25mm x 25mm, which is not the same size as the i7 heat shield, it is smaller.


I have been looking for days for a proper sized shim but it seems they are all too small. They seem to be the right thickness, but they are not big enough for the i7.


Anyone know where I can find one that is 1.5mm thick or 2mm thick and that fits an i7?

 

Anyone? This is killing me. And Kobalt Systems said they would fix it, but the shipping will cost me $400! Crazy!

 

How about this thermal pad?

Digi-Key - 3M9596-ND (Manufacturer - 5519 210 MM X 155 MM X 2.0 MM)

It has a thermal conductivity of 4.1 W/m-K which is pretty good for pads.

 

I would go with Fujipoly pads instead.

 

Pads....? why not a copper shim? I have one coming in the mail. I also have another fan coming so I can do the 4th fan mod. Will let you guys know how it turns out!

 

hummm.... i would take off all those pads for starters. since your not getting anywhere with them on. (and you have a picture to tell where they all go)

spread some cheap tim on the cpu so that it covers the whole cpu

now set the heat sink on top. put the 4 screws in around the cpu, then unscrew and take them out again.

examine how much of the heat sink now has tim on it. if it's fully covered...then one of those pads is in the wrong place. if not..then the heat sink could be warped (but you bought another one so that rules that out)
it should not need any copper shims or mods to work. unless your going for some over clocking records or something.