Can this heatsink be removed?

I just cleaned out my Samsung notebook, Ativbook 5, model: NP540. I attempted to remove the heat sink to change out the thermal paste/pad. Upon inspection, it looks like it's held in place with some non-removable screws...... The three screws on the fan were removable but it appears to be fixed onto the heat sink. I didn't want to force anything so I screwed in back together for now. Looking for a second opinion.

My goal is to replace the speakers, cpu fan, repaste the cpu, and remove all the dust. I managed to pick up a replacement set of speakers on Ebay for cheap. I was able to get a part number off the fan when I was in there. I plan to replace it if I can find the right one and get the old one off.

Right now this computer is running super hot. When steaming video it's shooting up to 80C in windows 10 and even higher in linux. There was a considerable amount of dust inside but overall temperatures have not improve dramatically after the cleaning.

I'll post some pictures once I get them transferred to my computer.

 

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It's not normal for the fan to be fixed to the heat sink / heat pipe, but Samsung occasionally do things differently.

Perhaps the first task is to diagnose the problem with the cooling system. The two likely causes are (i) the thermal paste between the heatsink and CPU has degraded and/or (ii) the fins on the heat pipe where the fan blows the air through are clogged up. You can do visual checks on the latter by looking into the fan exhaust but you can get good guidance by checking the temperature of the fan exhaust when the computer is running under load. If the fan is blowing plenty of relatively cool air then the problem is with the thermal paste stopping the heat from getting down the heat pipe but if the fan is blowing hot air, but not a lot, then there's more dust / fluff blocking the airflow.

The photos aren't detailed enough to show how the heatsink is fixed. It would be very unusual for it to be made non-removable. Did Samsung use a different type of screw or maybe you need to look at the other side of the mainboard.

John

 

Thanks for tips. I'm going to open her back up again when the new speakers come in the mail. I'll check the fins on the heat pipe for blockage.

I think you may be right about the screws being on the other side of the motherboard. There is a seller on Ebay that has the fan/heat sink assembly for sale. There must be a way to remove it. I might venture to remove the motherboard. I'll take some better photos when I open the computer again.

When the fan is blowing, I can feel hot air coming up through the vent.

I remember reading that some laptops use thermal pads vs thermal paste. I was going to order some pads just in case it use one. Are those sold in generic sizes or do I have to measure it before ordering. I have a digital caliper.

 

Do you have a dGPU in addition to the CPU? Manufacturers often use paste on whichever of the two stands highest from the board and put a pad on the other chip because the gap is too big for paste to work effectively. Pads (usually sold in multiple of 0.5mm thickness) are also used on any subsidiary chips (eg graphics memory) which are covered by the heatsink. If the heat sink only serves the CPU package then you should use paste. Which paste is a matter of preference. I have been using Noctua NT-H1 for the past couple of years and it seems to provide good performance at a reasonable price.

John

 

No dedicated graphics. I'll grab some generic pads with that thickness. I have a bunch of different types of paste from computer builds I did in the past. I'm going to test out whatever I have on hand. Thanks for the help.