Replacing Thermal Paste on a Laptop

Thermal paste in simple terms is thermally conductive but not electrically conductive in order to protect electrical components. This material is in-between the die(brains) of a CPU or discrete GPU (dedicated graphics unit) and the heat sink/pipes. Thermal paste fills the gap between these two rigid metal surfaces and allows for safe heat transfer to the heat sink. This project aims to replace the thermal paste between the CPU and heat sink of your old laptop. Replacing thermal paste is actually quite important especially when buying used products. A fresh layer of paste can solve plenty of heating issues related to noisy old laptops. This project is recommended for those 13 years or older and have basic computer hardware literacy.

1. precision screwdriver
2. isopropyl alcohol
3. prytool
4. thermal paste

A precision screwdriver set will be needed for the multitude of small screws within the laptop and alcohol is important for cleaning as it does not damage the sensitive components.

Screws on the underside of laptops can be just about anywhere- middle, sides, and even under the rubber feet for the laptop. For this step it is best to watch a teardown video for your specific laptop model to get all the screw removed.

Please watch this video to clarify the later instruction-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLKZHPOcBNY

Remove the screws carefully using your precision screwdriver. Use a rubber mat to store these safley so they wont be lost.

Use your firm-but thin object to carefully pry the plastic clips away from the bottom of the laptop, sometimes a flathead screwdriver can do this step. The process will make loud clicking sounds as each plastic clip comes undone.

The thermal paste is going to be under all the copper heat pipes, and said pipes are going to be screwed on with tension screws. Spend a minute to find all the screws and follow the same organization process as step 2 to ensure none are lost during removal. Tension screws normally require much more force to remove so expect to apply more force.

In our case the battery is detachable from the outside and can be done in step one but most users will do it here. Now unscrew all the screw and start prying off the back plate with a non-metal flat object, remember to disconnect any cables that go outside of the board, like display cable and Wi-Fi. Remove the battery in this step if you can, this can be as simple as unclipping it or unplugging a cable.

Locate the heatsink and unscrew it, then carefully remove it from the motherboard, be careful not to bend the copper.

Clean the old paste off the contact areas between the chip and the heatsink with some isopropyl alcohol, thermal paste is normally grey with a gooey texture.

Add a pea sized drop of thermal paste to the die(s), a little can go a long way

Go though the previous steps in reverse to put the laptop back together. Remeber to put screws of different screws back in the right holes.

Double check that everything is put together properly and ask yourself these questions:

-Is there rattling?

-Are there extra screws?

-Does it turn on?

If you pass these checks you are done!

Huge thanks to Nathan for taking the high quality photos!

Diagram source- https://www.scientecheasy.com/2024/09/laptop-components.html/