CPU broken? Fan Broken? I don't know!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
U

Utterlynoob

Honorable
Jan 16, 2014
9
0
10,510
Hello, I have a Dell Inspiron N5010 (15r) which I have had for over 3 years now. When I was gaming it used to stop running because of overheating so it was time to take the fan of. Lots of dust in it. When I put the laptop back together it wouldn't work anymore. By this I mean:
It starts, the fan starts blazing like crazy, then the pc shuts down. This takes about 10-15 seconds. It starts normally, with first the DELL logo, then the Windows logo. I can get into BOOT menu but 15 seconds is not enough to do anything. I've started the pc without the harddrive, it still stops running after 10-15 seconds. Can anyone help me? What part is broken?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
U

Utterlynoob

Honorable
Jan 16, 2014
9
0
10,510


So how exactly would I fix this? My nickname says enough... I should not have opened it :p
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CaedenV

CaedenV

Splendid
Jun 14, 2011
4,829
3
23,465
You probably broke the seal between the CPU and the heatsink in the process of removing the fan which is causing the CPU to overheat as it is not properly dissipating heat properly. Go buy some good quality (nonconductive!) thermal paste, open your laptop up again, carefully clean off the old paste, and apply the new paste. Remember that too much paste is just as bad (or worse) than not enough, so please look up some videos on how to apply new thermal paste before attempting this.

If this does not work then there is a good chance that you have damaged something and will have to spend an arm and a leg getting it fixed, or else get a new laptop. As this is an older laptop a newer one will probably serve you better for games anyways.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
U

Utterlynoob

Honorable
Jan 16, 2014
9
0
10,510


http://postimg.org/image/sg22v4xz5/

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CaedenV

CaedenV

Splendid
Jun 14, 2011
4,829
3
23,465
lol, that would be your heatsink and CPU alright.

Clean that goop off very carefully! The die is exposed, so you could damage it or one of the surface mounted parts if you are not careful.

After you wipe the bulk of it off with a soft cloth or paper towel then wet a fresh cloth with alchohol to get the residue off. Apply fresh paste to the heatsink and make sure that it mounts firmly and snugly onto the board again. Remember that too much or too little paste is a bad thing. search youtube for videos on how to do this as there are several of them and several different ways to do it depending on your mounting situation, so watch a few of them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
U

Utterlynoob

Honorable
Jan 16, 2014
9
0
10,510


I am so happy right now! I thought I broke the entire laptop or something haha. Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CaedenV

CaedenV

Splendid
Jun 14, 2011
4,829
3
23,465
you are not out of the woods yet! there is still a very good chance that you will have to replace the whole laptop. But some thermal paste and alcohol is a cheap investment to try and resurrect your system and should not take too long, so it is at least worth trying before looking for a new rig.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
U

Utterlynoob

Honorable
Jan 16, 2014
9
0
10,510


I reapplied the thermal paste but it didn't change anything :(
Still after starting the pc the fan starts blazing like crazy and after 10-15 seconds it shuts down.
I checked wether the thermal paste was evenly spread and it was...
Any ideas?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CaedenV

CaedenV

Splendid
Jun 14, 2011
4,829
3
23,465
sounds like it is toast my friend... sad day.

On the plus side you can now buy a better laptop that is more appropriate for gaming... or better yet build a game rig and with the money you save go out and buy a cheap kick-around laptop or tablet.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DeathAndPain

DeathAndPain

Honorable
Jul 12, 2013
358
0
10,860
Well, it has to be a cooling issue after all. Other than that, your laptop is most obviously fully functional; otherwise it would not start. You must be doing something improperly, but it is very hard to advise you without being able to watch you as you do it. You need to remove the goop entirely. I can even imagine that it is not thermal grease on your picture, but remnants of a thermal pad. Thermal pads are often used by manufacturers because they are cheaper to apply in mass production, but they are also less effective, and they are even more one-time-items than thermal grease (even though thermal grease should also be reapplied every time you remove the cooler). For that reason, you need to remove this completely. The metal must be flashingly clean! Chemicals may help you to achieve this. Chloroform is best if you have access to it. Otherwise isopropyl alcohol or in emergency regular alcohol will have to do. Make sure not to make scratches in the metal while you clean the goop off.

Once that is achieved, apply a small drop of your new thermal grease into the center of both of the squares visible in your picture (i.e. 2 drops total). Then carefully put the metal cooler back on. Make sure it lies absolutely flat on the chips with good pressure (there must be some sort of retention system pressing it onto the chips). Avoid moving if back and forth sideways once you have put it onto the chips.

It may be a good idea to visit a computer store in your vicinity and have a computer-skilled guy do all this for you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom