Fan assembly reinstallation/CPU too hot?

thinkpadlover

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Apr 6, 2012
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Hi everyone, the fan assembly in my Lenovo Thinkpad R61i 8932 rattled and vibrated like a mini lawn mower, so I bought a refurbished Lenovo assembly and replaced it myself. The new assembly is quiet and smooth and the computer seems to be running fine, BUT because I've never repaired a computer before and MIGHT have incorrectly applied the thermal paste (not sure which brand the guy gave me, but it was white and kind of like whipped cream/toothpaste in consistency, and I slathered a light coat on the entire copper surface area that goes over the CPU), should I go back in and reinstall? At a pretty cool room temp, my idle temps (< 10% load) are 35C-50C (according to CoreTemp and HWMonitor). When I test the cores using PC-Doc 5 (and the load goes to 100% for a sec or two), the core temps spike up to around 80C. And I've seen the core temps go as high as 83C. THM0 and THM1 run about the same, according to HWMonitor. But no system warnings or shutdowns -- everything seems to be running fine. Am I good to go? Or do I have to reinstall?

NOTE: The CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 at 2.00 GHz.

Thanks much in advance.
 

Chaz21

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Mar 6, 2012
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I would redo the installation. Better safe than sorry. I would use this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
and follow this:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#
just click on the link next to your processor.
 
I agree with Chaz21 - the temps are slightly on the high side.

It is better to re-seat the CPU/heatsink using Arctic Silver 5 in accordance with industry established procedures outlined well in Arctic Silver's guide that Chaz21 posted.
 

Follow Chaz21's advice, and take your time at it; don't rush this. Good luck!
 

thinkpadlover

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Apr 6, 2012
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10,510
Hey everyone, thanks for the advice. The thermal paste I used was ZP Heatsink Compounds (came as a bonus with the refurbished fan assembly).

I'm not looking forward to opening my machine up again, but I'll probably do it sometime in the next few weeks. I've heard nothing but good stuff about Arctic Silver 5, and I guess I should also use the Arctic removal system.

By the way, I was looking at the specs for my CPU and based on two separate sources, it looks like the Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Processors have a normal safe operating temperature of 100 degrees Celsius and a catastrophic processor temperature of 125 degrees Celsius. I know the cooler, the better, but at least until I get my courage back up to pop open the machine again, I can feel good in knowing I'm well below the 100-degree mark.

Thanks again!
 

thinkpadlover

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Apr 6, 2012
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Yeah, I'm thinking if/when I do the reinstallation properly, I'll probably see a reduction of about 10 degrees Celsius, which means I would top out at around 75 degrees C. Better and safer!