Arctic silver 5 in laptops?

[kenshindono]

i got a dell xps M1710. Its been overheating lately (gpu kissing 90) and shutting down i blew out the air vents and got tons of dust out but its still running hot. I figure its got a lot of dust up on the heat sinks and the like. Its under warranty still so i called dell to come out and dust it, ect. They said theyd do that and replace the fans/heatsink, ect. I guess thats fine, but when i asked if they use AS5, or if they would if i provided them with some the guy said they dont because it can cause shorts in laptops or something ... is this true?

I asked what they use and he said thermal pads and some kinda paste combo.. thermal pads generally suck, if theyre replacing all this wouldn't AS5 be the best bet? or can it really cause problems. If its being taken apart and switched up id really prefer the guy slapping some AS5 on there even if i gotta buy it.

goin on vactation this week and wont be able to set up the apointment till im back so i got some time to go pick some up if its the best bet, just not sure if i can get the guy to install it

 

[frozenlead]

AS5 is a decent conductor considering it's made of silver - but as long as it's only touching the die, it should be alright.

 

[nocteratus]

I suggest AS Ceramique or MX-2 paste for laptops...

I did 1 old laptop with AS Ceramique and never had a problem... but I never really check the temps before/after...

 

[kenshindono]

i never did use the ceramique before, i guess that should quell their concern about it causing a short. Id really like AS5 but they were saying they wont u se that because it may cause a short. is there any merit to that concern?

not sure where i could snag t he ASC, never saw that in stores, just the silver.

I guess im just wondering if i should let them slap the pad/goop they normaly u seon there again when they replace the heatsink and stuff. Arent pads generally total garbage? i dontg want a repeat of heat problems. Should i just let Dell put their regular stuff on, or really push for them to use some AS ceramique or silver? Im wrapping up my vacation down south and will be back in town monday, i'll probably call them uptuesday to set the apointment up so i should pick up whatever i need if im going to try to get them to use something else by that week

 

[nocteratus]

if you use other paste than theirs, you can void the warranty...

The old 1 I did was out of warranty.

 

[kenshindono]

blea thats what i was worried about, id really like them to use something else though, isn't their pad/paste combo junk? I always thought any kinda pad was junk

 

[kenshindono]

oh ya, also, whats the best spread methos for AS5 or the ceramique? just put a dot in the middle or should you actually spread the dot out? i keep hearing different things, i always used to spread the dot a bit but i havent set one up for a while, i think it was AS3 back then

 

[stevensl2]

well i suggest spreading it, i dont like taking the change of it going off the edge.