Re-seating heatsinks without re-pasting giving better temps

GorbazTheDragon · Apr 30, 2015

Title...

Basically I reseated and repasted my CPU and GPU heatsinks on my laptop last week (first time in 22 months) and I got pretty similar temperatures after I did it (GPU was down ~2c). I had some thermal pads arrive yesterday and replaced the VRM/VRAM pads, I was too lazy to clean out the paste and repaste the chips before replacing the heatsinks so I decided I would see what the temps would be like if I just slapped the HS back on...

Much to my surprise GPU temps dropped by 5c idle (7c load) and CPU dropped by 3c idle and 10c load...

WTF?

Have I been missing something from my last 7 years of PC building?

Temps:
..........................Before.......Repaste...........Reseat
CPU Idle.........48-52.........47-52...............44-49
CPU Load.......75-95.........75-92...............70-82
GPU Idle.........43-44.........43......................37-38
GPU Load.......78-80.........75-79...............69-74

sneekypeet · Apr 30, 2015

Ambient temperature change can have a huge effect on things!

I have seated and re-seated hundreds of coolers, I can tell you there is no way that the remount of the cooler, unless the cooler wasn't installed properly to begin with, would allow for a 10 degree drop.

Sasqui · Apr 30, 2015

You probably got lucky. If the paste had dried up, you might have taken some chunks out and that wouldn't help. Sounds like it was still workable and you did a nice job re-seating things. Personally, I would have changed the paste just for insurance. But hey, it worked

rtwjunkie · Apr 30, 2015

I think it's possible that in this process either A) you ended up with less paste (less is definately more), or B) the heatsinks weren't seated as well as they could have been before.

GorbazTheDragon · Apr 30, 2015

Ambients were the same if not worse after I reseated it. My theory is that due to the paste being already spread out, the additional pressure when re-tightening the heatsink further thins the layer reducing the thermal resistance (remember thermal paste is basically the highest single layer of thermal resistance in the cooling system). I am surprised I didn't get a load of air bubbles in it pushing up the temps, which was what I was expecting when I put the sinks back on.

Both heatsinks use spring mounts, I've re-seated them several times in the past and it is a surprisingly consistent system, when I did a few benching sessions way back when I did several reseats and the temps were always exactly the same afterwards.

System Name	Indis the Fair (cursed edition)
Processor	11900k 5.1/4.9 undervolted.
Motherboard	MSI Z590 Unify-X
Cooling	Heatkiller VI Pro, VPP755 V.3, XSPC TX360 slim radiator, 3xA12x25, 4x Arctic P14 case fans
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x16GB 4000 16-19-19 (b-die@3600 14-14-14 1.45v)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 2080 Super Hybrid (T30-120 fan)
Storage	970EVO 1TB, 660p 1TB, WD Blue 3D 1TB, Sandisk Ultra 3D 2TB
Display(s)	BenQ XL2546K, Dell P2417H
Case	FD Define 7
Audio Device(s)	DT770 Pro, Topping A50, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Røde VXLR+, Modmic 5
Power Supply	Seasonic 860w Platinum
Mouse	Razer Viper Mini, Odin Infinity mousepad
Keyboard	GMMK Fullsize v2 (Boba U4Ts)
Software	Win10 x64/Win7 x64/Ubuntu

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Senile
Processor	I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard	MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling	Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory	16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage	Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s)	34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (34401440) FREE_SYNC*
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software	Win 10

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Indis the Fair (cursed edition)
Processor	11900k 5.1/4.9 undervolted.
Motherboard	MSI Z590 Unify-X
Cooling	Heatkiller VI Pro, VPP755 V.3, XSPC TX360 slim radiator, 3xA12x25, 4x Arctic P14 case fans
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x16GB 4000 16-19-19 (b-die@3600 14-14-14 1.45v)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 2080 Super Hybrid (T30-120 fan)
Storage	970EVO 1TB, 660p 1TB, WD Blue 3D 1TB, Sandisk Ultra 3D 2TB
Display(s)	BenQ XL2546K, Dell P2417H
Case	FD Define 7
Audio Device(s)	DT770 Pro, Topping A50, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Røde VXLR+, Modmic 5
Power Supply	Seasonic 860w Platinum
Mouse	Razer Viper Mini, Odin Infinity mousepad
Keyboard	GMMK Fullsize v2 (Boba U4Ts)
Software	Win10 x64/Win7 x64/Ubuntu

Re-seating heatsinks without re-pasting giving better temps

GorbazTheDragon

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

Sasqui

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

GorbazTheDragon