Swapped thermal paste on a 7 year old laptop and it dropped 12 degrees

I had this old Dell Precision from 2017 that would hit 95C just opening Chrome. Kept thinking it needed a new fan or something serious. Finally grabbed a tube of Arctic MX-6 for $8 at Micro Center and spent 30 minutes cleaning off the crusty factory paste. After 2 hours of heavy use it stayed at 83C steady. Has anyone else seen that big of a drop just from paste replacement?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.paige27d ago

Yo nobody talks about the mounting pressure! I redid an old Thinkpad and screwed the heatsink down way tighter than factory. Dropped 10 more degrees just from better contact.

verafoster27d ago

I always figured thermal paste was more of a theoretical fix than something that actually mattered, but I had the same thing happen with an old HP laptop that dropped a full 15 degrees right after cleaning it off and reapplying.