Replacing thermal paste/pads in new notebook?

[Pepi93]

This is for a Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-42-R2TL and I haven't been able to find a video that takes off the heatsink to show what things look like under.

I'll be using the mx-6 on the cpu but I'm guessing there are some thermal pads under there also?

If anyone has done this to their Acer Swift Go and can shed some light on what I'll need, I'd appreciate it.

So far, I've been able to find K5 Pro on Amazon.ca for a decent price. I'm not sure why places like memory express and canada computers only carry thermal pastes...

Thanks.

SFG14-42-R2TL - Tech Specs | Laptops | Acer Canada

SFG14-42-R2TL - Tech Specs | Laptops | Acer Canada

www.acer.com

 

[Woomack]

If there is no problem with temps, then I see no point in replacing TIM. If it's new, then you won't get much better results, and you can damage thermal pads, as I'm sure there are in some.
Btw. a pretty nice laptop

 

[Kenrou]

Close enough?

 

[Nebulous]

About MX6: I decided to give it shot on my Cpu, and temps were horrible. I got tired of reseating the block using MX6. Went back to MX4 and temps are back to normal.

 

[Pepi93]

Close enough?

No, he doesn't take the HS off, but thank you. I can't find a video with this particular setup (dual fans & hs)

Post magically merged: Sep 22, 2023

About MX6: I decided to give it shot on my Cpu, and temps were horrible. I got tired of reseating the block using MX6. Went back to MX4 and temps are back to normal.

I wonder if that's because the MX-6 is thinner than the MX-4 or the other way around. Interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

[Pepi93]

If there is no problem with temps, then I see no point in replacing TIM. If it's new, then you won't get much better results, and you can damage thermal pads, as I'm sure there are in some.
Btw. a pretty nice laptop

My rationale is that the stock paste is garbage and not applied properly. Based on my reading I can easily get a few degrees cooler and I'm a tinkerer after all

 

[Trap05]

Pop it off and apply new paste and see how it is

 

[Woomack]

I see there is a Ryzen 7 7840U with 15-30W TDP auto config and 100°C Tj max. How bad can be temps on a max of 30W?

Looking at the video, there are only 3 screws and nothing else. Fans seem not to be connected to the heatsink. It should be 5 minutes of work. Probably one thermal pad or pads on memory and CPU die.

 

[Pepi93]

I see there is a Ryzen 7 7840U with 15-30W TDP auto config and 100°C Tj max. How bad can be temps on a max of 30W?

Looking at the video, there are only 3 screws and nothing else. Fans seem not to be connected to the heatsink. It should be 5 minutes of work. Probably one thermal pad or pads on memory and CPU die.

View attachment 363071

You're right, you're right, but I've never replaced thermal pads on anything so wanted to see exactly what things look like under there before I take mine apart.

I like things to be as cool as possible and yes the Tj is 100 Celcius and I've only seen temporary spikes into the 80's (playing league of legends TFT) and ran memtest for 7 passes and never hit 90, but I'd still prefer things to be cooler if they can be. Just a personal preference and I enjoy this kind of tinkering.

I may just leave it till the warranty expires, but would still like to figure out what products I can get here in Canada to replace the thermal pads for when the time comes.

Thanks again

 

[Kenrou]

Alternative suggestion if you don't to try repasting, undervolt that CPU as much as possible while maintaining speed/performance (less volts = less temps). Just in case you can't do it from the BIOS:

Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU)

The Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU) is used to overclock, monitor, and stress a system. This application is supported with unlocked processors (K- and X-series) only. Refer to “This download is valid for the product(s) listed below” section for supported processors list. WARNING...

www.intel.com

ThrottleStop 9.6 Download

ThrottleStop is a small application designed to monitor for and correct the three main types of CPU throttling that are being used on many lapto

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Pepi93]

I like this approach. Thanks.

I'll use AATU (AMD APU Tuning Utility). This video seems good with utilizing it and it's features.

 

[Nebulous]

I wonder if that's because the MX-6 is thinner than the MX-4 or the other way around. Interesting. Thanks for the info.

Yeah, it's alot thinner and more fluid based, not paste.

 

[Pepi93]

So I began running Cinebench with stock settings, and the cpu spiked to 99 degrees Celcius almost immediately. I stopped it and used the AATU, messed around with it for quite a while, but immediately with the pre set Balanced mode it was much cooler (obviously). After a few hours of tinkering, I decided to adjust the following settings and I think I'll leave it at that.

Temp limit = 85 Celcius
Skin temp limit = 45 Celcius (default)
TDP (STAPM, Slow/Fast) = 28W (the notebook has a cTDP of 15-30W), and during Cinebench the TDP did not exceed 22W but that's probably due to the low GPU load. Will check TDP and GPU MHz during gaming.
All Core Offset = -30

I also checked the box for Enhanced Sync (not sure if my hardware supports this)

I left all other settings unchecked. I'll leave it at that and replace the thermal paste, pads once warranty expires. Thanks to all for suggestions/help.

 

[EarthDog]

So....what did that do to your Cinebench scores??? It would be great to tie some kind of performance metric to the changes you shared.

 

[Pepi93]

So....what did that do to your Cinebench scores??? It would be great to tie some kind of performance metric to the changes you shared.

Well, since I didn't let it run with stock settings due to the high temps, I don't really have a baseline, other than the adjusted settings.

With the above settings, I'm getting around 660 score with -30 and -40 offset, keeping the TDP at 28W. For me it's getting lower temps and stability while gaming. Having the fans run at full isn't fun to listen to either so I want to have them run with the middle ACER (fn+f) setting.

I will however run the default Balanced mode in the utility and compare. Just need more time.

I have to now play my games and see what's going on and also want to see what the GPU is doing.

Still learning the utility as well.

UPDATE:

Seems the AATU settings weren't applied...just realized this by chance, so I'm running more Cinebench tests and tweaking the TDP and offset....

 

[ihrsetrdr]

You're right, you're right, but I've never replaced thermal pads on anything so wanted to see exactly what things look like under there before I take mine apart.

I like things to be as cool as possible and yes the Tj is 100 Celcius and I've only seen temporary spikes into the 80's (playing league of legends TFT) and ran memtest for 7 passes and never hit 90, but I'd still prefer things to be cooler if they can be. Just a personal preference and I enjoy this kind of tinkering.

I may just leave it till the warranty expires, but would still like to figure out what products I can get here in Canada to replace the thermal pads for when the time comes.

Thanks again

That's what I'd suggest. Some laptops can be a PIA to disassemble, if you break a plastic clip for say, your touchpad ribbon you might be out of luck finding a replacement.