cpu: Intel® Core™ i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz, version: 6.142.9, size: 3268MHz, capacity: 3500MHz, width: 64 bits
also, if you could link a reliable guide for a newbie and your personal tricks to apply…
Most thermal pastes are about equal in effectiveness so stick with any name brand and you should be good.
For application I typically clean both the CPU’s heatspreader and cooler contact point with alcohol then squeeze out about a small pea sized amount of paste on the center of the heatspreader then let the mount force of the cooler spread it.
I’ve been using the same tube of Arctic mx-4 for a decade now, and it has yet to fail me
Seconded
If you can afford it, Honeywell PTM7950. It’s very stable and avoids pump out, which is great in a laptop where you don’t want to repaste very often. It’s a phase change material, not a standard paste. To apply, put it the fridge to cool. Afterwards, cut to size and put it on. Once it warms up, it liquefies to fill all the small gaps.
Otherwise, most other pastes are fine. I’m partial to Arctic MX-4 but they’re all pretty the similar. On direct die like a mobile chip I would recommend spreading it out to ensure even coverage as gaps can cause hotspots which may eventually damage the chip.
Thermal paste is all the same. Anything marketing different is just marketing.
The paste doesn’t help dissipate heat, just act as a conduit to do so. If you’re in a laptop, you’re stuck with what fits.
Caveat, any reputable brand of thermal paste is basically the same. I’ve experienced many cheapo brands, especially stuff included with cheapo hardware, that had texture issues or nearly liquefied at high temperatures and made a mess. Also, had one that evaporated partly and tested positive for lead, so not the most healthy. Though one time is not a big deal, it is a big deal if you used it a lot.
Anyway, stick to reputable brands and most are the same. Slight differences are usually in max temperature, but that doesn’t really apply to computer hardware much, but does affect some other moderately high temperature hardware that needs even cooling that I work with, like 3D printing.
Mobile CPUs (any any direct-die cooling for that matter) are more prone to pump-out, where the chip and heatsink expand at different rates with temperature changes, and the varying gap between the two creates a pumping action. It’s best to use a thicker paste to avoid it, or even better, a thermal pad. Not that it’s the best in the long run, but I have gotten away with the thinner MX-4 in my laptop for about a year.
If you have maybe $30 to spare, consider buying some PTM 7950 since it’s second only to liquid metal (very hard to get right), and should be good for many years. Be sure to get it from reputable sellers though since there are fakes for PTM 7950.
Halnziye HY-P15
https://www.halnziye.net/xinpin1/891.html
- Thermal conductivity is the key. Most brands don’t mention it
Just get a thick thermal paste. By and large any thermal paste is an improvement over stock. Thicker pastes like arctic mx6 won’t pump out. I like ic diamond 7 karat but that’s out of stock. (all I have left is a random tube of it that I found in storage)
(I do mean any thernal paste is better than stock. I used arctic ceramique 3 once on my i5-7200u laptop and it was still 3C lower than og psste temps)
When I repasted my i5-1135G7 laptop, I dropped 10C after replacing the paste.
All you really need is a tiny blob, one covering the igpu die, other on the cpu.
