Help with 15" Retina Macbook Pro 2012

[Chaoticfury09]

Hey Guys,

After getting some advice from forums and other areas I decided to change the thermal paste on my Retina Macbook Pro. I ran into a problem while putting it back together. I am really unsure how it happened but for some reason one of the holes, near the hinge and vent in the back has stripped. The screw now fits in but does not turn and pops out very easily. I think the threads on the inside have somehow become damaged. My question to you guys is, is there a way to fix this? I have included some photos the best I can.

The second question is, the computer seems to still be hot. It sits on my desk and normally idles around 45-50c. The air temperature in the room is about 25c. If I am doing absolutely zero on the computer it can be high 30's or low 40's but as soon as I do something it jumps to 50. Watching flash puts it somewhere between 60-70. Playing games is in the 80's but the fans spin up to about 6000 rpm.

I just want to make sure these temperatures are fine and that nothing is going to happen to my Mac. I don't want my Mac do die any sooner than absolutely necessary.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[leman]

I just want to make sure these temperatures are fine and that nothing is going to happen to my Mac. I don't want my Mac do die any sooner than absolutely necessary.

Please do not take this the wrong way, but procedure you did has put your laptop in a much bigger danger of premature death than the stock temperatures ever could.

 

[Chaoticfury09]

Please do not take this the wrong way, but procedure you did has put your laptop in a much bigger danger of premature death than the stock temperatures ever could.

So you think there is a problem? What would that be.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Those temps are fine

Those temps are fine your mac will shut itself down to prevent damage at 105 degrees. If you max ourt CPU and GPU it'll easily reach 95 and keep on working for hours with the fans spinning. Seems you have done a fairly good job with the thermal paste.

Unfortunately short of buying a rethreading drill bit and the appropriate slightly larger screw there is nothing you can do on the threaded screwholemaybe a bit of ptfe tape wrapped around the screw willl give it enough purchase to hold in and look good.

 

[snaky69]

So you think there is a problem? What would that be.

I believe what he/she was trying to say that you risked damaging the internals a whole lot more by actually doing the thermal paste job than if you'd left things alone. Which I wholeheartedly agree with, seeing as you manage to strip threads.

Your temps are 100% normal(and probably were before you tore into the machine). Getting new thermal paste is not a magic solution to chop all your operating temps in half, that's just not how it works. It helps the computer evacuate heat slightly more efficiently, the most you could expect was about 5-10C difference if your OEM thermal paste job was really sloppy.

 

[Chaoticfury09]

I understand, the way it was done from Apple was incredibly sloppy and lead to super high temperatures which was the initial reason I decided to do it.

Beyond cosmetics is there anything the missing screw could cause? If it's just cosmetic I won't worry about it.

 

[ABC5S]

What were your temps prior to applying thermal paste ? I agree with the others in not playing with it and leaving it alone. Of course you already did. With desktop PC's one can do this safer but on a notebook ? Not me

 

[Chaoticfury09]

They were over 100 while gaming and above 80 during flash videos. Caused the fans to spin about 4000rpm all the time or higher. I didn't just do it on a whim. I read lots of forums, talked to apple and read ifixit. That's how I came to the conclusion to do it. It's definitely helped a ton but as long as that screw doesn't ruin the integrity of the laptop I am much happier.

 

[Brian Y]

Threadlock should do it.

 

[leman]

They were over 100 while gaming and above 80 during flash videos. Caused the fans to spin about 4000rpm all the time or higher. I didn't just do it on a whim. I read lots of forums, talked to apple and read ifixit. That's how I came to the conclusion to do it. It's definitely helped a ton but as long as that screw doesn't ruin the integrity of the laptop I am much happier.

So I have decreased the temperatures in these situations by 20 degrees. What will that give you? An 5% increase of expected lifespan? 50%? Nobody can say, because frankly, nobody knows. There is no empirical evidence to which degree temperatures affects the lifespan of these laptops.

No question, heat is bad for electronics circuitry, it always is. But I strongly suspect that there are other components in your laptop that are much more likely to fail well before the circuits will permanently fail because of excessive heat. Not to mention that temps you are quoting are still considered to be unsafe by the overlocking community. Which is based mostly on myths, traditions and anecdotal evidence anyway.

My point: in pursuit of very questionable (IMO) benefit, you have opened the machine, potentially damaging internal components and stripping a screw. If you have invested into the Apple Care (which is a much better protection agains potential failures than your mod), its voided now.

On a final note: as long as your CPU is operating within the specification of the manufacturer (which for your CPU is below 100 degrees), you are fine.