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Re-applied the thermal paste on my MacBook Pro... AMAZING results!

My MBP idles around 58-60 degress C, while under load it never gets above 78 degress C with fans going mad and this was while it was on my bed, not a flat surface.

Would you say I have the heat problem too. I'm pretty sure it should be cooler while idle. The outside surfaces by the speaker grills and the bottom are too hot too touch even when idle.

I'm taking it into Apple tomorrow so they can fix the screen buzz and replace my battery as I have a W8607 model. I also have the CPU whine, but only when running on battery alone. As soon as I remove the MagSafe, I can hear the whine.
 
thefunkymunky said:
My MBP idles around 58-60 degress C, while under load it never gets above 78 degress C with fans going mad and this was while it was on my bed, not a flat surface.

Would you say I have the heat problem too. I'm pretty sure it should be cooler while idle. The outside surfaces by the speaker grills and the bottom are too hot too touch even when idle.

I'm taking it into Apple tomorrow so they can fix the screen buzz and replace my battery as I have a W8607 model. I also have the CPU whine, but only when running on battery alone. As soon as I remove the MagSafe, I can hear the whine.
Click to expand...
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but these are the things that I have found as a result of my experiences:

I have re-applied the thermal paste to my MBP. I haven't noticed a huge difference, if anything between the before and after. I have however, noticed a huge difference in the actual "feel" of warmth on the outside. In other words, I can touch and not have the sense of urgency to remove my hand before I could tentatively be burnt.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the actual core temp may be misleading. In my case (OOOH PUN!), I haven't noticed a drastic difference in the reported core temp, while the actual difference in terms of heat of the case has dropped substantially.

Has anyone had similar results?
 
Just taken my MBP in to my local Apple Store. I complained about the screen buzz, exccessive heat, CPU whining sound and the battery replacement since I have a W8607 model.

Will see what they have to say in a few days. Back using my 12-inch PB now.

One thing is. Does anyone here wipe the hard drive before they take their machines in. I didnt, but done a full backup. Forgort I had some pron on there though and naughty pics of me. LOL :p
 
slyydrr said:
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but these are the things that I have found as a result of my experiences:

I have re-applied the thermal paste to my MBP. I haven't noticed a huge difference, if anything between the before and after. I have however, noticed a huge difference in the actual "feel" of warmth on the outside. In other words, I can touch and not have the sense of urgency to remove my hand before I could tentatively be burnt.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the actual core temp may be misleading. In my case (OOOH PUN!), I haven't noticed a drastic difference in the reported core temp, while the actual difference in terms of heat of the case has dropped substantially.

Has anyone had similar results?
Click to expand...

You're wrong. You may not notice that big of a difference in core temperatures, if you have a 1.83, or by some stroke of luck the cooling in your MBP is at least somewhat effective. What's happening before you properly apply the thermal paste is that the heat from the chips isn't being properly conducted in to the heat pipe, rather it's radiating out through the case. When you re-apply the thermal paste, you're giving the cores of the three cooled chips inside the MBP direct contact to the heat pipe- which gives the heat generated a direct route out of your computer.

If your laptop feels cooler, you did it right. :)
 
io_burn said:
I used the ifixit.com guide. It was very hair raising. I have a fully loaded MBP, so I was pretty scared of turning it in to a $3000 paper weight. It was difficult as much as it was just scary. The best tip I can give is use an egg carton, or the egg holder from your refrigerator and separate the screws in to steps from the guide as you take them out.

It is totally inexcusable for Apple to be having these problems. Applying thermal paste is a skill I learned when I was like 12 and built my own PC. What really makes me wonder is if the reason the PowerBooks ran so hot was because of this same problem. People are noticing it on the MBP because you can have a computer that uses the same processor with very similar hardware running with half the heat... that raises eyebrows.

There isn't a comparable PPC machine to compare temps with the old PowerBooks though.

The fans don't seem to come on any more than they did before. Instead of heat bouncing around inside of the case and radiating up through the keyboard it just goes out the heat pipe like it should.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

BTW: You have some awesome stuff sir!:cool:
Totally maxed out 15" MBP, MacMini and 20" iMac. Quad totally maxed out except for RAM and then a 360... Sweet!:p
 
thefunkymunky said:
One thing is. Does anyone here wipe the hard drive before they take their machines in.
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If the HD is still working (had one go bad), I reinstall a clean system after wiping the HD.

Of course I do a backup before this. When the computer is returned when I do a restore and I am back up and running.
 
gekko513 said:
I agree. This has nothing to with China and the Chinese.

It has everything to do with quality control, cost savings, companies and their business deals.
Click to expand...

Of course, people being sick of chinese assembily plants can simply ask Apple to move back to U.S. and steve will glad to accept such idea becoz he also has been sick of the thermal paste for quite a while.

so all your mad book pros will be made properly by americans, and you will all have a great discount rates .. ( say, 300% off? lol) ;)

nevermind, money has never been an issue for mac users :p
 
Hey Everyone,

I have a new MBP 17" which sits at 40 degrees idle, and 85+ load. A guy I work with in our IT dept says he'd be happy to help take off the thermal paste and reapply some AS5 which I'm seriously considering. I have a few q's first though:

•*After reapplying paste, do the fans come on more often? Because I barely (or don't at all) hear them now and I don't really want to.

• Do my temperature readings above warrant doing this? My laptop gets insanely hot on the bottom under the F keys and above the f-keys after a short time.

• Does someone have a link to any guide or materials I'll want to pass on to my friend so we can be sure we've done it correctly?

•*Will there be any way for apple to know (other than the correct application of the thermal paste) that I was in there? Will I FOR SURE without a doubt be voiding my warranty by doing this?

Thanks everyone! If I do go through with it I'll post my results here for everyone with pics of the 17" disasembled.
 
ninethirty said:
*Will there be any way for apple to know (other than the correct application of the thermal paste) that I was in there? Will I FOR SURE without a doubt be voiding my warranty by doing this?
Click to expand...
Of course Apple could tell but only if they for some reason had to disassemble the whole notebook and take out the logic board. If all they did was to replace the screen, for example, and you did a good job of not damaging the notebook in any way then I doubt they would notice.
 
My macbook pro has been shipped to apple to have the inverter replaced, and possibly the bottom case (because its warped). Does anyone know if replacing the inverter will require taking the logic board out? If so, should I expect them to reapply the thermal grease properly? My case gets hot enough to burn.
 
io_burn said:
You're wrong. You may not notice that big of a difference in core temperatures, if you have a 1.83, or by some stroke of luck the cooling in your MBP is at least somewhat effective. What's happening before you properly apply the thermal paste is that the heat from the chips isn't being properly conducted in to the heat pipe, rather it's radiating out through the case. When you re-apply the thermal paste, you're giving the cores of the three cooled chips inside the MBP direct contact to the heat pipe- which gives the heat generated a direct route out of your computer.

If your laptop feels cooler, you did it right. :)
Click to expand...
I think between me not being specific enough in my post, and you misreading my post, that we're saying the same thing. Let me rephrase my post into a couple sentences.

The difference in temperature of the core before and after the reapplication is negligible. However, the difference in temperature of the case and the areas commonly reported as "hot zones" is FAR from negligible. I am not noticing a huge difference in what CoreTempDuo tells me, however, the case itself IS MUCH COOLER than before.

That's what I was saying, and the fact that I forgot to specify that me not noticing a huge difference was in reference to the reported temperatures might have mislead you.
 
ninethirty said:
I have a new MBP 17" which sits at 40 degrees idle, and 85+ load.
Click to expand...
FWIW the 15" MBP I just returned was 60 degrees at idle. Yours is 20 degrees cooler. Are you sure there's a problem? I haven't heard where anyones taken apart a 17" MBP and reported how the thermal goop has been applied.
 
Running @ full load and noticed the fan came on at about 85*C and still on at 12-83*C (most at 82*). Idle 66.
 
Krevnik said:
Seconded. Think about it, assembly where you splurt 3 syringes onto the heatsink pads, and then press the logic board firmly to 'spread' the paste is /faster/, and therefore /cheaper/ than doing it right. Dell does this, HP, Asus, etc... the difference here is that Apple's design doesn't have the leeway that the 2+" Dells do in terms of temp because of the small case and aluminum shell. Basically... Apple had a design, and using thermal paste for the first time in awhile (normally using thermal pads), got bit in the butt, as they should be.

For the record, I also have a 'self-repaired' MBP and the laptop is now like what I was hoping/expecting when I purchased it.
Click to expand...

That's not true, I've been inside the inspiron 600m that my MBP replaced. It's thermal paste was perfect.

My MBP is one of the hot ones 85c or so under load, but since I live some place cold it hasn't been much of an issue yet. I'm just sort of watching to see if Apple will do anything about this. I suspect not and I'll end up taking mine apart too a little later down the line.
 
n8236 said:
Running @ full load and noticed the fan came on at about 85*C and still on at 12-83*C (most at 82*). Idle 66.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same temperatures and I notice that my fan turns on around 85 too and shuts off at 82. Definitely an error. I'm installing windows right now in parallels and I'm worried about how hot the computer is getting.
 
excalibur313 said:
I have the exact same temperatures and I notice that my fan turns on around 85 too and shuts off at 82. Definitely an error. I'm installing windows right now in parallels and I'm worried about how hot the computer is getting.
Click to expand...
The processor is rated to at least 100'C, so other than the casing being uncomfortable, I don't know if there's anything much to worry about.
 
aristobrat said:
The processor is rated to at least 100'C, so other than the casing being uncomfortable, I don't know if there's anything much to worry about.
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It is rated, but CPU's are well documented to become unstable after around 60C.

My Athlons, my Pentium 4 and Centrino machines freak out over 55-65C. Windows I get a BSOD, Linux I get kernal panics. I'm sure the same will happen to OS X.
 
Here's a noob question... how do I check the temp of my cpu?
 
A friend of mine who is a tech at an Apple Authorized Service Center (or whatever the proper name is) is willing to redo the thermal paste. Would this void my warranty?
 
howesey said:
It is rated, but CPU's are well documented to become unstable after around 60C.

My Athlons, my Pentium 4 and Centrino machines freak out over 55-65C. Windows I get a BSOD, Linux I get kernal panics. I'm sure the same will happen to OS X.
Click to expand...
We should be so lucky (with the freaking out part). If OS X bombed every time MBPs hit the 70s, 80s and 90s then Apple would HAVE to address the issue. Other than the heat being uncomfortable, I haven't heard of anyones OS X bombing because of the high heat. :(
 
screensaver400 said:
A friend of mine who is a tech at an Apple Authorized Service Center (or whatever the proper name is) is willing to redo the thermal paste. Would this void my warranty?
Click to expand...

Not if they're certified.
 
I got a stand thing for mine, and it seems to be making it slightly cooler. The bottom is still getting hot; i cant think to imagine what was happening to it when it had a millimetre of space underneath it! Its dropped from around 70 to 66 now.

I think it is a little too hot for comfort. I used my 667MHz TiBook today, and it was almost unnervingly cold! I think its cooling system is actually better than the model used in the MBPs...
 
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