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Thermal Paste Renewal
- Thread starter Hexley
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I've done it a bunch of times on both Macs straight from the factory (too much paste) and older Macs (dry paste). I use Arctic Silver 5, and generally I see temperatures drop ~20C after a paste job. Depending on which iMac you have it can be tricky to get everything disassembled, but if you take your time and use an iFixit guide things should go smoothly. Good luck!
Older post, but figured I'd contribute w/ my recent experience. I reapplied thermal paste on my A1398 rMBP Late 2013 just over a week ago. I used Kryonaut which has a strong reputation among people in the overclocking community. I've noticed that my computer runs much cooler during normal-medium operation, and by association much more quiet.
Removing the heatsink revealed how haphazardly the factory applied it's original paste, not well centered and not making the most of available surface area.
It was indeed an easy procedure, albeit one which requires a great deal of caution...The paste has a tendency to string when you pull back after it's application, and can leave nearly invisible strands that can land on small SMC on the circuitboard if you aren't careful. I literally took a loupe to the surface and found a strand or two of paste lying over a half inch section of the board (which can easily be cleaned w/ Isopropyl Alcohol). Additionally, there is a very likely potential of squeeze out, which of course could get in unintended places. It's tough to gauge how-much-is-too-much when the clearance between the surfaces is so little. But assuming you are careful and clean up after squeeze out, you should be fine. I took the back off my rMBP about 3 times after running it, to remove the excess paste after it heats up, expands and becomes less viscous.
But ultimately I will say that I'm happy w/ the results. Definitely running cooler.
Removing the heatsink revealed how haphazardly the factory applied it's original paste, not well centered and not making the most of available surface area.
It was indeed an easy procedure, albeit one which requires a great deal of caution...The paste has a tendency to string when you pull back after it's application, and can leave nearly invisible strands that can land on small SMC on the circuitboard if you aren't careful. I literally took a loupe to the surface and found a strand or two of paste lying over a half inch section of the board (which can easily be cleaned w/ Isopropyl Alcohol). Additionally, there is a very likely potential of squeeze out, which of course could get in unintended places. It's tough to gauge how-much-is-too-much when the clearance between the surfaces is so little. But assuming you are careful and clean up after squeeze out, you should be fine. I took the back off my rMBP about 3 times after running it, to remove the excess paste after it heats up, expands and becomes less viscous.
But ultimately I will say that I'm happy w/ the results. Definitely running cooler.