Thermal Paste :)

[sbro25]

Hey folks,

Before I begin, I want to assure everyone that I did search first.

Now, on to my problem.
I have a 4,1 Macbook that I decided to do a complete overhaul too. I replaced the display cable, swapped out my 2nd failed HDD for a Samsung SSD, and yesterday cleaned off my 5 year old thermal paste and applied some new AS5.

The first two pictures are of the application before cleaning (done by the factory). The latter two are of my application before mounting. Unfortunately, I discovered a little too late that I needed to remove the fan to remount the heat sink. So during that process, stuff accidentally touched the compound and moved it around a bit.

Here's my question: What are those silver/brown things on the green part of the GPU? And is it ok if I created a bridge between a few of them with the paste?

 

[Intell]

Those are resistors or capacitors. It would not be a good thing to bridge them with the highly conductive Arctic Silver 5. You could potential short out the CPU and permanently damage it.

 

[AlphaDogg]

Those are resistors or capacitors. It would not be a good thing to bridge them with the highly conductive Arctic Silver 5. You could potential short out the CPU and permanently damage it.

It's not conductive, but highly capacitive.

 

[Intell]

It contains small amounts silver. Silver conducts electricity very well. It's the compound additives that cause it to be an electrical hazard. I've shorted out a Pentium 3 with it in the past.

 

[AlphaDogg]

It contains small amounts silver. Silver conducts electricity very well. It's the compound additives that cause it to be an electrical hazard. I've shorted out a Pentium 3 with it in the past.

I am aware of this, but Arctic Silver claims that AS5 is not electrically conductive.

 

[sbro25]

Shoot that's what I was worried about. Looks like I'll be re-doing it today. Thanks guys!

 

[g4manimac]

And if all does go horribly wrong at least you still have an amazing camera.

 

[sbro25]

And if all does go horribly wrong at least you still have an amazing camera.

Haha it's just an iPhone. I was also admiring it's skills after those pictures though.

And thankfully, the process went fine. I applied a MUCH thinner layer this time around though. It may have been too thin. I wish I had taken down some real data so I could compare and see if it's actually made a difference, because it doesn't feel any cooler