MBP, heat and whine FIXED?!

[recoilfx]

alright, I followed Jean Cyril's advice on this thread:http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2142250&#2142250 and did a AC5 replacement


so far, with 1hr of testing, i dont notice any heat problems.. the bar above the F keys is barely warm, the magsafe speaker side is warm, and the left palm side (with my seagate 7200rpm) is maxed out at 37C.... bottom is warm, definitely not hot.... whine is still there, but mostly gone, no more software hacks!!!

the only down side is that the fans kick in a lot earlier now.. and it can be LOUD... im gonna check it tomorrow.. to make sure that they are not vibration noise and that ive secured the screws tightly...

-Zinj

 

[Bunsen Burner]

I don't suppose you have any before and after temp readings, do you? An infrared temp gun? I would love to see someone do this and document the process; get some real empirical data.

Keep us posted.

BB

Edit: What did the thermal compound application from the factory look like? How good/bad, neat/sloppy was it? Any photos?

 

[recoilfx]

sorry i dont, but accordding to my sensors on my seagate, it usually ran at around 41-43c when just doing regular browsing, now its only around 34-37c

 

[Bunsen Burner]

Good news. Thanks for the reply.

BB

 

[dailo]

I find it very interesting that by just replacing the thermal compound on the chip could fix all of these problems. I would like to do it, but I am afraid of voiding my warranty =/. I know I have some AS5 somewhere...... how hard was it to get the heatsink off?

 

[mrichmon]

I find it very interesting that by just replacing the thermal compound on the chip could fix all of these problems. I would like to do it, but I am afraid of voiding my warranty =/. I know I have some AS5 somewhere...... how hard was it to get the heatsink off?

Looking at the take apart instructions on http://www.ifixit.com it looks like the machine has to be completely stripped down to get to the thermal paste. That is, remove the keyboard/trackpad, remove the screen, remove the hard drive and super drive, remove the logic board. (The relevant chips face down to the bottom of the case.)

 

[Kingsly]

(The relevant chips face down to the bottom of the case.)

Which is even more cause for worry, considering that the top case gets so hot!

 

[sam10685]

i just put my computer on top of an air conditioner and turn it on high.

 

[recoilfx]

the difficulty of taking it apart isn't very high... just make sure you tape down all the screws to a boar and label them.... if you are careful enough, i dont think apple would know that you've opened it.... i didn't see a seal anywhere... but still do it at your own risk...

i think its because AS5 conducts the heat to the heat pipes much better than the crap that Apple put on, so the that all the heat from the chips goto the proper place instead of being trapped and raising the overall temperature...


as far as the whine goes.... i have no idea.... but im not complaining

 

[dailo]

So you currently experience no whine at all and the heat above the function keys is much less noticable? If this is all holds true.... i think it might be worth it for me to try

Did you get the fans to stop blowing loudly?

the difficulty of taking it apart isn't very high... just make sure you tape down all the screws to a boar and label them.... if you are careful enough, i dont think apple would know that you've opened it.... i didn't see a seal anywhere... but still do it at your own risk...

i think its because AS5 conducts the heat to the heat pipes much better than the crap that Apple put on, so the that all the heat from the chips goto the proper place instead of being trapped and raising the overall temperature...


as far as the whine goes.... i have no idea.... but im not complaining

 

[generik]

i think its because AS5 conducts the heat to the heat pipes much better than the crap that Apple put on, so the that all the heat from the chips goto the proper place instead of being trapped and raising the overall temperature...

I haven't handled a MBP yet, but does it have vents in its casing where the steaming hot air can come out?

 

[TWEO]

I too have read the post about the thermal paste not being applied correctly and have boldly gone where only a few people have gone before I've removed the thermal grease that Apple applied and put a thin layer of regular no-name thermal grease from the shop around the corner on all three chips. After checking that the grease left a good (as in full size of the chip) impression on the heatsinks when I put the logic board back, I screwed everything back together and found myself having a perfect MBP with the heat issue totally gone. I couldn't hold my hand on the bottom or on the bar above the F-keys before carrying out this procedure, and now it's just lukewarm.

I don't have any exact readings of the temperature (no seagate drive), but I do know that the infrared thermometer (one for medical use that you'd normally stick in your ear) would give a reading of over 42 degrees celsius (107F) on the bar above the F-keys. I can't tell the exact temperature, because everything above 42 degrees is called "HI". I know that from time to time it wasn't possible to keep my hands on that bar for more than 5 seconds because of the heat.

Now the same thermometer reads 35 degrees celsius (95F) on that bar and the rest of the case is even cooler. The bottom temp doesn't rise above 37 degrees, while before the operation it was too hot too handle from time to time.

These readings are all done with AC connected, but on battery the same holds true: all temperatures are waaay lower than before. No readings on that, but I'm certain they are lower. The difference is really amazing.

I haven't handled a MBP yet, but does it have vents in its casing where the steaming hot air can come out?

It does, just like the Powerbook. The vents are close to the display hinge, so the heat is blown out just in front of the screen and to the back. The two vents on both sides, that were present on the G4 powerbooks, are gone now.

 

[recoilfx]

So you currently experience no whine at all and the heat above the function keys is much less noticable? If this is all holds true.... i think it might be worth it for me to try

Did you get the fans to stop blowing loudly?

yes, heat is much much less an issue than before... at times with AC charging, the notebook does get warm... but not hot... the area near the magsafe is the warmest area, the bar above the F keys is the second warmest area around, definitely comfortable to touch though.

as for the fans, it hasn't gotten any quieter... but i noticed that the right fan makes most of the noise, so i guess there is a quality variance with the fans... maybe you'd be lucky...

 

[jacg]

just make sure you tape down all the screws to a boar and label them....

I'm sure this would void the warranty. Taping screws to any sort of pig, wild or domesticated is not recommended.

 

[dailo]

Alright, I am sold. I am going to try this for myself! Thanks.

 

[Moshiiii]

Does this solve the whine or just the heat?

 

[CanadaRAM]

i think its because AS5 conducts the heat to the heat pipes much better than the crap that Apple put on, so the that all the heat from the chips goto the proper place instead of being trapped and raising the overall temperature..

A number of tests have shown that Arctic Silver and other exotic compounds are no more efficient at conducting heat than no-name thermal paste compounds. So it is not an issue of the brand of paste.
The main problem being discussed at the Apple site is that the paste was improperly applied at the factory, and that removing and reapplying a thin, even layer of (any brand of) paste results in greater conduction of heat from the CPU to the heatsink.

 

[TWEO]

Does this solve the whine or just the heat?

It didn't solve the whine on my MBP.

 

[dailo]

Can the MBP power up with everything still tkaen apart? I plugged all the connectors back in, but it's not powering up at all. I am getting worried, please help!

 

[TWEO]

I haven't tried that, but I guess it should. I assume you have put the logic board back with all the screws in place ?

Which parts are "taken apart" at the moment ?

 

[dailo]

No screws, I just put it back in it's place and all connects hooked up. Wanted to make sure it powered on before securing it. The fans/hd power up but that's it. Plugging the AC adapter, the light doesn't turn on so that's seems to be the problem. Don't understand what could have gone wrong.

 

[TWEO]

Do you have a camera handy ? A picture would help a lot.

And you really should secure the screws of the logic board before powering it up. Otherwise the chips won't make contact with the heatsinks and the thermal diode in the processor will probably shut the computer down before it gets a chance to show anything on the display.

By the way: did you leave the display in place ? It would be near impossible to plug in those connectors when the display's detached from the body.

 

[dailo]

Good point I'll secure the board first. The display is still hooked up to it, I am going to reconnect and try again. I'll see if I can post some pictures.

 

[dailo]

When I plug in the AC adapter, it blinks a light orange. Anyone know what that means? It's very faint.

 

[Kingsly]

I don't have any exact readings of the temperature (no seagate drive), but I do know that the infrared thermometer (one for medical use that you'd normally stick in your ear) would give a reading of over 42 degrees celsius (107F) on the bar above the F-keys. I can't tell the exact temperature, because everything above 42 degrees is called "HI". I know that from time to time it wasn't possible to keep my hands on that bar for more than 5 seconds because of the heat.

My thermometer goes up to 50º and, well, it just kept going!