Alienuser

Would a Sandy Bridge CPU run on those new Ivy Bridge mobos? im planning to buy the R2 mobo and replace my m14xr1 mobo but i don't think i have enough cash right now to buy an ivy bridge cpu with it. I know the socket is practically the same but the chipset is different if i'm not mistaken. Therefore would it present any complication if i were to use my old cpu with the new mobo?

IC Diamond and Arctic Silver 5 has always been the majorities choice, why not give em a try? I on the other hand have been using Cooler Master X1 Extreme Fusion because from where i live, its cheap and easy to get also it performs relatively well, IC Diamond and AS5 however are hard to come by from where i live and are way expensive like 50 when there is some

Thermal paste had never failed me before at least the good ones. I too once had some serious overheating issue on the m14x r1, applied new thermal paste to both cpu and gpu fixed the problem. I'm not sure about thermal pads though never used them before. Maybe someone experienced in using both of these can enlighten us?

Yeah it's what i did, since my warranty expired, i decided to open the machine and reapply the thermal paste both on the cpu and gpu, it was overheating like hell, FPS dropped from 60 to a crawling 10 in a few minute while playing NFS Hot Pursuit, and after properly applying the paste, the issue was fixed. Just make sure the thermal paste is not too much or too little like others have said

I'd be worried to upgrade to a xm version since the tdp is rated much higher at 55 watt rather than 45 watt for the i7-2670qm if i'm not mistaken, therefore if you have inadequate cooling you might be facing some serious cpu throttling, but i'm not sure since i don't really have a first hand experience, so your millage may vary.