Y500 Disassembled (Pictures)

[Riko Ako]

No, not necessary if you followed the instructions in the first post and did everything properly.

[octiceps]

@octiceps

Sorry my bad, my memory is hazy... yeah 2 hours

Have you replace thermal pads as well?

And... how you remove the back cover without break any pins? Enlighten me :3

[Riko Ako]

No I didn't touch the thermal pads.

There's no trick to taking the back cover off. You just have to go slow and be gentle. Start at the rear of the laptop (where the air intake and battery are) and work your way around to the front. Since it's attached by inward-facing tabs, I found it easiest to pry up and out with my fingers between the cover and the rest of the base. You have to use a little force in a few places.

[octiceps]

Thanks for advice, looks like my guitar pick comes in handy now :3

Next time, you should replace the thermal pads as well.

[octiceps]

Alright I may have spoken too soon. It's a day after my repaste and temperatures have slowly but surely dropped. Maybe it just needed a little time for the thermal paste to spread out and reach optimum performance. In 3DMark 11 my CPU is now running about 10C cooler and both GPU's are about 5C cooler than before repaste. CPU maxed out at 80C and both GPU's at 69C after 3 consecutive runs. All stock clocks and using ThrottleStop to ensure 3.2 GHz across all CPU cores. And this was with no cooling pad on a torrid 100F (37.8C) day here in California with little air conditioning. Color me impressed. Compared to my returned Y500, which I did not repaste, it's 15C cooler on the CPU and 10C cooler on the GPU under simiilar conditions. Some of that could be due to the repaste and some of that could be due to a better CPU bin. I will have to see how temperatures hold up when I overclock the GPU, but so far I am very happy and glad I opened the machine up. This should take care of my thermal shutdown concerns regarding the CPU, which were a constant problem with the previous unit.

[willywidget]

Hey N1smo, just wanted to say thanks for the break down. I ended up using your break down when I received my Y500. I slapped a Plextor M5M 256GB SSD drive into it replacing the 16GB cache drive. I kept the spindle for additional storage. I recently bought an Intel 6235N wifi card to put in too. For anyone looking to take apart their own or other electronics, you should definitely pick up some cheap nylong spudgers. They are life savers and they prevent scratching and damaging of the plastics when you are prying things apart like the plastic clips when taking the bottom panel off of the Y500.

[yas5938]

Great additions to the laptop. I am just wondering if it is possible to eliminate the heat problem by a larger heatsink and if a larger heatsink will fit?

[z974]

My y500 reached 97 degrees while playing crysis 3 and it regularly idles at 55 degrees. Do you guys thinks i need a repaste?

[octiceps]

My y500 reached 97 degrees while playing crysis 3 and it regularly idles at 55 degrees. Do you guys thinks i need a repaste?

Is that CPU or GPU temperature? Are you using ThrottleStop? What's the ambient temperature?

[z974]

Is that CPU or GPU temperature? Are you using ThrottleStop? What's the ambient temperature?

[UltimaClaud]

Thanks for the snaps.

May I confirm that both CPU or GPU is fixed, and not for a substitute?

[octiceps]

CPU. My overclocked 650m sli maxxes out at 80c.

[UltimaClaud]

Thanks for the reply.

I used to think about if the 650M could be upgrade to 750M in a easy way.

The integrated GPU is quite disappointing.

[z974]

Thanks for the reply.

I used to think about if the 650M could be upgrade to 750M in a easy way.

The integrated GPU is quite disappointing.

i believe 650m and 750m are exactly the same card but with different clock speeds.

[octiceps]

i believe 650m and 750m are exactly the same card but with different clock speeds.

And different voltage too.

[thehero]

Thanks, this guide really will help when I go to replace my wireless card. I had already stumbled upon the same video guide, but that meant I didn't know about the extra screws either! It's the simple things like these that get me. I probably would have figured it out post-breakage. And that would not have been good news...

[octiceps]

Thanks, this guide really will help when I go to replace my wireless card. I had already stumbled upon the same video guide, but that meant I didn't know about the extra screws either! It's the simple things like these that get me. I probably would have figured it out post-breakage. And that would not have been good news...

If you pay any attention to the zoomed-in shots of the bottom-left screen bezel in the video, you'll notice that it says Y490, which clearly means it's a Y400 prototype. The lack of a num pad on the keyboard should also be a giveaway. There are some small differences in the layout and screws between the Y400 and Y500 and the official Lenovo hardware maintenance manual has the correct disassembly instructions and listings for both models.

[rplacd]

And different voltage too.

...and VRAM modules with different characteristics, IIRC: I remember someone on jester_socom's thread getting memory clocks in excess for 2500MHz and ~700 in Heaven to go along with it.

[octiceps]

...and VRAM modules with different characteristics, IIRC: I remember someone on jester_socom's thread getting memory clocks in excess for 2500MHz and ~700 in Heaven to go along with it.

Oh yeah the 750M has higher-clocked VRAM chips, which is why it's 2500 MHz at stock while most 650M's can't even overclock to that high.

[z974]

That sounds about right then. The CPU in this laptop does run extremely hot due to the lackluster cooling system. Repasting might help some but there's only so much it can do. I'd suggest using a good cooling pad and keeping ambient temperature low. You may have to disable Turbo Boost if you can't keep CPU temperatures in control.

The CPU is socketed and replaceable. The GPU is integrated on the mobo and not replaceable.

i already bought a laptop cooler with two 140mm fans blowing directly to the vent and i noticed no improvement on my load temps. would you recommend doing the repaste now? i already have a promlimatech pk1 because IC diamond is not available from where i am from.

[z974]

nevermind. i went ahead with it and so far i can confirm the minus 10 degrees octiceps is claiming. the default thermal paste is a mess.

[conscriptvirus]

I am thinking of removing the dust filter/mesh film that covers the vent to improve airflow. I did it to my old XPS 15 a couple years ago and air flow significantly increased. I didnt do a comparison on temperatures, but people in another thread claimed that it decreased temps alot. The dust buildup wasn't significantly greater than with the filter on and I have a few cans of compressed air in stock and I would clean it out every few months

I'm still trying to figure out how to remove the filter. The edges of it seem to be under some metal, but i recently read that the metal is bendable. I will have to give it a try tonight.

[z974]

I am thinking of removing the dust filter/mesh film that covers the vent to improve airflow. I did it to my old XPS 15 a couple years ago and air flow significantly increased. I didnt do a comparison on temperatures, but people in another thread claimed that it decreased temps alot. The dust buildup wasn't significantly greater than with the filter on and I have a few cans of compressed air in stock and I would clean it out every few months

I'm still trying to figure out how to remove the filter. The edges of it seem to be under some metal, but i recently read that the metal is bendable. I will have to give it a try tonight.

maybe you can pierce larger holes in the mesh? if done right it wont look as bad as bare. update us! the heatsink is only covered by 1/4 to 1/3 of the length of the mesh to left(to the right if upside down

[octiceps]

The mesh is attached to the rest of the bottom cover by 4 metal latches, 2 on each side. It looks removable but the latches are so small it looks like they would break easily. If you do perform the mod, let us know how it goes and if it helped!

[lostwind23]

guys, where to buy 650m ultrabay?