Lenovo Y580 Disassembled + Repasting the GPU and the CPU

[schranzmaster]

• Why should I repaste my Notebook?

I think that picture says more than any words can say.

There is to much thermal paste on the thermal surfaces.

To get the best temperatures as possible, you need a good-pasted system.

• What do I need?

- time

- a bit ''sleight of hand''

- screwdriver

- something to remove the thermal paste (I used ''ArctiClean 1 & 2'', for thermal material removing and thermal surface purifing, alcohol should also work)

- a lint-free cloth

- a good thermal paste (IC Diamond or Arctic MX-4, i used the one from Arctic)

- good thermal pads (with at least 6 W/mK thermal conductivity is nice)

• How to do

You have to remove the following hardware of the Y580 for repasting:

• Battery pack

• Hard disk drive(HDD)

• Optical drive

• Keyboard

• Keyboard bezel

• System board

... You have to remove these screws:

Be really careful with removing the keyboard. Do it very slowly and smooth and nothing will broke

This is how the Y580 looks like without the keyboard:

The same applies to the keyboard bezel. Remove it slowly and smooth, be careful

The Y580 after removing the keyboard bezel:

Remove the two screws and you can take out the motherboard

This is the motherboard with the fan and the two heatsinks for the CPU and the GPU

• The repasting

- remove all thermal pads

- remove the thermal paste

- clean all components until they ''shine'' like that:

- after the cleaning replace at first the thermal pads at the back of the GPU (backside of the motherboard) like me:

- take the new thermal paste and reapply the paste to the core of the 660m and to the CPU

- place the thermal pads to the parts that I marked, there were the pads placed from factory:

• The result

For the testing i modified the vBIOS of the 660m. I rised the core-clock to 1,2 GHz and the memory-clock to 2800 MHz. I also modified the voltage. No overvolt, but i modified it that the voltage stays always at 1,1 V.

The GTX 660m stays steady at the 1,1 V and it's maximum clocks of about 1200/2800 MHz.

And for the CPU (i7-3630QM) i always use ''ThrottleStop 5.00'' to get the maximum performance and steady 3,2 GHz on all cores.

-> My system is throttle-free thats why it can become really hot

• The temperature of the 660m goes now to a maximum of 70 degrees celcius.

Before the repasting the absolute maximum temperature for the gpu was 87°C high. (with my overclock)

• The temperature of the processor, the i7-3630QM, maxes out at 78°C.

Before the repasting the 3630QM maxed out at 98°C with throttlestop set at 32 multiplier, 100% clock modulation, 100% chipset clock mod and BD PROCHOT turned off.

All in all, the time you have to spend on reapplying the thermal paste is definitely worth it.

Lower temperatures means more stable overclocks for technique-enthusiast's or higher life-time of the laptop for the ''normal'' PC-user.

[BAKED]

I'm sorry but that just looks like you're joking with that amount of paste... Waaay too much! ever heard of thermal pads?

[svl7]

Nice pics! I have to agree with Suoah regarding the amount of the paste... besides there's no need to paste the capacitors

I don't know how exactly the heatsink is designed, but usually the gap between graphics memory modules and heatsink is too big to allow thermal paste, in that case you'd be better of with pads. Though cooling the vram is not that important in the end...

If you want even better results temperature-wise then you could modify the little mounting poles, i.e. grinding them down a bit, or using washers on the screws, that can also increase the pressure on the die... depending on how the heatsink is designed.

[schranzmaster]

Thanks for the feedback!

I will try what I can do

But the thermal pads on the graphics memory were very thin... And the gap between heatsink and memory on this place is as small as like the gap between heatsink and gpu-core, thats why i thought it would be better to put thermal paste on them, too and the temperatures are fine for me now

Edit: But what I ask me, is why there was a thin plastic plate on the gpu.. that wasn't a thermal pad

It just looked like it was new out of a packing and they didn't ''unpack'' the 660m:D

It's difficult to explain, my english-skills are ''under all pig'', haha

[svl7]

That plastic cover around the die is normal, you can remove it or leave it, it doesn't matter.

Thermal paste is not meant to bridge gaps, it's purpose is to fill up the tiny little space between two surfaces that have (seemingly) direct contact. It's purpose is to remove the air in there, not to bridge visible gaps, 0.1mm is already way too much of a gap in order to make thermal paste perform in an acceptable way.

[kondziowy]

I applied MX-2 on my i5-3210m and temperatures are now 78°C CPU and 74°C GPU (1230MHz). Previously 89°C CPU and 82°C GPU.

But I left this piece of plastic around the GPU because I noticed those metal parts are very close - almost making contact with heatsink. This plastic is supposed to not allow metal to metal contact. You think it is ok to remove it?

[schranzmaster]

I applied MX-2 on my i5-3210m and temperatures are now 78°C CPU and 74°C GPU (1230MHz). Previously 89°C CPU and 82°C GPU.

But I left this piece of plastic around the GPU because I noticed those metal parts are very close - almost making contact with heatsink. This plastic is supposed to not allow metal to metal contact. You think it is ok to remove it?

like svl7 said ''That plastic cover around the die is normal, you can remove it or leave it, it doesn't matter.''

I think it is ok to remove it, because my temperatures are good. But you can also leave it

And the paste I used, the MX-4, is non-capacitive

[sergioosh]

Well the plastic is around the die, so why would you bother removing it? Do it the engineer way: "Works? Don't touch it!"

With temperatures like 85 degrees you'd better pay attention to HDD temperature. I've never reached temperatures like that, but it happened once when I was moving a lot of data with no other real load the hdd temperature hit 46, which is not bad, but in the long run it's not good either.

Oh and you don't actually have to remove ram, wi-fi card nor mSATA drive for repasting. Also, I think you should add a reminder to follow numbering on the radiator and to screw gradually every screw one after another to avoid chipping the die. Believe me or not it happened to me... I chipped the die of my LGA775 desktop mobo chipset while replacing the cooling system to passive radiator. Because of that two of four memory banks stopped working! Kinda weird, but I'm glad it was still working.

[Gryzor]

Do they fix this problem with too much of thermal paste in the latest Y580 revisions? My Y580 is about 3 month old, does it worth to repaste? It seems too hard for me to disassemble the whole notebok (moreover asseble it again in its initial state ), so good work, sir!

[sergioosh]

Do this the engineer way: "It works? Don't touch it". If you don't have any problems with temperatures then don't bother. You might shave off few degrees at the risk of braking something.

If you still want to do it, then few tips from me:

- assemble and disassemble it slowly and carefully

- group the screws so that you can remember which one goes where

- the tapes connecting keyboard, touchpad, and other things on top cover are rather short, and I found it rather tricky to put them back with my hands. I recommend using narrow pliers, tongs, or something like that

- clean the fan assembly of dust. That's the best moment to do it, and the only way to do it thoroughly.

[TerminX]

The factory paste job on mine wasn't anywhere near this bad... I had the board replaced a couple months ago after suffering the "battery gauge reset" failure and they had actually done a pretty good job. Since they had somebody out here on-site to replace it, I just gave the guy my own tube of MX-4 to use when putting it back together with the new board. It didn't make much of a difference here, but then again mine didn't look like the disaster shown in your first image...

[blowntaha]

Hey, I know this thread is a bit old, but I have some questions about the heatsink and repasting:

-- Are thermal pads the square piece of (what seems to be) rubber/wax that sits on top of the cpu/gpu and lies between the applied paste and and copper heat sink? And I think this may have been answered but I'll ask again just to be sure it was the same question, it's okay to remove right? Under what circumstances would it not be okay?

-- Earlier when I first repasted and disassembled my y580, I came across a piece of tape/plastic that sat over the motherboard, what would happen if I removed that as well?

The reason I'm asking these questions is because after I repasted using Arctic Silver 5, the temps went way down, but now it is getting a tad bit hotter than it was before the repasting. I'm trying to find out if that is because the thermal pad was damaged (some pieces of it came off when removing old paste), or because the tape/plastic didn't lay over the motherboard completely flat (like it was before, part of it doesn't stick anymore). Or maybe I just simply put too much paste (I put about 1/4 the amount shown in the OP, only on the CPU and GPU though).

Thanks in advance for any answers I may receive.

[sergioosh]

If I remember correctly the thermal pads on Y580 where only over other components like memory and some other parts that might get hot. There was only thermal paste over my CPU and GPU.

Those thermal pads were put there with some purpose, so unless you know a reason to remove them you should not! The same with this piece of plastic over MB.

Assuming your laptop doesn't actually overheat I think you should leave it be. Just monitor the temps and in case it gets worse-> then repaste.

[jordyyyyy]

My i7 now downcocks after about two minutes at prime95, would repasting the CPU (and GPU, why not if i'm already inside the machine) with MX-4 prevent the cpu from downclocking?

The core clock starts at 3.1GHz but when temps are going to 90C running prime95, the CPU downclocks to 2.3GHz

[blowntaha]

My i7 now downcocks after about two minutes at prime95, would repasting the CPU (and GPU, why not if i'm already inside the machine) with MX-4 prevent the cpu from downclocking?

The core clock starts at 3.1GHz but when temps are going to 90C running prime95, the CPU downclocks to 2.3GHz

Did you check what temps you were getting? It's quite possible that it was throttling (downclocking) due to high temperatures. I'm going to give a ball park and say anything ~70-80+ (assuming the laptop's surrounding temperature is room temperature and the fan is unobstructed) then repasting might be a good idea. If you're close to 70, like high 60s, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but above 80 is trouble (i think ).

Also, if you're like me and use this laptop as a desktop replacement, then you might want to try and take off the bottom cover and place the laptop over a nice cooling pad. I have personally used Thermaltake's 23massive cs and recently upgraded to CM Storm SF 19 with no regrets and my temperatures usually stay idle at ~35-45. I'm talking about CPU temps btw.

[jordyyyyy]

Did you check what temps you were getting? It's quite possible that it was throttling (downclocking) due to high temperatures. I'm going to give a ball park and say anything ~70-80+ (assuming the laptop's surrounding temperature is room temperature and the fan is unobstructed) then repasting might be a good idea. If you're close to 70, like high 60s, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but above 80 is trouble (i think ).

Also, if you're like me and use this laptop as a desktop replacement, then you might want to try and take off the bottom cover and place the laptop over a nice cooling pad. I have personally used Thermaltake's 23massive cs and recently upgraded to CM Storm SF 19 with no regrets and my temperatures usually stay idle at ~35-45. I'm talking about CPU temps btw.

The core temps are hitting 90 at full load with prime95, this causes the cores to throttle.

I don't use my laptop as desktop replacement, so a cooling pad is no option.

Any idea what full load temps could be after repasting?

[blowntaha]

The core temps are hitting 90 at full load with prime95, this causes the cores to throttle.

I don't use my laptop as desktop replacement, so a cooling pad is no option.

Any idea what full load temps could be after repasting?

There are other, more portable, laptop coolers you could get. Also, cooling pad or not, removing the bottom cover can make a huge difference. As far as how much the temperature will drop from (a good) repasting, it could vary depending on how well/poorly your laptop was originally pasted, but I'd say on average, people see 7-15 difference, possibly more in your case because it looks like lenovo did a poor job applying thermal paste, Just make sure you don't apply too much, read the previous posts from slv talking about the purpose and how much paste you need to use. It might be a good idea to do a test run e.g. apply paste, screw in the heat sink, then unscrew it again to see how well you applied it. A good pasting looks like a thin layer with no bubbles spread all across the cpu or gpu.

[sylvester711]

I got to the part where I have to remove the keyboard. I don't know if it's the same for you guys but it's really hard for me to remove the damn thing. Is there a way to crack that baby open easily? I gave up on the bezel removal and put back the keyboard and everything. Then the freaking laptop just won't boot. I turned it on and there was just black screen. At the end I had to bring it to a service to get it fixed. Turns out there's a cable beneath the keyboard that I didn't successfully connect back. Could someone please explain those parts with a bit more details? I really want to reapply the paste and also give a good clean to the fan. Thanks.

[blowntaha]

I got to the part where I have to remove the keyboard. I don't know if it's the same for you guys but it's really hard for me to remove the damn thing. Is there a way to crack that baby open easily? I gave up on the bezel removal and put back the keyboard and everything. Then the freaking laptop just won't boot. I turned it on and there was just black screen. At the end I had to bring it to a service to get it fixed. Turns out there's a cable beneath the keyboard that I didn't successfully connect back. Could someone please explain those parts with a bit more details? I really want to reapply the paste and also give a good clean to the fan. Thanks.

When you've removed all the screws, including the middle two (keyboard) ones, open the lid. Then you want to find something small and flat, if you care about your laptop cosmetically, i would suggest using a "care opener" they're flat, plastic tools and slightly curved, using this will reduce the chances of scratches. I personally use a flat-head screwdriver (the scratches aren't all that bad on mine).

What you want to do when you take out the keyboard is take your flat tool of choice, and choose one of the clips to start with (either the: right most, or left most clip on the top side, the top most clip on the left, or right side; in my experience, the top clip on the right side is the easiest). They're hard to spot since they're underneath. What I usually do is (very) gently pry the keyboard up to figure out where the first one is and once you know where the first one is, use your tool to push it directly down. Then, when you're sure you've pushed the clip all the way inside, lift the keyboard so that the clip does not re-open (maybe use your fingers?) and then do the same for the next closest clip in the next closest side (e,g, if you started at the top clip on the right side, do the right clip on the top side next); this way you're able to lift a corner, and then the rest of the clips become visible. Once you've practically removed the keyboard, do not pull hard to remove the keyboard. there will be two ribbon cables underneath, one wide one on the left, and one small one on the right.

I'm planning on making a video on dismantling the y580 since, I don't think pictures alone can prepare you for taking it apart while keeping damage to a minimum (for those who don't regularly open up laptops )

Hope that helps!

[flyhotstuff]

i repasted my gpu and cpu today with some thermal compound i used for my xbox 360 reflow days. needless to say my temperates have went up to 90 and as far as 93 when playing dmc 5 maxed out on ultra. i'd see it hit 89 regularly before but rarely 91. not sure what's the problem. the fan is also blowing out hotter air.

[blowntaha]

i repasted my gpu and cpu today with some thermal compound i used for my xbox 360 reflow days. needless to say my temperates have went up to 90 and as far as 93 when playing dmc 5 maxed out on ultra. i'd see it hit 89 regularly before but rarely 91. not sure what's the problem. the fan is also blowing out hotter air.

Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious but did you make sure to:

-- Clean the old paste thoroughly both on the die, and the heat sink

-- Not to apply too much paste but only enough to add a thin layer over the die, and only on the cpu and gpu

-- Clean the fan dust with duster to (temporarily) prevent further dust from accumulating

-- Try to take off the bottom cover and/or elevate the laptop slightly

If you did those, then maybe there might be something wrong with the paste you used or the environment the laptop is in. What thermal paste did you use (I use arctic silver 5)?

If you think you've covered all your bases then I'm not sure what to tell you, there might be something wrong with your cpu, gpu (I don't think you can actually replace the gpu because it might be soldered in or an actual part of the mobo), motherboard or heat sink. What I'd do in your situation is buy replacement parts on ebay (that allow returns) one by one (or all together) and replace the parts one at a time to determine which is the trouble part, and then return the parts that were fine.

If THAT doesn't work then try and look for "Lenovo Y580 repair services" since you void the warranty when you break the sticker on that one screw on the mobo.

Good luck.

[ChristianD]

Hello guys, Im new here and got here trying to find a way to reduce the temps of my gpu. Ive had the laptop for over a year and now when I play some games the numbers get close to 90°. I honestly have never opened a laptop before and the bad part is that since Im new I can't see the images shown at the first post. I'm sure there was a moment when I could play with the fan speed with afterburner but now I just checked and it's disabled (perhaps some compatibility problem with the driver version and the program). I wish there was a video to help me out wit this new adventure now that I got some time and also some bucks to think about replacing the hard drive for a hybrid one and maybe buy some corsairs. Thanks for reading and wish me luck

[schranzmaster]

I bought thermal pads a few days ago and repasted my Y580 again.

I updated the first post with new pics and where i placed the pads

The temperatures are ~10°C lower now, thats amazing for my system with that overclock.

check it out

So happy now

[lyj_8191]

Omg! I was just thinking about repasting my laptop and tadaaa I found your post. Awesome stuff.

Just one question to all y580 owners tho, How is the build quality on your laptop?

I recently found out one of the slots for a screw at the bottom was broken. I expected better plastic quality from lenovo..

[kondziowy]

I opened my Y580 twice and also noticed broken screw slot on the bottom plastic bezel. I probably applied too much force on this screw the last time I was closing my laptop. My advice - do not apply too much pressure on the screws This is not a top quality plastic.