Is thermal grease absolutely neccesary?

M

macattack600

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I'm working on a core 2 duo macbook logicboard I had to clean it but was wondering how important it is to reapply thermal grease to the video shims. Also wondering if is ok if i'm using a anti-static bag in replace of a anti-static mat to dome some testing with just external montior and keyboard plug. How long is ok to test outside of the case without the grease and fan? I don't want to heat this board to where it's no good
 
If Apple used thermal grease to build the computer, then you had jolly well better use thermal grease to reassemble it. Otherwise, ....
 
How long to run without a heat sink?
I'd say 30 seconds should be long enough for possible damage....

I'll say: Never run a processor without a "greased" heat sink, other than *very* brief "check to see if it still works", which means turn it on, check for response, and pull power. 10 seconds should be long enough for a power test - no longer. So, that's too short for actual testing

Bottom line - Always **Use the thermal paste** with a proper heat sink, even for short testing.
antistatic mats are conductive (that's how they are designed), so you would not use those to test any computer with power on, right?
 
Right. I was talking about using the anti static bag as a precautionary cause I don't have a mat in cleaning the board. The heatsink I have for it has small amounts of thermal grease left would I still run it 10 seconds if all hooked up right?
 
IMHO - never rely on the grease that's left on the joint. Clean the surfaces, and re-apply - every time - well, unless it's your own MacBook, and you don't care if you screw it up.

Are you asking this because you're in the middle of a repair - and just realized that you have no thermal paste?
Paste is a *lot* cheaper than replacing a logic board. :D
 
Well I always care if I screw up a Macbook. I have'nt tested it yet I got a logicboard with kernal panic and I did'nt even bother to test off the bat. I saw water damage if a few places so I unplugged ,unhooked it to discharge the capacitors. I'll be done cleaning later but I want to test tommorow ,more than likely after gettting some paste. Any cpu paste will do I see Artic Silver is good.
 
Yes, please get some (any brand) thermal paste before you run that poor Mac again. So a quick trip to Fry's or wherever you get your electronic supplies and you are set. Shouldn't be more than a few $ vs a logic board is in many hundreds of $.
 
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