I have a Lenovo Legion 5, and I'm getting ready to do a clean install of Windows 11 because my CPU has been thermal throttling even at low loads. I've cleaned the fans and the inside, but I found out that to take the fans out, I had to remove the heat sink. Two years ago, I replaced those fans but didn't realize I was supposed to replace the thermal paste after lifting the heat sink. I think this might have caused some issues, especially since I've been experiencing throttling recently. Now, I want to know: 1. If I order thermal paste online and put the laptop back together without it, should I do that or can I keep the parts separated? 2. Do you think not replacing the thermal paste at that time could be causing my current thermal issues? Any advice would be appreciated!
1 Answer
Yeah, if you remove or even just lift the heat sink, the safest approach is definitely to repaste it before using the laptop again. Breaking that contact can lead to uneven paste distribution or air bubbles, which isn't good. I wouldn't power it on until you've got new paste. You can either put it back together loosely or keep it disassembled, just make sure it stays clean and safe.
Thanks for the info! Always learning, never learning enough! My laptop was doing really well until this thermal throttling started a month ago.