Does Changing the thermal paste actually make a MacBook faster?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- In today's video I want to find out one simple thing: will changing the thermal paste on your MacBook Pro actually make it faster? While it seems like a simple question, Apple's method for cooling- both hardware and software- mean that the answer is not simple at all. Today we'll dive into a late 2013 retina MacBook Pro 15 inch to find out
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We can’t change our thermal past, but we can try our best to create a better thermal future.
what
Make thermals great again
@@BRBallin1 What paste would you recommend to have your MBP turning up trumps? :D
@@threepwood56 Highly recommend this by Arctic: amzn.to/2EDFFPo
Made my MacBook Pro considerably quieter and doesn't heat as easily as it would
Thermal past is thermal past... Thermal future is thermal future... What we only actually have is our thermal Now (c) Paulo Coelho
2:08 Apple's lawyers DON'T PLAY.
Guys, a high quality thermal compound makes a *HUGE* difference. Don't go with 5$ ones. MacBooks are costly, use a costly one only.
Which brand is better
@@pranavp8023 arctic mx 4
@@VijayKanta but the artic mx 4 4g is $5 too
@@magosh LOL
I got 12% higher score after the repaste. Plus I used Macs Fan Control to run the fans before the temps got high.
I used MX4 thermal paste.
great app! thanks for mention it
What do you mean with higher score? Did it fix overheating or did heating increase?
I use iStat Menu,although it's a paid app you can create different profiles and gives you more information than MacFan Control.
Ditto mx4 cooled my IMac down too along with silicon pads on the video chips.
It's worth pulling the Imac apart to reapply new paste to the cpu on logic board and the gpu chip.
I upgraded the CPU's on my Mac Pro 5,1 and used a "normal/cheap" thermal paste and the machine did run significantly hotter afterwards. It got much better after reapplying a better thermal paste. (In my case the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut with 12.50W/m K) Definitely worth a try.
How dic u change the CPU on the motherboard? Did u solder it?
@@vishwajeetbabbar7622 The Mac Pro 5,1 is a desktop computer, so the CPU is replaceable.
I just did this yesterday and pretty much noticed the same things aside from performance differences. They were pretty much the same afterwards for me. I also more did this for maintenance reasons and not performance reasons. I’m looking to try and get at least another 3 years out of my mid 2015 15” MBP before I’m forced to buy a new one. The dust build up in mine wasn’t all that bad though the fans were pretty caked. I also found a couple dead spiders in mine so that was fun lol.
Thermal Past is like remembering hot summer days? 🤔
Redo these tests with custom fan curves. I did that recently and my MacBook Pro will turbo up to 3.3 all cores now. Which is pretty good considering I've never replaced the thermal paste. Thank you Luke and definitely interested in your next video.
ricky v how are You doing this? Wanja try it 😅
@@whitelion61 Hello, I installed an app titled "Mac Fan Control". It allows us to set custom fan curves. The MacBook stays cooler longer now. Try installing it and see what happens.
@@WarriorsPhoto I do have macs fan control. but its not really a custom fan curve, you can just set RPM manually or set a threshold...
White Lion I agree. Tomato or Tomatoe. Same difference there. (:
@@WarriorsPhoto Hi, which are your exact settings in Mac Fan Control?
And how do you find out to what score the turbo speed up?
I changed the thermal paste on the mid 2012 MacBook Pro I just got and it was horrible how little paste was on there to begin with. It was a huge preformance boost.
Do you need to remove the battery before do anything else ?
Yes, it does. But only if you spread the thermal paste with Apple's titanium credit card. Of course, the more you granted credit, the more conductivity.
I just changed my macbook late 2013 model thermal paste as well. There is definitely a difference. Temp was rising way faster before applying and now its better. Also I think cleaning service really helped as well.
is cleaning service chargeable post warranty expire in your country..?
@@anurag4672 yeah it's charged.
Where did you do it and how much does it cost?
@@thomaszhang3101 I'm located in Pakistan, so it wasn't very costly. I would say around $10 - $15. Thermal paste with cleaning service.
When I got my Late 2013 15” maxed MBP about few weeks ago, I repasted it immediately. After opening it up it was so full of dust like wtf I can’t even explain how much there was dust. I did tests and on idle before repasting/dusting it was running at 80°C on idle... dusted it, repasted with the trusty old Arctic MX-4.
Got a 10°C drop on temperatures and saw huge improvements in overall performance.
Hey, Congrats for buying a MacBook pro.
How much did it cost for you?
self realization 1100€. I made a video about it on my secondary channel (PiipperiTech) if you need more info.
hey luke like, i reflowed my imac 2011 27" gpu and replaced the thermal paste on the cpu and gpu...it went great and i made the machine come back to life but now the cpu is locked at 1,60ghz ...if i put it to sleep when it comes back the cpu works faster but after a few seconds it goes back to 1,60ghz... it may be some cable thats ruined but i think it may be a firmware thing where apple makes the speed lock and u gotta change something on the firware...im not sure ...can you help?
I replaced the crusty old paste on my 15" 2012 MacBook Pro's CPU and GPU with some Arctic Silver and I can't say it runs faster (it's already fast enough for me) but it sure as shit runs cooler. The fan is whisper quiet now and it doesn't feel like a space heater anymore.
Would be interested to know if the thermal paste / new thermal pads would make any difference to the gpu in a 2011 iMac. Thanks in advance!
What about thermal pads instead of thermal paste?
Would you recommend the thermal grizzly pads for example?
still very high idle, my 2018 macbook pro 15 inch idles at 32c. Also cinebench r20 is very inconsistent, i think they need to fix it, for some reason after a change in hardware or software it throws lower numbers and then a day later and many rund later it chucks out numbers that are correct and it does it consistently after.
Just put new paste on my mid 2012 retina. Noticeable difference running 4k YT videos and other easy tasks on the computer. Worth the job! Using this computer for everday tasks still doing a great so!!
My 2009 Macbook Pro is freezing the picture for about 10 seconds, while the sound continues to play as I am running TH-cam.
The fans are no longer speeding up like they used to when the computer was new.
Q - What do I do to fix this?
So basically you just used the same cheap thermal paste that Apple uses, nice job
Thats the answer... With a high quality thermal paste the results should be different
no lol i use good thermal paste and it runs hotter and like he said idle temperatures were cooler
real cartoon girl what’s a good thermal paste? What do you recommend? Arctic mx4?
@@goJesusandStarcraft yes thats good but i use artic silver its really expensive for a termal paste
@@goJesusandStarcraft 5
Quick observation on numbers before and after re-paste. There was one extra variable introduced. Dirty fans / heat sinks. Luke cleaned the fans / heat sinks at the same time that he did the re-paste. This makes it harder to determine how much of the new cooling effects were due to the re-pasting vs. just cleaning the heat sinks. All that being said, I am sure that re-pasting DID HELP. But I would suggest re-doing the experiment again in a year or two when the thermal paste needs to be replaced this time getting new "before" numbers after a heat sink cleaning and then again after another re-pasting. That way the heat sink cleanliness variable is eliminated.
Hey, should I install a fan speed app ( mac fan control) or let apple adjust the fan speed automatically
Thermal paste will often get better after a few thermal cycles. I'd recheck the stats after 3 or 4 cycles before coming to a conclusion.The biggest benefit is that the CPU / GPU won't thermal throttle, so you will actually get better performance.
I changed the thermal paste on my 2012 MBP, before it ran fine but kinda hot. After replacing and putting back together it would not turn back on (I used arctic silver 5). I’m fairly familiar with taking MacBooks and iPhones apart but I have no idea what happened for it to not work anymore. Anyone have an idea how to fix this?
Just repasted an old late 2013 MBP and it is measurably better. The old paste did not cover the whole chip. Used cinebench, geek bench and my favourite game to test. It really did make a difference. Idles about 8 degrees cooler and (you should monitor this) noticed the fan speeds were almost 2000 rpm cooler doing similar tasks.
My macbook 2017 15 inch won’t get even warm unless i try to play a game such as Minecraft......with in 30 seconds it will get hot.....i’m not sure how hot? just in the middle near the screen.....it’s pretty hot. should i worry about it or just play the game?
is there any details about Snazzy Labs 2018 mbp repasting? I did watch video about 13inch, is it the one?
You need to use a program called Macs fan control to control the speed of the fans in order to get more accurate benchmarks.
Or SMC or iStat Menus. Many options.
SimSimsTECHcrunch agree!!! 😀👍
SimSimsTECHcrunch I wanted to tell the same thing
Whenever I’m about to do anything even mildly taxing on my MacBook, I open up fan control and crank those boys up to 6900 rpm and it sounds like it’s going to lift off the desk, lol
1:46 is it me or does it sound like a creeper explosion here? Or have I been watching too much MC lately
THEFIRE360 ....LOL YEP creamer is near...
I wonder if idle speeds is the more important result? I’d be willing to bet our computers run at the those speeds at least 70% of the time. So a ten degrees difference goes towards the performance of the computer of a longer period of time.
I didn't keep my temps so I can't remember what they were, but my Cinebench score went from 1320's to 1450's, my fan vents were kinda dirty too so it may have just been that
I'll tell if it was worth it if You do same test with better thermal paste like ie. Arctic Silver 5 etc.
We need some charts, to visualize the differences better ;) bring them back 🥺
2009 unibody termal past . do u think changing to ssd and 8 gb and termal paste makes a difference on running catilina. I heard catilina doesnt run good on them suggestions. Please.
In my 2009 unibody the paste was gummy and hard after many years of gaming with it and the fans were spinning hard even when looking at youtube, after giving it new paste it was noticeable better. with my MacBook Pro 2012 there was no noticeable difference. Your right about the the fan curves, that's just the way Apple sees the user experience ! Programs that lets you manually adjust the fan speeds are "not supported" ;)
Great video Luke !
Hello Luke I have got a Mac Book White of 2010, its unibody, When I play a game like Real Racing 2, when I play Real Racing 2 my MacBook gets quite hot. When I leave the game, the temperature, is normalized and the fan falls bellow RPM. When I edit video, it gets a little hot when I render the project, When the temperature ends it gradually normalizes, My question is should I change the thermal paste? The machine has been with me for 9 years, He haven`t given me a single mistake, Tell me Luke what do you think?
What are you using after disabling the cover? exactly in minute 1:55
My late 2013 retina Dual GPU model runs at 73 Celsius & 74 Celsius on max load with MX4 thermal paste. They must of changed it with software updates. Mine never gets too hot even under load.
i have change the thermal paste of my very old macbook(11 years old)(macbook 4.1) and this is what i noticed:
with no thermal paste on youtube: fan goes to 6200rpm(max)
with new thermal paste: 4200 rpm (more quiet)
for a very old macbook it's very good :)
Hi Luke! I tried this but now it's just throttling at around 6000 rpm ,room is very cool. What am I doing wrong?
I have a 2011 Macbook Pro, the thermal paste has never been changed. I am very tempted to change the thermal paste, as after almost 10 years, it probably is almost non existent, idle temps are about 70C...heats up to about 95-100 degrees at load.
I’ve ordered an SSD upgrade for my MBP Ret 2015 and when I finally take off the cover, I shall be replacing the thermal paste. Thanks, Luke!
does anyone know if the CPU on the 2012 Macbook Pro A1278 (non-retina) is made out of aluminum or not? I'm trying to decide if I want to buy 'liquid metal', but they say be sure NOT to use it on aluminum!
Is there a video that shows how to change the thermal paste on a mac? I don't know how to remove the old paste
I still have a late 2013 here. I used it daily for about 4 years, and what turned me down was the CPU fan going like crazy every now & then. Then I went the cheap & easy way, with old Thinkpads (t430 right now), and I don't have this issue. I might however repaste, just to see how it feels. i keep the laptop as a spare...
Why didn’t you take normal thermal grease? Why did not take MX4? Weren't you able to buy it? Who will put the cheapest thermal grease in a laptop with a price in a car?
So noob test we see. I don’t expect from so smart guy, this fuckup.
Could someone help me? My Laptop ( i7 7700hq gtx1060) clocks my cpu down to 2,7 GHz (Turbo is 3,5 GHz) at a Temperature of 86 Degrees Celcius. Someone has a solution?
Greetings, Mr. Luke Miani.
I have a macbook pro 15" 2018, model A1990, with i9 processor and touchbar.
Model known for being very hot and not delivering the expected performance of the i9!
I want to replace the thermal paste, but I'm in doubt about which thermal paste I should use, to better cool the i9 and not need to change the thermal paste every year.
I would like to know which thermal paste do you recommend?
If you can make a video where you compare the best thermal pastes for Macbooks Pro. I think it will be of great help to many who like and learn a lot from your videos.
I'm using a graphite pad on the same 2013 15inch model and it can turbo to 3.2 under sustained load with fan at max using macs fan control and I think it's worthy to change the thermal interface
Replaced the thermal paste of my Macboook Pro late 2013 13 inch. Still love it! won't replace it in 3 years after Apple replace the keyboard for an decent one :).
You earned my sub cause your video is really nice
If you monitor the hardware with windows in bootcamp and modify the boost with throttlestop you'll get a much clearer picture of how effective repasting the CPU and GPU can be. The reason why is because the MacBook pro in macOS will just run at very mild frequency and power settings because they've set up the software to never push the hardware very hard. When you start tweaking things in boot camp, with windows 10 you can really see where performance gains can be made.
I have Macbook Pro 15" Retina, Late 2013, 16gb RAM, 500GB SSD. I've been experiencing problems as my Mac keeps shutting down by itself whenever hot. However, the problem goes away when I use my AC unit as eventually the environment becomes cool.
Will changing the thermal paste help my case?
I guess your problem is the battery.
my Macbook pro late 2013 does 1404 points on cinebench r20. For me it made a huge difference. Before I changed the thermal paste my CPU was running at 1,8 GHz when I was rendering something. Now its at 2,6-2,8 GHz. I can only recommend changing the thermal paste
I repasted my entry level 15 inch MacBook Pro 2015 with thermal grizzly kryonaut and even in Cinebench it will barely come over 90 degrees, with max fans running not over 82 degrees. Now it runs with an linear turbo boost speed of 3.0 GHz, and the machine thermally throttled before with the standard thermal paste. So I can totally recommend the Kryonaut Thermal Paste!
You say the paste they use from the factory is crap, but there's actually a really good reason why they use what they do. It has really low viscosity. You can leave it in there for 20 years, and it'll perform like it did day one. With pastes like what you use in this video you'l need to change it after a year to maintain optimal performance; Decreasing more and more over time. The real issue with the thermal system is actually the texture of the heatsink. It's not smooth enough to perfectly connect the CPU/Paste to all the surface of the heatsink. Too many pits that the paste can't fill in. Your paste helps fill those gaps, but with the aforementioned disadvantage.
spot on !
Wow good to know
Casper S� that's it! Thats why my 13 years old Mac Pro still performs!
I refurbish Windows machines laptops and anytime I can easily access the CPU to change the paste, I do. Most of the time it isn't a huge difference, but sometimes, on certain ultrabooks, it makes all the difference.
How much is a difference between using a premium paste, like Grizzly, vs nothing at all?
Is there better quality paste and would it make a difference?
Wish you would've done a second round of tests with Mac Fan Control.
Question for Luke Miani what u got against the MacBook Air I own one personally it’s been a good lightweight Mac for me since I gave my 2008 MacBook Pro to my 13 yr old niece
Just did my Late 2014 MacBook Pro Retina w/discrete graphs. The difference is instant and dramatic.
Luke, aren’t you concerned that the keyboard backlight is flickering? A few years ago, I had a 2008 MacBook Pro and I experienced the keyboard backlight flicker.
Thermal present...
Heh heh he... (Okay I'll see myself out)
SeireiART In case you’re lost exit’s on the right
I always modify the fan curve for better cooling, trying to find a happy medium between fan noise and cooling.
My Late 2013 13" was hitting 90C+ on a few tabs in chrome. I opened it up and removed all the dust - opened the fan and removed all the fine dust here too. Replaced the thermal paste and added thick thermal pads on top of the heatsink above the CPU, along the headline, and across the grill. Running 50-60C in chrome now, idling around 45C wow. Add thermal pads!
Does the bottom panel get hot with this steup?
I'll agree with the fan/cpu theory. My refurbished 2018 Mac Mini tended to run high temperatures before I ever heard the fan kick on. I ended up buying some external USB fans to help cool it down, and it cut the temperatures significantly. Not sure if I should worry about it or not though since it's under warranty and I don't know if the high temps are the norm with the 2018 Mac Minis since they claim they have a better cooling system.
I don't buy it, the fan is blowing into the heat sink to cool it, your fan is hitting the body which does not even touch the heat sink.
I have a 2012 macbook pro that always ran hot. I ran across a video by snazzylabs about thermal paste so i tried changing it for the first time last week. I didn't really believe the hype but after applying mx4 its like a whole new macbook. It runs super quiet now, so quiet that i had to download mac fan control to make sure my fan was still working. I was actually planning on upgrading my mac bc i thought the reason for it running so hot was because it wasnt sufficient enough to handle macos anymore smh. Im not upgrading anytime soon now!
I used MX4 paste on a used 2013 MacBook Air not long ago. While it didn't turn it into a raging powerhouse, the fans don't turn on as often so I know it's running more efficiently. The factory paste was bad like the one in the video. I still think it's worth doing.
I have a 2014 15" MBP retina that has been running constantly as a Keyshot Render Farm node to the point that it's battery got swollen. We've finally gotten a proper render farm server, so I'm taking it down, replacing the battery (thanks iFixit, only $89) and replacing the thermal paste bc this thing has been running HOT for literally years.
I was repasting my MacBook Air 2013 because of old past and also clean out the dust now my Mac runs better less fan noise and overheat.
What do you do with the leftover thermal paste?
Yeah Idk if something else changed but I changed the thermal paste using arctic mx4 and my Cinabench score went from 1300 to 2009 shit was fire.
I've got weird thing on my exacly the same MBP - it throttles about 20-25% with no real reason, about 510-600 CB instead of 640. I did everything, changing the paste, changing the radiator (!), applying liquid metal, nothing has helped. Than I installed the windows and suddenly got 665 CB! 0_0. I was shocked. I thought my machine is totally screwed, but it throttles only in MacOS. I did a ASD test, everything is fine, I have installed HS instead of Mojave, but no changes. I see youre scores are way lower then those 640 too! What could it be?
I have an excellent Windows laptop, but it's not quite that :D
Liquid Metal Should never ever be applied
Arctic silver 5, not the best nor the worst, but for a Mac I would suggest getting some liquid metal tbh.
Frankly, Apple undervolt the cpu heavily already and runs the fans as slow as possible without cooking the cpu for the sake of quiet. Thermal paste shouldn’t matter too much. But if you need you mac at the max for long period of time, extra fan curve and liquid metal is a good option.
my old 2012 MBP fell down from 20 degrees. Now I can use it as was intended, a laptop to be used on your lap.
I'd want to see the temperatures and performance after the break in period.. Have a look at the last 2 sections of this document about the break-in period.. Maybe your results under load were because you had just freshly applied the paste. www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf
thanks for confirming my experiences. I've tried the liguid metal types even with PC.c. Conclusion. Thermal paste...the costly stuff...is a waste. Good tutorial.
uh, so....did the liquid metal help??????
@@akpokemon my opinion? I don't really think so. Not significantly. But I haven't done any in depth studies. I have never had a CPU fail. Not once since 1986 when I got my first pc.
OK but what if your able to control the fans with an app? Will that help keep cpu Cooler?
Ulises Martinez Yes. At the cost of noise....
Wait thermal past?
I generally install SMC Fan Control no matter what. I couldn't care less if my laptop is 'noisy'. I'd rather have the heat out of there quickly and for as long as possible.
Same!
So you’re saying I should download that app that lets me control the fan speed
Absolutely love my Late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina. Ive changed out the thermal paste, and using TG Pro. The app has a setting: Temporary increase fans when needed to keep cpu limit at least __% to avoid throttling. (You decide what percentage to use). It's not perfect, but the app does it's best to deliver.
Don't laugh, but when I'm doing some intensive work, I have a one of those 'lap desks' that tilts up, leaving a space in the base. I pop a 12 hour thermal ice pack in that space. (Since it's in an open air environment, you'll get about 90 minutes to 2 hours cool time.
I had a problem where my computer was overloading on Logic Pro x and it didn’t usually do that especially with how little the project was. Do you thinking adding thermal paste and general maintenance will fix it and make it run good again?
1% of the comments: normal comments
99% of the comments: *_p a s t_*
Thermal Paste* fix it Luke 😭😭😭
Lol
Let him have his opinion
whats that for a reverb fx effect on your "thermal paste" shout. it sounds so good=D
Hi Bro
What should I do?
I change or not?
I literally just did this 2 days ago. I got about a 10-15% improvement using MX-4!
exactly, if you're going to repaste, at least put something with good quality, not simply generic, there's a real difference
@@XInfinity2024 For sure. My thermals still were at 100 C while running R20, but my scores went from 1087 to 1196.
MacBook Pro mid 2012 13" also as simple to change thermal paste?
No. You have to remove the logic board.
"this is not good"
**apple ringtone**
"hello??" (before answering)
if the temp is not lower and performance is not better, then I suppose the fan niose is much quieter. So please do a fan noise comparison.
What’s the best thermal paste to use in this instance?
MX4
I might a 2015 Retina MBP I love the design and can upgrade the SSD in them. I have a 2017 Macbook Pro rn with a 128GB SSD (idk what I was thinking when I bought it I should of got at least 256GB) and looks like u cant upgrade the storage in them rip
Get yourself a Samsung T5 external SSD there prices are coming down (500GB £90-110// 1TB £175// 2TB £350)
You're right I just changed my thermal paste and it didn't make a difference except for what you touched on in the video.
gee - i'm reading your comments and i still havent understood which are the expensive & best pastes to use. And nor if getting a better one is a good thing after all. Can someone explain simply and also provide a list of the best ones that exist. Thanks!
I would stick with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. It's the best non conductive paste you can get. Arctic MX-4 is pretty close too. Liquid metal performs better but if you make a mistake it will be a very expensive one! I didn't find this video helpful at all.
I know I’m late on this, cause this video is old, but hear me out. It’s important to know that not all thermal pastes are the same. Some respond to certain CPUs and GPUs differently, some have different compositions that react differently to desktop CPUs (with heatspreaders) and laptop CPUs (without heatspreader). I have noticed that for CPU’s without a heatspreader, IC Diamond Thermal Compound works quite well. I have a similar computer to this one (MBP 2015 15”) and I used MX4 on it. It performs well the first couple of weeks, but it starts sucking given time. On the other hand, when I used IC Diamond, that never happened, the performance got better and it stayed better.
So... thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, I accept tips.
Oh yeah, I’ve also seen people that have had the same experience on the 2018 Mac Mini, cause it also has a CPU without a heatspreader.
Yeah, cleaning out the dust, looking for corrosion, seeing if any spiders made their home inside the computer, or crumbs etc. always good. New thermal paste every now and then, good with that too.
I got stage light effect after repasting.. And almost no difference in thermal
I don't have any fancy tests but I bought the $15.00 thermal paste from Best Buy and I can say with certainty it has made a big difference in how hot it gets just sitting on my lap watching TH-cam videos.