Find replacement heatsink screws for your laptop.
Find replacement heatsink screws for your laptop.
Thank you, this situation is quite challenging. The effort needed to move the heatsink is significant due to the sticky thermal pads that come into contact with other components. I was informed that every screw matters, though it seems they might not be crucial if the part doesn’t shift much. Without movement, it wouldn’t interfere with heat paste distribution or thermal conductivity. No problems observed so far.
Edit: Concern about whether thermal paste could redistribute unevenly over time or remain stable if the heatsink stays fixed? Pressure changes shouldn’t impact this.
I believe on a setup like this, just two screws would suffice as long as they are positioned diagonally.
Consider how often people use cars with missing nuts on the wheels—one of the wheels might rely on three remaining nuts until someone notices or until maintenance is needed.
We are discussing thermal pads, not thermal paste (such as on a desktop computer). A single piece of thermal pad will dry gradually but it won't disappear from the surface due to an uneven area. As mentioned earlier, the CPU die where you place the thermal pad is a very small space beneath a big heat sink, so even if one screw is missing or loose, it doesn't impact its performance.