Chosen Solution
I have replaced the thermal paste on my Macbook Air 2010 and am experiencing CPU Proximity high temperatures as per MacFan Control. Macbook was running hot when I would surf the net or watch video so I decided to replace the thermal paste which I have done dozens of times to Mac’s and PC’s. I used Arctic Silver 5 and also applied a thin layer over the CPU and GPU and not on the heatsink. I didn’t want to apply too much since it’s conductive but I noticed with the original thermal paste (by apple) on both the chips was heavily coated prior to removing it. I see the heatsink on the Macbook Air is slighltly different as its not flat and wondering if maybe there is not enough thermal paste. Applicion method I used to apply the thermal paste was I covered the chip all with a thin layer across the entire chip but not too much to spill on to the circut since Artctic Silver 5 is conductive. I have restarted it few times, let it run and when it loads it runs close to 95 degrees celcius on CPU Proximity but drops to around 70 degrees idling . However CPU Diode is around 65 degrees and runs between 10-40 degrees higher. I am thinking of maybe changing Thermal Paste to non-conductive and apply a lot to cover the chips heavily with the indented heatsink on Macbook Air’s. Has anyone else experienced similar issues with new thermal paste application?
Did you note any oily looking substance on the logic board around the heat sink. If so the mostly candidate for overheating is the heat sink itself, These are liquid filled and can leak, thus loosing their ability to dissipate the heat. Replacement is your only option if such is the case.
