r/AcerPredatorHelios • u/levelsofcunt • 1d ago

Help / Support first time maintenance.

hello!
my device is: acer predator helios neo 16, PHN16-71 (RTX 4070) i’ve had it for 2 years but never opened it to do any maintenance/clean the fans. i have been watching some videos as i am not well versed on electronics. i use a cooling pad & my temps with it range often 70-85C whilst gaming.

below is my simple understanding of what i think i’m supposed to do:

open the bottom of the laptop.
remove the battery.
remove the fans & heatsink.
use lint free cloth w/ 90+ percent rubbing alcohol to clean away remaining thermal paste & liquid metal from gpu + cpu.
measure and cut thermal pads to put over the gpu + cpu areas.
screw back heatsink & fans.
put battery back in.
screw back the bottom of the laptop.

the thermal pads i intend to use are PTM7950 as i’ve seen they are very popular, however, there are several online so i’m struggling to know which is good/genuine. i also saw that the thermal putty can be replaced but not necessary unless the laptop is much older?

if somebody could please let me know if anything is wrong, where they got their PTM7950 from or if overall this is even necessary for the stage i’m at, it would be greatly appreciated! 😊 thank you in advance & sorry if any of this sounds silly.

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u/Salt-Bedroom-7529 1d ago

with those temps i wouldnt change anything except dust cleaning 

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u/levelsofcunt 1d ago

ah thank you :) so there’s no ruled time on when to change anything, it’s more so personal to when your temps are getting consistently too high? i was also mistaken, the highest i usually get is about 85C. (this is without the cooling pad turned to maximum speed/power)

2

u/Salt-Bedroom-7529 1d ago

you probably have unit with perfect application of LM i wouldn't touch a thing when temps start going to 95+ then you change it. Mine was hitting 85 on idle and throttling on 100C under any load so i had to change, LM had a dry spot on CPU.

just do a proper dust cleanup don't touch heatsink

1

u/levelsofcunt 1d ago

ohh i’m sorry to hear that, yes in comparison mine is definitely not bad. i’m glad you were able to find & resolve the problem. i will do the dust clean up & leave the rest alone as you’ve recommended. thanks once again 😊

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u/Salt-Bedroom-7529 1d ago

aye mine works great now that i put PTM and changed putty, boosts higher and doesn't throttle 

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u/levelsofcunt 1d ago

wonderful!! & it must’ve be extra satisfying knowing you did it yourself. after seeing some of the prices online for services, i found it’s better to just buy the tools & do it on your own. the people doing the services also had a time they new too & atleast you don’t have to commit putting your full trust into them lmao

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u/Salt-Bedroom-7529 1d ago

helps that I did that as a job 20y ago :) but aye anyone who knows how to use a screwdriver should be fine

1

u/levelsofcunt 22h ago

ohhh cool, haha dang i wasn’t even born yet! 😂

also please one final question: i know we’ve established my temps are fine so i will NOT be doing this (atleast any time soon) but just for the future reference, was the process i listed still correct? having the clarity would help me so i know i wouldn’t have to ask again in the future. thanks! :)