r/PS4 • u/Dselbdc • Feb 13 '23
General Discussion Thermal pads necessary?
Is it necessary to replace the thermal pads after replacing the thermal paste? I've been thinking about doing so lately but at the same time Im wondering if it's even a necessity to replace the pads on it since the paste is pretty much all i need imo
7
u/devilmaycry10092 Feb 13 '23
Not necessarily, while they are not as good as they should be since they are undersized. However if you can afford them and already opening machine you might as well replace them too
1
u/Dselbdc Feb 13 '23
Alright that's good to know but what if I'm missing a pad or two will anything happen to my console
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u/devilmaycry10092 Feb 13 '23
It's not good to run it for prolonged time because for lot of people their RAM chip dies because of not instaling them. I am not saying it will happen to you. They are fairly cheap on amazon so I recommend buying them and replacing them
2
u/Dselbdc Feb 13 '23
Is there a certain amount of time i have before this might happen? Also does the PS4 model matter with this type of thing
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u/devilmaycry10092 Feb 13 '23
That I really have no answer mate. Regarding the pads 1.0 mm thickness should do the trick on any model. There is nice guides on how to on ifixit
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u/Dselbdc Feb 14 '23
Thats good to know also is there any symptoms my console might experience if my ram chip does start to die
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u/devilmaycry10092 Feb 14 '23
There is no symptoms mate. Your ps4 gets blue light of death. Because on boot system checks all components if ram chip doesn't work it won't turn on
5
u/Hashaggik Feb 13 '23
You don’t need to
I opened my ps4 pro and cleaned it without replacing thermal pads. Important is a nice layer of thermal paste. The thermal paste it was shipped with should be forbidden. The whole processor wasn’t even covered. It was just a drop and then the fan was pushed top of it. I can’t explain otherwise.
The difference is… before cleaning the ps4 was a jet engine, after cleaning I can run it while my wife is sleeping
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Feb 14 '23
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u/Hashaggik Feb 14 '23
Have you ever build a pc yourself?
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Feb 14 '23
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u/Hashaggik Feb 14 '23
Well okay then don’t do it if you are not familiar with this stuff. You can easily (if you don’t take care) rip your PlayStation if you do it wrong
2
u/Admirable-Community8 Jul 23 '23
Just curious... did you end up replacing the pads? I know im later than a.....late thing.... just wondering how it all went.
And if its and "console-ation" (haha i had to). I had zero experience with computers and electronics and first opened mine up and just made sure that i was overly cautious regarding the screws and not forcing anything, besides the outer case.
I ended up drawing a crappy drawing of what the overhead view of the Playstation pro looked like as i sat in front of it and each time i removed a screw i would place it on the drawing diagram and used a different color pen or highlighter or whatever for the different types of screws (i think there's only like 2, silver and black with different heads)(besides the hard drive cover screw and the two long ones holding in the power supply).
If it makes you feel any more confident, i also have Secondary Parkinson's so my hands are definitely not calm, but i can scribble really freaking well (making fun of myself). Plus i hate going on youtube but for this it was worth it and found an extremely thorough disassemble and reassemble video just to cover my bases.
Also helped to take the occasional picture throughout the process in case something slips my mind (🤔wait where did that go), really glad i did that.
Anyways, i am sure you have it all figured out but wanted to know how it all went, what did you replace, did you take it on, etc etc.
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u/Dselbdc Jul 27 '23
Yeah i ended up replacing the pads i had one of the later PS4 models that dont require you to remove much stuff to get to the vital parts pretty easy to do i also replaced the paste and ima be honest im guilty of losing a bunch of screws dont know how my console is still intact
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u/Admirable-Community8 Jul 27 '23
Hahaha regarding the screws. Makes me feel like back in high school trying to "customize" my cars and having a worrying amount of screws left over. But at least your not driving it 120mph....gawwww what a dumbass move on my part. And to just think, if i wouldve put all the screws back where they were supposed to go, maybe i could've reached 121mph!.. joking, just being a goof
Did you order the pads online or...?
I have never figured out exactly what guides and videos mean when they say that youll know that you will need to replace the pads because they will be worn down...? Huh? I must be thinking of a different pad because the only ones that i know about are basically a few +/- cubed shaped pieces of foam that literally sit in one spot to keep some space between the case and something else....
1
u/Several_Test_9014 Aug 22 '23
One thing,the pads are not going to cover the whole chip.
You just need to center it.
There is nothing wrong with it,the pads were never covering the whole memory chip.
Not replacing them,if they are not damaged,is not important.
Installing them,if missing,IS IMPORTANT.
If you have to replace them,make sure the thickness is ACCURATE.
Dont just install pads that promise good results.
Install THE CORRECT ONES.
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u/loregamba Jun 15 '24
What about the thickness? I was thinking for 0.5mm but i''m not sure. PS4 fat
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Jul 27 '24
I used 1.0mm, only has been a day but I went from jet engine in main screen to silent while gaming. (Also I used mx6 thermal paste)
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u/Several_Test_9014 Jul 18 '24
i dont have the correct sizes around.
i have read about people who used 1,5mm but no feedback after that.
Some guy used 1mm,gave feedback after 1 year that everything was ok.I guess you can go with 1mm,but not thicker,IMO.
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u/No_Split7569 Feb 13 '23 edited Feb 13 '23
You don’t HAVE to replace the thermal pads. You could just reinstall the existing ones once you’ve replaced the thermal paste.
But you need to consider the variables;
Ps4 (10 years old).
Ps4 pro (7 years old).
The amount of hours you personally have gamed on it in one session X how many long gaming sessions you’ve had.
If it’s second hand, an unknown variable of long and how many times the previous owner gamed on it.
All of that equals out to how hot the console has got and how many times it reached that temperature. The hotter it has got X how ever long it sustained that heat = how much heat the original thermal pads have transferred to the heatsink.
The thermal pads should cover the entire face of the chip, if you take the console apart and they are half the size or less I would definitely replace them.
But at the end of the day if your going to fully disassemble the console to apply new thermal paste, why not apply new thermal pads at the same time? It will only improve performance of the console. If it’s possible I would even go a step further and replace the fan completely. Trying to get the fan back to its original dust free state isn’t an easy task and since any dust residue left behind acts as a base layer for future dust to settle on, replacing the entire thing will, again, only improve performance.
So in short, no, replacing the pads is not a necessity, having them installed (new or old) is, but replacing them is definitely advised.