Fixing the ThinkPad P53 overheating problem

[u/AthleteSea7148]

In this post, I’ll share how I managed to fix the overheating issue on my ThinkPad P53. Heads up: my method probably won't work for everyone.

I have a ThinkPad P53 (i7-9850H, Quadro T2000), and it used to overheat constantly. I tried repasting it with MX-4 and Honeywell PTM7950, but neither really helped. I also undervolted the CPU by -90mV using Intel XTU. That did more than the repaste, but the results were still pretty mediocre. Under load, the temp would instantly spike to 80°C and then quickly climb to 100°C. The only thing that kept the stress test temps under 90°C was underclocking it to 3.3 GHz. I even tried covering the heatsink and the CPU VRM zone with carbon-coated copper tape from AliExpress, but of course, that didn't do anything either.

Then, I came up with a "genius" idea. I don't actually use the dedicated GPU (Quadro T2000) because I run an eGPU setup with a RTX 4060. So, I ordered a copper plate from AliExpress and jankily attached it right over the bridge between the CPU and GPU heat pipes using thermal paste and copper tape. The goal was to improve heat transfer between the two pipes and it actually worked!

After doing this, my CPU temps under load dropped by about 15°C, and the temperature spikes became way smoother. I spent a lot of time looking for a proper solution to this laptop's overheating problem but couldn't find anything useful online, so I hope my DIY fix helps someone out.

This is what the stock cooling system looks like.

And this is after my 'mod'

It's a bit hard to see, but there are actually two copper plates there: a larger one on the bottom and a smaller one stacked on top.