Applying new thermal paste

[SuperDuperMe]

Hi, all, my girlfriend has an old laptop, (acer advent 5421) as of the past year it has been overheating and going completly off. I suspect its the processors doing and as such have come to the conclusion that the thermal paste needs reapplying

(if any one has nay other ideas as to why please let me know because im a bit of anoob and have come to that conclusion thorugh trawling online, but we all now how reliable the internet is)

As such if it is the thermal paste that need reapplying, where can i buy it from and does any have a step by step guide on how to do it?

EDIT: as of temps, core 1 is 63 on idle and core 2 is 61 on idle, its an Intel Celeron Dual Core T1500 cpu

 

[cracker2]

I have onley tried one thermal paste.Majority recommended arctic silver 5.I am very happy with the results.It made my T2330 run 10*c cooler.If you don't want to spend extra on the cleaners,just get a bottle of 90% or higher rubbing alcohol.Works just as good imo.All I used was about the size of a grain of rice,maybe more but very little.I put some on the gpu also.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm
Go through this to find method they recommend for your cpu.Im not well experianced on applying thermal on various cpus.But most are the same process.Clean them till they shine and have no old thermal on them.Place small amount in the center,& fasten the heatsink and fan down.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/methods.html

 

[tremmor]

you can buy at Radio Shack. Some stores have it and some don't.
Maybe BestBuy if in the states or local computer store. Here they say
apply a rice grain and take it straight down. Not a smear.

 

[linkin]

Yep, arctic silver or any paste will work fine, as long as it's not generic silicon stuff. That will dry out and you'll have to do it again.

Isopropyl alcohol works well, arcti clean works better for the thick pastes.