HP Pavilion dv7 Heat Sink Replacement

The model number of this particular laptop is DV7-4078ca - it features a first-generation i7 processor, has beats audio, and due to the placement of the vents, is susceptible to getting uncomfortably warm.

There are multiple hardware versions of the popular DV7 model, so depending on the specifics of yours, you may find small differences in location of screws, etc.

Start by flipping the laptop on its front cover. As you can see from mine, it's not difficult to scratch up the surface so I'd recommend putting a cloth or cupboard protector underneath

The first step is to remove the middle section housing the hard drive, wireless card, and ram

There are 5 anchored screws (they don't come all the way out) that need to be loosened

There is a small ridge just below the battery that helps in removing the cover. I used a spudger but if you don't have one, a small flathead screwdriver will work. Or a hard guitar pick.

Pry from the top - you'll notice small clips on the edges that hold it in place. They may require a little bit of force. Once you get to the bottom, just pull north as the clips on the bottom are larger.

Next we need to remove the hard drive, DVD drive and wireless card

There are 4 standard-sized screws holding the hard drive in its mount

The screw that is holding the DVD drive in the case is slightly smaller than the standard screw

There are two screws holding in the wireless card. Remove them and it will easily come out. Also remove the white and black antenna cables from the card

When the hard drive mount is removed, pull the hard drive cable away from the hard drive connectors. May take some wiggling.

Time to remove the majority of screws from the casing. Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, you may not need all of them. But for the sake of this guide, let's assume you do

On the outside of the bottom casing, we have 10 screws, all the same size

Inside the unit there are 4 normal screws

There are 2 black, large-headed screws inside the hard drive bay on the left

Underneath where the DVD drive used to be, remove the 3 exposed large-headed screws

Also remove the 3 large-headed screws from where the battery used to be

Slightly more difficult to see, there are 2 normal-sized screws in the battery bay

This is the KEYBOARD RELEASE switch which helps in the next step with popping the keyboard out. Make note of where it is.

After removing the screws securing the keyboard, you will need to flip the keyboard release switch to the left (in previous step). You should feel the release slightly make the switch less springy

There are still clips on the sides of the keyboard holding it in, so you may need a prying tool to remove the keyboard (eg. spudger, guitar pick). This shouldnt be too hard

Don't completely pull out the keyboard as there is a large ribbon cable connecting the keyboard to the case. To remove this, flip the black part of the motherboard connector UP. This will allow easy removal of the ribbon cable

Flip the computer so that it is now sitting on its base

There are 3 newly-exposed ribbon cables that need to be removed from the motherboard

Instead of flipping the black/blue part, flip the white part of these smaller connectors

Remove the 2 standard screws securing the casing pieces together

At this point, all of the screws holding the two halves of the case should be removed. Time to pry the bottom and top half of the case from each other

Once the back is separated, just use your hands to pry from the sides. Move towards the bottom. Once at the bottom, pull north and it should separate the top case from the bottom half

Finally - a full look at the motherboard! Some connectors left, but we're getting there

To start, remove the 2 screws at the bottom of the motherboard holding it in

Remove the snap connector that connects to the motherboard by pulling straight up on the tab

On the far right of the motherboard, there is a right-facing connector that runs to the wireless card. Wiggle the connector out, to the right.

We are almost done with the top of the motherboard - just slide the two opposite-colored connectors south. May need a little wiggle to convince them fully.

Start by putting your lifting tool between the casing and the bottom of the motherboard - you have to "lift" it off this peg to be able to move it further

Grab the far right side of the board and start lifting straight up about a "quarter-inch" - it will expose the bottom motherboard connections

Underneath the far right side of the motherboard, you'll see another slide connector - pull it to the right

I originally forgot to pull out the other end of the hard drive connector - to simplify matters, pull straight down from the motherboard using the pull tab

That's all that should be securing the motherboard - now to remove, slowly wiggle motherboard while pulling it right - the left-side accessory plugs need to clear the side of the case. Once they are far enough away, use your left hand to pull the left side of the motherboard up - eventually it should just freely pull off of the case.

I've flipped over the motherboard to expose the main components that I'll be working with - take note of specific locations that might be worth a close look:

Processor

Graphics card

Fan / Heat sink assembly

If you plan on removing the fan/heat sink, just keep in mind that there is still a power connection for the fan to remove - pull straight up.

Since you've come this far, no matter what your reason is for taking your laptop apart, I highly recommend a thorough fan cleaning which actually requires disassembly of the fan

There are 4 small screws holding the top of the fan cover on - Don't be surprised if they are very tight. Just hold the other side of the fan with your other hand so you don't put too much pressure on the motherboard itself.

Once these 4 screws are removed, you'll be able to remove the top plate. Your work isn't done - you'll also notice that there's a piece of glued foam between the heat sink grille and the fan. Remove it as best you can, or simply cut it off (won't drastically affect results)

You should now be able to pull the grill away from the fan - you'll probably notice a thick rope of dust sandwiched inside the two - do your best to remove all of it

Since cooling is such an issue with this notebook, if you take the heat sink off of the processor and the graphics card, use fresh thermal paste and remove the old thermal paste on the two parts. It's that greyish residue on the chips. It's not unreasonably expensive and it can really help with cooling issues

You may want to look at a separate guide for applying and removing thermal paste, it's not entirely complicated but you don't want to make a mess of your work and need to redo it later

Hopefully once you put it all back together, your DV7 provides you with years of valuable service. Just remember not to over-tighten screws so that if you have to do it again, there's still enough thread to pull them out again!