Hardware at risk (maybe or not) problem. Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54

Sumanth said:

You don't need to be too worried, you can put it back in where it belongs, the thermal conductivity of these pads are quite low. They serve as a leveler for the whole cooling system rather than being a medium to transfer heat.
So, if you can put it back, its going to be fine.
A new thermal pad might be too thin or to thick even if you get the size right. It's most probably 0.5mm thick.
But as the one you are holding have been under pressure for quite sometime, it has deformed and adjusted to the level of the heat sink with the dies.
Using a new one might require you to put additional pressure on the screws and thus uneven pressure resulting in bad contact.
Either replace everything, or dont.
Your hardware will not be at any risk right now, but it could be down the line where the cooling system might ever so slightly bend in the place this used to exist.
If you no longer have it, you can instead use thermal paste in its place as well (electrically non - conductive only ofc).

Sumanth said:

MH00017 said:

Sumanth said:

You don't need to be too worried, you can put it back in where it belongs, the thermal conductivity of these pads are quite low. They serve as a leveler for the whole cooling system rather than being a medium to transfer heat.
So, if you can put it back, its going to be fine.
A new thermal pad might be too thin or to thick even if you get the size right. It's most probably 0.5mm thick.
But as the one you are holding have been under pressure for quite sometime, it has deformed and adjusted to the level of the heat sink with the dies.
Using a new one might require you to put additional pressure on the screws and thus uneven pressure resulting in bad contact.
Either replace everything, or dont.
Your hardware will not be at any risk right now, but it could be down the line where the cooling system might ever so slightly bend in the place this used to exist.
If you no longer have it, you can instead use thermal paste in its place as well (electrically non - conductive only ofc).

Can I use my device one year without it? I really don't want to tear it down again right now.

You could, but i can't guarantee you that.
You can instead try to gently push it in from the side if possible, or fill the space with other thermal interface face material if possible.
I understand that it's quite a task and thermal compound isn't that cheap to replace and redo all over again either, but, you'll have to decide if you'd like to run it for now (although i wouldn't recommend not dealing with it for an year).
Try to atleast squeeze something from the side atleast.
Better safe than sorry!