I had issues with the clamping force of the CPU and GPU on one of my old laptops, resulting in poor distribution and air pockets in the thermal interface material (thermal grease) and higher standby temperatures. With one of the thinner shims I was able to get better clamping and TIM distribution and immediately saw a 3 degree improvement in idle temp and a 5 degree improvement under high load. On the side that comes in contact with the processor chip, you need to apply a thin coat of TIM onβ¦