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Only mention the plastic film (usually stuck to the shiny, polished bit that contacts the CPU) as many of us have done exactly that- it's very easy to miss.
Help Picking Fans / Paste
- Thread starter Spacedeck
- Start date
See photos I've taken. Just removed radiator again to check
http://imgur.com/a/E63865K
Not enough paste?
http://imgur.com/a/E63865K
Not enough paste?
Associate
Hmm. Well it's not plastic film on the heatsink anyway...
Hard to see how thick that layer of paste is from the photo, but I'd say it might actually be too much.
Clean it all off, then dollop a small pea-sized amount slap-bang in the middle of the CPU. Don't spead it yourself- use the action of screwing the cooler down to do that for you. Alternate turns on the tightening screws- one turn on one, then one turn on the next, and so on, so it goes down evenly.
Aside from that, and making sure the fan works properly, I'm not sure what to suggest...
Hard to see how thick that layer of paste is from the photo, but I'd say it might actually be too much.
Clean it all off, then dollop a small pea-sized amount slap-bang in the middle of the CPU. Don't spead it yourself- use the action of screwing the cooler down to do that for you. Alternate turns on the tightening screws- one turn on one, then one turn on the next, and so on, so it goes down evenly.
Aside from that, and making sure the fan works properly, I'm not sure what to suggest...
Associate
Another thought- is the mounting bracket (the bit you have to attach to the mobo before mounting the cooler) attached correctly? Some come with washers, and if these are put in the wrong place, it could literally hold your cooler half a mm or so too high. Might be worth checking what you've done agrees with the instructions...
Soldato
Are you sure the heatsink base is touching the CPU? Hard to tell if there's thermal paste on both surfaces. Doesn't look right. The paste should be runny or sticky.
@DoneADougalOnSofa so I removed the paste and did a small blob as you suggested. So far it's good news, Prime 26.6 now running and currently hit max 81c. Now I'll just put sides back on and leave it running for a hour or so.
Fingers crossed all is now well, will update you later. Thank you.
Fingers crossed all is now well, will update you later. Thank you.
Well this was somewhat thick to spread. The instructions say to spread with the provided plastic spatula. Or in a cross shape however as posted above. Just done it with a single blob.
What DoneADougalOnSofa said. In fact past doesn't even have to cover the entire CPU IHS, only a round circle just reaching the middle edges on IHS square. Circle in a square. 
CPU chips are only a small part of IHS area. IHS area is not to spread heat, but to spread cooler / waterblock load area to outer edges of CPU PCB and equalize pressure so the PCB does not distort and damage the 1000+ contacts between CPU and motherboard. 
CPU chips are only a small part of IHS area. IHS area is not to spread heat, but to spread cooler / waterblock load area to outer edges of CPU PCB and equalize pressure so the PCB does not distort and damage the 1000+ contacts between CPU and motherboard. 
81c is still a wee bit too high for a performance cooler. i'd hazard a guess that something isn't quite fitting right tbh (or your overclock/voltages are the issue).
but if it completes an hour of prime torture, then one could be tempted to leave it alone.
but if it completes an hour of prime torture, then one could be tempted to leave it alone.
So after running for 1 hour 45 minutes, temps hit a max of 82c but generally was around 78/79c. CPU-Z displays Core Speed as 4398.97 and Core Voltage at 1.154V. Temps idling around 30c.
So could fans improve this further? Or am I looking at CPU cooler which doesn't really fit?
Which I guess leads back to my first post, could it also be the stock fans that are an issue?
Soldato
That heatsink is making terrible contact with the CPU, ideally there should be TIM on both surfaces after it has been mounted and pulled back off showing good contact between both. Very odd.
the core volts and speed look ok.
i suggest taking off the heatsink again and seeing if (and how much of) the thermal paste is now smudged on the cooler.
if it doesn't cover (most of) the whole base, then something's mounted not quite right. in which case, take it all off and reassemble...
Wouldn't that mean I need to reapply the paste yet again?
unfortunately so.
but for that cooler, should be seeing somewhere nearer to 65-70c.
if you're okay with 80c then by all means leave it. 80c is nowhere near the max operating temperature for the cpu anyway.
but on the flip-side, if the cooler is not mounted properly, it may possibly cause issues in the future? it is, after all a ~1kg lump of metal
@tamzzy I get you. Stay posted, going to have another look at it and post pictures.
@Spacedeck not teaching you to suck eggs...this is a video of the brocken 3 installation instructions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_RwEU1vBHg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_RwEU1vBHg
@tamzzy see new images http://imgur.com/a/IG9EyWa
The only difference between me and that video is he seems to put on a larger amount of paste. Could it be I didn't use enough?