Possible problem with new air cooler - still usable?

jellofund · 31 Dec 2015 at 11:54

Hi,

Received a few parts this morning for a build I was planning to start tomorrow, including a Be Quiet! air cooler.

I unboxed the cooler today for a quick look to see what I was working with. It has a thin layer of thermal paste pre-applied but when I removed the cooler from the box it was clear that the plastic cover that should protect the paste wasn't attached and the past was slightly smudged. Turns out the cover was sitting loose at the bottom of the box and appears to have split slightly.

I had hoped to avoid mucking around with paste as I've never applied it before or installed a cooler (on a non K processor I figure temps won't be a huge issue anyhow).

However, as I have some tim cleaner and Thermal Grizzly paste here I thought I might give it a bash rather than return it and wait 'til next week for a replacement.

In preparation I cleaned off the existing paste and applied some cleaner. Wiped things off (using the lint free wipes that came with the cleaner) but notice a few very fine swirls / marks on the base plate. Not sure if this has happened as a result of the cover coming loose or if that's normal?

Now I know that you want to avoid air bubbles getting trapped when applying paste but if I apply some (pea method seems easiest?) would it fill any surface imperfections okay? As a novice to this I'm just a bit concerned about charging on and doing some lasting damage.

Some slight bends to a couple of the metal cooler fins too but they've straightened out okay so don't see that as a problem.

Thanks in advance for any input

SirJinks · 31 Dec 2015 at 12:03

The swirls on the baseplate might be some scratches it has picked up but are more likely to be from the machining / manufacturing process of the cooler itself. Bubbles won't be a problem so no need to worry, either pea / line / cross methods of applying paste will serve you fine.

jellofund · 31 Dec 2015 at 12:20

Ah, that's good news thanks for the reassurance!

Most of the swirls are quite round in nature so seem like they'd be more consistent with manufacture rather than random knocks.

Thermal Grizzly recommend applying a fine layer of paste to the whole face of the cpu but I suspect applying a fine layer, but not too fine, might be a bit ambitious for a first attempt working with this stuff.

I think one of the methods you mentioned would be a safer bet. I've read enough to know not to be too generous with the stuff though

Will keep an eye on temps. I'm guessing that something around 50-60 degrees under load (I5-4570 non-K) would be safe?

Borealis · 31 Dec 2015 at 13:12

I use the pea/rice grain method and have had no problems. The paste will naturally spread and fill surface imperfections.

SirJinks is right. Unless they're deep, the round swirls will be from the machining/grinding of the baseplate. Some of the cheaper coolers have a rougher base - my 212 Evo is definitely rougher than my Noctua D14 for example. The D14 does have swirls in the nickel plating from where it's been ground/polished.

Temperature wise, you're definitely safe up to 70C at load, but I'd expect 50-60C with your non-K CPU. My 4670K @ 4.2GHz never went above 65C with a 212 Evo.

jellofund · 31 Dec 2015 at 13:46

Thanks for the reply Borealis.

The marks really are more like fine feathering so aren't deep at all. More cosmetic in nature so don't think it'll take much to fill them.

Appreciate the input on temps. The cpu I plan on using is being transplanted from a SFF HP business desktop (stock cpu cooler and 1 very small exhaust fan) so I've been able to take a few readings. It idles in the mid 20's and after a few passes of Cinebench R15 it'll hit a max of 64C, so that gives me a yardstick. Hoping the new cooler and case will bring that down a bit further though so 50-60C sounds achievable.

Thanks again to both you and SirJinks for putting my mind at ease. Hopefully get it built tomorrow