Re-Applying Thermal Paste. Does this look good?

The__Malteser · 2 Mar 2014 at 13:55

Hi. So I removed my cooler to check my thermal paste, and unsurprisingly, it was bad. Only half the CPU was in contact with the block.

I removed it with surgical spirit and microfibre cloth (the one you use to clean specs, as that is what I found on google) and it turns out like this.

The CPU looks quite clear and clean, but the block still has a grey coating on it, although very thin. (I was using Arctic Silver, hence the grey colour).

Is this right? I thought it had to be 'all' off.

Finners · 2 Mar 2014 at 14:01

Although the first pic is blurry that looks like way to much paste, who fitted that?

Will be worth fitting it and removing it again with paste to make sure contact is better this time, know its a pain but if it's not sitting right there is a problem.

The grey mark on the copper is normal, copper tarnishes and gets stained.

The__Malteser · 2 Mar 2014 at 14:22

Finners said:
Although the first pic is blurry that looks like way to much paste, who fitted that?

Will be worth fitting it and removing it again with paste to make sure contact is better this time, know its a pain but if it's not sitting right there is a problem.

The grey mark on the copper is normal, copper tarnishes and gets stained.

I fitted it, but I doubt I secured it well. I read up the Arctic Silver manual, and I didn't have to spread it, but do a vertical line.

I know how to fit it now, just checking if I cleaned it well

Steampunk · 2 Mar 2014 at 15:05

Several of the companies are now telling you not to remove the heatsink once you've applied the paste, as you introduce air-bubbles when you put it back down. Basically, you have to clean and re-apply if you take the heatsink off.

It does seem in the original picture that there is a lot of paste, but it's not seating evenly, hence the lopsided contact.

Rroff · 2 Mar 2014 at 15:25

Not to say its the correct thing to do but I've always used a microfibre cloth with brasso (has to be brasso as most other metal polishes will leave a residue that inhibits cooling performance) then cleaned it off with surgical spirits or similiar. Always given me a clean surface and the cooling performance I would expect.

I'm guessing either the ISH is concave or the heatsink doesn't have a completely flat surface which is a bit of a pain as without lapping its gonna be hard to get the best out of them.

setter · 2 Mar 2014 at 15:29

Liquid pro/ultra leave a very distinct residue when cleaned off. The only way to totally shift it is by using a metal polish or lapping. But the residue itself doesnt effect the next paste application as ive used it several times now on different chips.

smilertoo · 2 Mar 2014 at 16:00

If the heatsink wasn't fitted wrong then either the heatsink or the cpu should be returned as faulty, given the ton of paste in the original picture it should be impossible for only half of it to be touching.

The__Malteser · 2 Mar 2014 at 17:41

Thanks guys. I might have not tightened the heat sink well enough, as I was cautious (read a lot not to apply excessive pressure.

Yeah, as you can see, I removed it and I am re-applying it. Everything seems fine then.

Thanks

EDIT: If someone saw what was here, ignore it.

The__Malteser · 2 Mar 2014 at 20:03

Ok, so I re assambled the system, as shown in this picture.

Case fans and fan 1 getting cold air to inside, and fan 2,3,4 extracting air OUTSIDE of the case.

Here are my problems.

1. When I assembled the system, it turned off after 2 seconds. I tried again, it went off after 5 seconds. I tried again, and it powered on. So I let it on for about a minute, turned it off and on again. Seems to work fine.

I am worried though that when I apply load, the system will once again turn off. What should I do?

2. Fan 3 is not spinning. I have no idea why. It is connected to the motherboard. It starts spinning for a bit then stops. It take small spins, but that can be because fan 2 is extracting air, so it moves a bit.

Can it be set to 0 RPM from the BIOS? As I doubt that Windows would have booted when it stops.

Thanks for any replies.

Tom B · 2 Mar 2014 at 20:45

It depends what motherboard header you've connected it to and how the bios is set up. The chassis fans will often have a temperature:rpm scale measured from air temperature inside the case, although 0rpm seems odd even if the temperature is very low.

What is the idle CPU temperature reported in the bios? Does fan 3 work if you plug it into a differnt header? E.g. swap the CPU fan and chasis fan headers to determine if it's an issue with the fan or of the motherboard is not sending it any power.

As an aside, I'd make the bottom case fan that's over the GPU an intake fan, that way cool air will get pushed onto the GPU and then as it heats up and rises get removed by the higher fan and Fan 4.

You may be better off having both side fans blowing air into the case, but you'll need trial/error to see if that's better or worse.

The__Malteser · 2 Mar 2014 at 20:50

No luck getting fan 3 to spin. I tried BIOS and Windows, and it should be working. Unplugged it now.

CPU temp is very high, around 50 in the BIOS, and 30/40 on idle in windows. I think there might be some air bubbles. I'll have to remove it and re apply it. Gonna be a ball ache as everything is clustered....

FML I need a new case.

I'll just wait till tomorrow. Honestly CBA atm.

smilertoo · 3 Mar 2014 at 10:58

Strange case, i've never seen one with a fan exhaust above the optical bays.

The__Malteser · 3 Mar 2014 at 11:35

smilertoo said:
Strange case, i've never seen one with a fan exhaust above the optical bays.

Didn't fit. Had to mod it myself. The case is tiny

The__Malteser · 4 Mar 2014 at 15:56

So last time I put a line along the middle of the CPU and the results weren't too great. I removed it, and I was greeted with this.

It looks like a footprint

Still to little contact yes?

I think I need to tighten it more. I don't know. I looks tight to me. I take it to the limit without actually over tightening it. I don't know how much more I can force it. I tried a lot of fan combinations, but none seem to change much.

What should I do? Tighten more?

Here are the instructions I mention:http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

BriT · 4 Mar 2014 at 16:15

Use clingfilm and use your finger to spread it?

kefan77 · 4 Mar 2014 at 16:22

how much paste are you putting on every time?

grain of rice is enough.

The__Malteser · 4 Mar 2014 at 17:00

BriT said:
Use clingfilm and use your finger to spread it?

kefan77 said:
how much paste are you putting on every time?

grain of rice is enough.

Hi Guys.

- The guide explicitly says DO NOT SPREAD IT. I had spread it the first time.

- I am putting a vertical line. Exactly, this much

Happy to say, PROBLEM SOLVED!

I re-did the paste the third time, 2nd time to day, and it seems great. I'm not sure what exactly did it, as I did a quite a few different things.

- When I put the block on, I pressed down (not too tight) and moved it around a bit. Spread the line a bit :cool:

- Tightened it up as much as I did other times btw.

- I made sure that I absolutely do not tough the block and the CPU after cleaning. I even tried not to breathe directly on the motherboard, so no dust comes on it.

- Changed the orientation of the rad. The block is now wrong way down, but who cares. The reason I did it is because the piping was a bit too tight, it fit JUST. Now one of the pipes has a small bend at the start, but it doesn't look bad.

Temps used to sky rocket to 90 deg in Prime 95 after SECONDS. Now after over 10 minutes of prime, the max temps are 50-51-49-47. Quite a change.

First boot, one of the two CPU fans wasn't spinning. A reboot fixed it though. I'll look out (it's an MSI, which have quite a few problems atm).

Thermal paste problem seems fixed

Now to add my final fans, and set everything up

underworld00 · 4 Mar 2014 at 17:02

I apply a little dot in the middle and spread it with an old debit card or something similar. Apply a little bit extra and keep spreading til the entire surface is covered nice and thinly.

Davedree · 4 Mar 2014 at 17:07

The four studs that are threaded, are they all protruding at the same length. It seems that although you are tightening to the limit of the threads, it's still too high in relation to the ihs of the cpu. So you're possibly not getting the full clamping effect as you're limited by the threads.

Rroff · 4 Mar 2014 at 17:12

If you want to spread then get some Gelid Extreme - most other thermal pastes aren't really designed to be spread and doing so potentially won't efficently cover the geometry where the hottest bits are and/or leave air bubbles.

One problem with the line method - you really need to know the orientation of the cores under the IHS for it to work best - with some of the newer multicores I'm not sure its as efficient as it used to be with the old dual cores, might get better results with a well placed blob or blobs.

EDIT: One of the reasons I like Socket 2011 is due to the reinforced (built in) backplate and socket so its much easier to get a flush fit without risking damage or under/over tightening.