Wait... Did I put too much thermal paste on?

.Max.

.Max.

.Max.

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So I haven turned it on yet but I've assembled my PC pretty much today, and reading the motherboard manual it simply said apply thermal paste on to the CPU (I have an i7 2600k) and it didn't say how much so I just put the whole tube on that came with my TX3 , but I just read somewhere I was only meant to put on about a 5mm blob :eek:Is this true? Could I have damaged something? Should I rub it off? :p thanks :)
 
wow the whole tube? you only need enough to cover the processor really...a small pea size should be enough otherwise it will all just squeeze out the side when you clamp the heatsink down :)

imo you should clean it all off and do it properly, i guess the reason is that if thermal paste is all around the processor and out the sides then it isn't going to get cooled properly and it'll keep loads of heat in - giving you higher temps which isn't really good for it,
 
Haha yes, a whole tube :p thought it was a bit much haha :) I'll wipe it off and order some more paste :p lol, thanks haha ;) Oh and it shouldntve damaged it? Should it? :D
 
Shouldnt have damaged it at stock clocks. And besides the cpu will auto throttle itself down when it starts roasting.

Have fun cleaning the gooooo :P
 
You basically want to put a little line, just shy of the length of a grain of rice, diagonally in the center of the die. When you seat your processor it will spread the thermal paste for you with the pressure applied in fitting it.

Another way of doing it is to apply a little pea sized grain to the centre of the processor and use the edge of a clean credit card to smear it evenly over the surface of the processor.

Which ever way you choose to do it, is entirely down to personal preference. Just not the whole tube :P
 
One thing a few folks don't understand at first is that the best possible heatsink to CPU transfer is metal to metal. You don't actually need the thermal paste in a perfect world.

The thermal paste however makes up for the flaws in both surfaces on a microscopic level creating connection when there isn't any, instead of just tiny air pockets or mini-chasms/bulges.

Take your CPU off the board very carefully - don't get any foreign material in the CPU socket pins or the underside of the CPU or you could potentially damage your motherboard/CPU. That is the only thing that matters in the 'damage stakes'.

Good luck... !
 
Remember that because the TX3 is a direct contact heatpipe cooler the standard single small blob on the middle of the cpu method is not the best. The grooves between the heat pipe and the rest of the base prevent the TIM from spreading effectively.

Have a look at this when you come to reseat the TX3.
 
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