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Will my cpu be ok?

Bradguin121

Bradguin121

Bradguin121

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Joined
17 Nov 2011
Posts
335
Just finished my 1st pc build, but im worried about starting it up. Mainly because i think i may have applied the thermal paste wrong! basically i put a blob in the centre of the cpu and put my cooler on top thinking it would spread over the cpu but a friend of mine said that was a bad move and to clean the thermal paste of and start again and this time get an old card like my old student card for example put thermal paste on it and apply it on to teh cpu that way

is it ok the way i did it? or do i really have to go out and buy some alcohol cleaning stuff to get rid of the old thermal paste and do it my friends way?
 
just use some kitchen towel paper and wipe it off,keep wiping till its all gone and re apply,a tinyblob about a bb gun ammo size and spread really thinly all over cpu base,so that you just cover the metal surface and then put cooler on
 
You way is fine, works better with the runnier pastes though.

If you look on youtube there are some great videos showing paste under glass plates so you can see how well it spreads out.

EDIT: I really don't like the spreading method as it is easier to get bubbles in the paste and apply more paste than needed.
 
Yeah, as above you will be fine. Depends on the paste, but I prefer just putting a small amount on and letting it spread. So no need to worry. If you are worried use a program like realtemp, coretemp or HWmonitor to check your CPUs temperatures.
 
Ther seems to be a few views on how to apply thermalpaste but most suggest to do the method you already applied ( same method I'm going to use when my parts arrive for my first build) and thats just to put a blon in the middle and let it set when you apply the cooler.
 
i prefer spreading it myself,that way your 100% sure its evenly applied all over cpu base,but each to there own,aslong as core temps are lowto mid 30's idle and no more than 70-80c depending on cpu typw then i wouldnt worry even if it was applied by a trowel
 
A tiny half grain of rice sized blob in the middle and then let the pressure of the heatsink spread it for you is definitely the best way to go. Too much is not good. That said, it is pretty much impossible to damage your cpu this way as if it gets too hot it will just get throttled or shut down.
 
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In the instructions for the Corsair A50, it tells you to put a pea size blob in the middle of the chip then just put the cooler on, it's spreads it's self out :)

AL
 
if the cooler has a smooth polished base then you're perfectly fine using the pressure of the cooler to spread it.

to be honest i've used both methods and there really isn't much difference in them
 
no disrespect but your friend is talking balls, the method you used is perfectly acceptable for applying thermal paste. so many people waste their time 'spreading' the stuff with cards, gloves or whatever other method, you'll not notice the difference, tiny difference at best.

with the Liquid Metal Pro material I use (very runny!) putting a small blob of the stuff in the middle of the heat spreader on my 8120 (looks like Mercury!), got pretty much perfect coverage when applying the cooler, doesn't make a bit of difference if there is some areas at the very edges of the heat spreader not covered since that isn't where the actual processor is, all thermal interface material is for is to ensure there is contact with the cooler, filling in small defects and concave surfaces, ideally the less the better. :)
 
I have done both methods several times and found no difference at all ,your just more likely to make a mess trying to spread it and can cause tiny air pockets. I use a tiny blob and let the heatsink spread it .
 
when i didnt apply thermal paste properly the cpu was perfectly fine when idle, only too hot when put under load, as long as you always do a quick stress test b4 running anything, i think its pretty hard to kill a cpu by not applying paste properly. i had it running on my first build while it was overheating, and it just shut itself down when it got too hot in the middle of gta iv lol. still the cpu is running fine to this day!
 
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