Spreading Thermal Grease

[AWACS 12]

HelloYour Idle temps are good but that is not really important and is also influenced by the ambient temps in your room.What is more relevant is the temps under load, and here a really thin layer of paste is the better option.That is why all of the paste manufacturers and just about anyone who does this regularly will advise that less is more when it comes to applying TIM.The paste should really only be applied to take up the microscopic surface imperfections in the interface between the CPU heat spreader and the base of the Cooler.A thick layer once it cures is potentially worse in transferring heat from the CPU to cooler.Still it could be that you are right and everyone else has this wrong, the paste manufacturers will be pleased that's for sure.

I'm pretty sure everyone else is wrong. But in all seriousness, what should I do at this point? Should I take my cooler off and try to get some paste off, and if so, what should I use to that, just a simple paper towel or what? Also, when I spread the thermal paste on initially I made a thin layer and wiped the excess of with my fingers, so it's not real thick. And BTW, it wasn't easy getting that stuff off my fingers.

[JSkorna 137]

Run FS for an hour and then report your CPU temp.

[Glynn 405]

I'm pretty sure everyone else is wrong. But in all seriousness, what should I do at this point? Should I take my cooler off and try to get some paste off, and if so, what should I use to that, just a simple paper towel or what? Also, when I spread the thermal paste on initially I made a thin layer and wiped the excess of with my fingers, so it's not real thick. And BTW, it wasn't easy getting that stuff off my fingers.

HelloIf your temps are good then just leave it as it is,its fine Most of the excess will have squeezed out when the CPU first came up to temperature after being applied.This is where problems can start though, with high silver content pastes which can be capacitive running into the CPU socket.

[JSkorna 137]

Its non-conductive.

[AWACS 12]

Run FS for an hour and then report your CPU temp.

I often switch out of FS during a flight just to check the temps, and everytime I do, my temps are around 55-65, but I will take a closer look at them after running it for an hour.Also, I'm going to open my case and take a careful look at the bottom of the cooler to make sure no thermal paste has leaked out around the sides of the socket.Thanks all.

[Glynn 405]

Its non-conductive.

HelloJim with all due respect, how do you know what paste AWACs is using?Silicone based , Silver based, Gallium based?Silver based thermal pastes are slightly conductive and capacitive and as such are not what you want bridging the pins on your CPU.Gallium thermal compounds are by their very nature electrically conductive and not a great thing to have spilling over into your socket.

[JSkorna 137]

Post #5.

[AWACS 12]

I used the paste that came with my Cooler Master cooler.

[cmeeks 8]

Jeff, your temps seem fine, but I would remove the cooler and clean that mess up regardless. No need to spread the paste. Just put on a little dot about the size of a grain of rice and then mount the cooler. Spreading the paste tends to cause air pockets that only serve to hinder heat transfer.

[Kosta 122]

55-65c temps are quite high for your overclock. I think you should be looking at 55c max with 4.5, as you are probably doing somewhere around 1.35V, like everyone else.To compare: I am running (watercooling though but nevertheless) 5.0 with 1.52V and I get 65c when FSXing. I get up to 78c when doing Linx or Prime95, but that's not same as FSX, it loads way less.With a time, paste hardens and is going to cause an opposite effect.I would clean the mess around the CPU (best use the tip of the plastic card - CC for example), strafe with the card over the cooler (not the CPU), judge yourself if there is still too much on the cooler - it should be just so much that when you put the cooler on, you can softly move it around, but not swim. The paste must NOT be pushed on the sides when you mount the cooler - then it's too much. I usually swipe with the card above the CPU, producing a very thin even layer. Basically so much paste that you just can't see the surface of CPU, but JUST SO MUCH.In some video they have shown how a thin layer produces little air bubbles... yeah, I know... and some say a rice point is better.To each his own, I am sure both work fine.I usually put a thin layer, slide the cooler couple of times left-right, up-down, circular motion, all about 2-3mm movements, I am sure I get all the bubbles out.I wouldn't get good temps with such high OC though. Idle 33 btw.

[AWACS 12]

55-65c temps are quite high for your overclock. I think you should be looking at 55c max with 4.5, as you are probably doing somewhere around 1.35V, like everyone else.To compare: I am running (watercooling though but nevertheless) 5.0 with 1.52V and I get 65c when FSXing. I get up to 78c when doing Linx or Prime95, but that's not same as FSX, it loads way less.With a time, paste hardens and is going to cause an opposite effect.I would clean the mess around the CPU (best use the tip of the plastic card - CC for example), strafe with the card over the cooler (not the CPU), judge yourself if there is still too much on the cooler - it should be just so much that when you put the cooler on, you can softly move it around, but not swim. The paste must NOT be pushed on the sides when you mount the cooler - then it's too much. I usually swipe with the card above the CPU, producing a very thin even layer. Basically so much paste that you just can't see the surface of CPU, but JUST SO MUCH.In some video they have shown how a thin layer produces little air bubbles... yeah, I know... and some say a rice point is better.To each his own, I am sure both work fine.I usually put a thin layer, slide the cooler couple of times left-right, up-down, circular motion, all about 2-3mm movements, I am sure I get all the bubbles out.I wouldn't get good temps with such high OC though. Idle 33 btw.

Yeah, I actually just learned my lesson with my friends computer that I sold him. I globbed the stuff on there and he was getting 80ish degree temps, so I took the fan off cleaned it up with a paper towel and sure enough, it decreased his temps by 30 degrees. I think I'm going to clean my now, but I have to pull the whole motherboard out to get the cooler off unfortunately. Thanks for all the help folks. As an after thought though, when placing my cooler I tightened the cooler so hard to the chip that I'm almost sure I would have pressed out any air bubbles, but again, I'm going to check it out.

[Kosta 122]

Yeah, I actually just learned my lesson with my friends computer that I sold him. I globbed the stuff on there and he was getting 80ish degree temps, so I took the fan off cleaned it up with a paper towel and sure enough, it decreased his temps by 30 degrees. I think I'm going to clean my now, but I have to pull the whole motherboard out to get the cooler off unfortunately. Thanks for all the help folks. As an after thought though, when placing my cooler I tightened the cooler so hard to the chip that I'm almost sure I would have pressed out any air bubbles, but again, I'm going to check it out.

Err, don't tighten too much, you might be damaging the board. I don't know what your coolermaster has, but my watercoolerblock has screws which are mounted with a spring. So even if screw it really hard the pressure is controlled by the springs (I hope you have a backplate for that also). You should be moving it around prior to that, because I think that takes care of the most bubbles. Must be doing something right on myside since my temps are OK