Thermal paste and cpu question.

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Dreadbeard

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Hey all, I just got a new cpu as it's my 19th today.
Whilst installing it I had an issue with thermal paste coming out the side of the cpu cooler/ cpu, and ended up going down the cpu slightly, I cleaned it up as best I could, but I think it may have touched the cpu's pcb.
Will this be ok?
 
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Karsten75

Karsten75

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You're probably best off to clean it off with special-purpose cleaner or alcohol. Also, while you're there, take the heatsink off, remove all the stuff you put on there and put way, way less. no more than a grain of rice and then spread it using a credit card edge over the surface ot the CPU chip.
 
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Dreadbeard

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I did clean it to the point I couldn't visually see any paste left on the side of here cpu/pcb
My method with the paste is a grain of rice / pea size amount then put the cooler on spreading it like that.
 
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someguynamedmatt

someguynamedmatt

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Just wipe it off with some Isopropyl alcohol and you'll be fine. People don't like me saying this, but I've literally thrown a box of processors down a flight of stairs and they still work just fine*, though that was in the days of the Pentium III... just give it a good cleaning and you're good to go.

I personally don't like to spread thermal paste, as it can potentially leave air pockets, but that's just a personal opinion type of thing that I can't really argue. If I were in your position, I'd just repeat the process with a bit less and see how it goes. If you're not sure if you used enough, power it on and see what HWMonitor (or your software of choice) tells you.

*Your mileage may vary. I would not recommend doing this for any reason. :heink:
 
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Karsten75

Karsten75

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if it was mine, I'd have cleaned it with special-purpose solvent or alcohol.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010

But then, I have it, so it would not be a big deal for me. I worry a teensy little bit about electric conductivity and I can't recall if some of these thermal pastes are electrically conductive and how thin a layer is conductive. Maybe someone else will pop around and make both more informed. :)
 
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Karsten75

Karsten75

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Ha ha that's funny. I would throuw a box of 'em down the stairs as well, but not when they are individually mounted on a motherboard with a cooling fan on. :)

 
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someguynamedmatt

someguynamedmatt

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Yep, I've heard claims of Arctic Silver 5 being a tiny bit conductive, but I've never had any problems with it myself... that's not saying it isn't possible, but I guess that's why it's called an opinion. Take mine for what it's worth. I tend not to stress about things, maybe a little less than I should.

Hah, aside from a few bent pins on a 100Mhz first-generation Pentium, they all came out of it just fine, if not a bit shaken up. I did tip a half-filled full-tower case over onto a motherboard once a while back, I think it was a Pentium IV... let's just say that the socket stayed with the heatsink and not the board itself. I'm not making myself out to be the best person to ask for advice, am I? Oh well... what's a mistake if you can't laugh at it in the future. :)
 
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Dreadbeard

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Everything booted fine, no issue. I'm using corer temp to check my temps and I'm getting 41c with this new cpu.
It's an amd fx-8320.
I'm also using arctic silver 5 thermal paste with a cooler massager hyper 212 evo.
 
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Dreadbeard

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Well, I have done the clean up again using my arcticlean stuff, made a rats ass of it though, ended up with more down the side of the cpu but managed to clean it off a much as I possibly could, I also ended up with my arcticlean down the sides of it, but it dried up. I'm a little bit concerned that I may have touched one of the feet at well with thermal grease on my hands.
 
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