Rubber on the heatsink

gong75

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Jan 6, 2001
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I heard numerous suggestions saying that removing the rubber at the bottom of the heatsink will help lower temp. Initially I didn't do that. Although the HSF(FOP32) is already doing a good job with the rubber on (8c more than system temp.), I still decided to give it a try. I scratched off the rubber and applied thermal paste. After remounting the HSF, instead of lowering the cpu temp, it increased by 2-3c. Now I hope I hadn't done that...
 

gregorarch

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Dec 31, 2007
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Rubber? What rubber? If you mean a sticky square of pink goo, it's a thermal pad and renowned for not being very good.

If you're getting worse temps now then you've probably not made a very good job of applying the thermal compound - it takes a little practice to get it just right. First off, make sure that your contact surfaces are completely clean - use alcohol and a lint-free wipe. Avoid touching the cleaned surfaces. Apply a very small amount of compound to the core and spread it out with a razor - you're looking for a VERY thin, even film.

If the contact surface on the heatsink is poorly machined, it might be worth polishing it up first.