Another thermal paste/heatsink question.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.soyo (More info?)

Barton Brown <bbrown95@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<Tq2dnZmgxc47ML_cRVn-tQ@comcast.com>...

Yes, you should clear off all the old material and replace it with the
new thermal paste and also us it in a light coat. You don't want it to
thick because it will just be squeezed out and gum up area's that
didn't need it.

> In my struggle to get my Thermaltake CPU heatsink/fan unit carefully
> placed atop my Athlon XP2800+, while wrestling with those damned clips,
> I had to take the heatsink/fan off, disassemble the fan from the
> heatsink, re-orient the clip, reassemble the whole schlematzl, and then
> I discovered that I had displaced a tiny area of the thermal-transfer
> square pad attached to the bottom of the copper core of the heatsink
> where it mates to the CPU. It was a VERY small area, but in my
> anal-retentive way, I though belt-and-braces overkill would be the best
> insurance, so I filled in the area with a small dollop of typical
> RatShack silicone/aluminoid thermal-transfer paste.
>
> I haven't fired it up, but now I'm thinking that I read somewhere of
> someone else buggering it up the same way, and they were admonished to
> thoroughly clean ALL the original thermal transfer naterial square
> applied to the mating area of the heatsink, cleaning the whole thing
> with alcohol, then apply a high-quality thermal transfer paste, the
> reasoning being that the material supplied in the neat little square
> patch from Thermaltake is not necessarily the same, nor necessarily
> compatible with, the usual old squeeze-tube silicone-based thermal paste
> known and loved by generations of electronics builders.
>
> Because I'm one of those Murphy's Law True Believers, I'd like to hear
> some opinions on this subject. If I can fry this processor in
> nanoseconds without proper heat transfer, as has been stated in this
> forum and others, I'd MUCH rather not.
>
> thanks again!
>
> Bart Brown