Can my heatsink be reused if it wasn't actually used?

[kolsky]

Hello,
I made the mistake not reading the reviews for the GIGABYTE GA-770T-USB3 AM3 motherboard because it does not support the phenom x6 right out of the box and I have no way to flash the bios. I also made the mistake installing the CPU and Heatsink to this motherboard. I am returning the motherboard back to Newegg and getting the GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H. I was wondering if I can just install the AMD cpu to the new motherboard with the heatsink that was originally attached to it and not change its thermal pad? It was never actually used because I only got as far as placing the heatsink on top of the cpu.

 

[4745454b]

You can, but its not recommended. Once the paste/pad has made contact, its done. Separating it will require you to apply new TIM. Best idea would be to clean the CPU and sink, and then apply the new paste. Its not that expensive, you should be able to find some TX2 or 3 or arctic silver 5 or some other such grease for ~$10 on newegg.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Look at the charts and pick one of the top 3 or 4 TIM's

http://www.hwreviewlabs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64%3Amega-44-thermal-paste-round-up&catid=32%3Around-ups&Itemid=47&limitstart=3
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermal-interface-roundup_10.html#sect1
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=3