Re: Applied Thermal Paste but need Help!

[a4rocks]

Hey people,
I just applied thermal paste to my CPU. I hope I have done it correctly. I cleaned my stock Intel LGA 775 heatsink fan a few days ago but didn't clean the heatsink from the old thermal paste.

I am now writing this immediately after applying the thermal paste and am getting around 1-2 degrees Celsius lesser than the previous situation where at idle, temperatures were wandering around 50-57 degrees Celsius (before it was 41-43) and with load, it was around 80-90 degrees (before it was 60-65). I know I should wait a bit longer but what is the reasonable time period I should wait before I see temperatures returning to normal? Also, will temperatures start looking good after a few PC shutdown-start cycles?

I have used a Cooler Master HTK-002 thermal paste and my PC specs are-

Mobo: ASUS P5KPL AM/PS Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.8GHz
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 667 MHz
Graphics Card: Zotac GeForce GT 240
450W PSU

 

[majin ssj eric]

You must clean off all of the old thermal paste from both the HSF and the cpu before applying new paste. If you left any of the old paste that would explain your temp increase and it will not go down....

 

[Ubrales]

Your CPU temps do seem high. Re-install the heatsink after a thorough cleaning of the CPU heat spreader as well as the base of the heatsink. Polishing the base of the heatsink will help obtain lower temps. Leave the CPU alone.

Use alocohol swabs to carefully clean the old thermal compound off the CPU. It is best to take the CPU out, hold it upside down such that the heat spreader is down, and then use the alcohol swabs in an upward fashion. This will ensure that no alcohol gets inside the CPU.

Here is some info on thermal compounds: http://www.rtwincustomize.net/web/index.php?/topic/6930-80-thermal-pastes-tested/

 

[a4rocks]

Thanks for your replies. After trying a bit, just realised my stupid heatsink fan was causing all the problems. The LGA 775 mounting system is pretty bad and after a bit of rotating the positions and all, it is now idling at 41 and at load around 60.

Ubrales, is it good to take the CPU out of its socket? I did clean the top surface of it quite carefully using a lint-free cloth making sure it doesn't get out from the sides and do damage to the CPU itself. I read on the internet that taking the CPU regularly out of its sockets can damage the pins.

For the polishing, since India is a stupid country, I will have to get the silicon carbide 1200 grits above sand paper from the US on eBay the next time I am removing the heatsink.

 

[Ubrales]

Thanks for your replies. After trying a bit, just realised my stupid heatsink fan was causing all the problems. The LGA 775 mounting system is pretty bad and after a bit of rotating the positions and all, it is now idling at 41 and at load around 60.

Ubrales, is it good to take the CPU out of its socket? I did clean the top surface of it quite carefully using a lint-free cloth making sure it doesn't get out from the sides and do damage to the CPU itself. I read on the internet that taking the CPU regularly out of its sockets can damage the pins.

For the polishing, since India is a stupid country, I will have to get the silicon carbide 1200 grits above sand paper from the US on eBay the next time I am removing the heatsink.

Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy buddy! India is the largest democracy; the largest free country in the world! The US is the 2nd. largest free country. Some of the best brains in the US hail from India.

Did you know that a lot of Silicon Carbide (wet or dry) is manufactured in India? It is available in India. Go to an industrial supply house, not your local hardware store.

Regarding taking the CPU out; no, it is not good to disassemble anything as a general rule. If you can manage to clean the old thermal compound off the CPU without taking it out, great.

BTW, idling around 40 C and under load around 60 C is great. And, if you are in India now, the ambient temps should be around 30 C, unless you are privileged and have air conditioning.

I looked at your website under your sig. Cool!

 

[jednx01]

When applying thermal paste, always make sure you get all of it off before you apply new paste. After taking off the old paste, clean the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the cpu with a small amount of high concentration isopropyl alcohol. (not too much. Just enough to make a cloth damp). After that, put the thermal paste onto the cpu. You can either spread it with a razer blade (which is what I usually do) or let the pressure of the heatsink spread it out. I personally have always had better results with the razer method, but I have also had good results with just putting a drop of thermal paste in the center of the cpu and then letting the pressure spread it out.

 

[a4rocks]

Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy buddy! India is the largest democracy; the largest free country in the world! The US is the 2nd. largest free country. Some of the best brains in the US hail from India.

Did you know that a lot of Silicon Carbide (wet or dry) is manufactured in India? It is available in India. Go to an industrial supply house, not your local hardware store.

Regarding taking the CPU out; no, it is not good to disassemble anything as a general rule. If you can manage to clean the old thermal compound off the CPU without taking it out, great.

BTW, idling around 40 C and under load around 60 C is great. And, if you are in India now, the ambient temps should be around 30 C, unless you are privileged and have air conditioning.

I looked at your website under your sig. Cool!

Ha Ha, sure it is. Unfortunately being in West Bengal (Kolkata), I think therein lies the problem, there's nothing around lazy people. Do you have a few addresses of such industrial houses? It would be amazing to have them. I do know the stats but things are so much easier in the States. Go to hardware store in neighbourhood, job done! Go to eBay and Amazon, job done! I love the way they work, but hey, I love my country.

Yeah I know the temps are great especially with the stock Intel cooler. On an average, it is 35 degrees and soon it will be touching around 40-45 degrees in a few weeks. And yep, am not privileged at all with the AC part. Parents want me to live under harsh conditions.

Thanks for looking at the website and commending it. It truly is an amazing one.

 

[a4rocks]

When applying thermal paste, always make sure you get all of it off before you apply new paste. After taking off the old paste, clean the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the cpu with a small amount of high concentration isopropyl alcohol. (not too much. Just enough to make a cloth damp). After that, put the thermal paste onto the cpu. You can either spread it with a razer blade (which is what I usually do) or let the pressure of the heatsink spread it out. I personally have always had better results with the razer method, but I have also had good results with just putting a drop of thermal paste in the center of the cpu and then letting the pressure spread it out.

I made do with a 70% ethyl alcohol solution. Did wonders for me though. And I personally didn't like the razer blade technique. There's just too much room for air bubbles to get it. But I guess practice makes one perfect and since you are good with it, it's doing wonders for you. Thanks for the heads-on though. Cheers.

 

[Ubrales]

Do you have a few addresses of such industrial houses?

And yep, am not privileged at all with the AC part. Parents want me to live under harsh conditions.

Thanks for looking at the website and commending it. It truly is an amazing one.

Here are some places: http://kolkata.justdial.com/sandpaper-dealers_.html

Ask for abrasive paper, sandpaper, emery paper, silicon carbide paper. Someone in Kolkota will recognize one of these names.

And, as for you "living under harsh conditions" builds up character! (US expression).

 

[cadder]

I've read this "clean it ALL off" stuff but I don't know what the reason is. We're talking heat transfer, not medical surgery. In thermodynamics, every material that heat goes through can add its own amount of resistance. A very thin layer of old heat sink compound will add a very small amount of resistance. I'm not sure if cleaning with alcohol vs. cleaning with a piece of dry cloth can even be measured.

The idea behind polishing and lapping of these components is to get the metal of one closer to the metal of the other. The less heatsink compound in there the better. But again I think this will be very hard for the average person to see the difference.

In my case I've purchased good coolers, put the compound on with a fingertip, overclocked the #%&&%^ out of it, and gotten low temps. If I ever think I need the temps to be 1/10 degree less, I'll consider some polishing.

 

[Ubrales]

My recommendations on cleaning off the old thermal compound and polishing the heat sink base is for better heat transfer based on Thermodynamics! The Heat Transfer portion of Thermodynamics!

For better heat transfer, clean off the old stuff, and polish the heatsink base!

 

[king smp]

Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy buddy! India is the largest democracy; the largest free country in the world! The US is the 2nd. largest free country. Some of the best brains in the US hail from India.

Did you know that a lot of Silicon Carbide (wet or dry) is manufactured in India? It is available in India. Go to an industrial supply house, not your local hardware store.

Regarding taking the CPU out; no, it is not good to disassemble anything as a general rule. If you can manage to clean the old thermal compound off the CPU without taking it out, great.

BTW, idling around 40 C and under load around 60 C is great. And, if you are in India now, the ambient temps should be around 30 C, unless you are privileged and have air conditioning.

I looked at your website under your sig. Cool!

Please help an ignorant American understand something
I have seen many people from India on this website with good high end systems
So I dont understand what the big deal about air conditioning is
Why do you need to be privileged to have a window air conditioner (about $150 USD)
but not privileged to have a I7 system (about $1000+)?

Is the prices for air conditioners that bad in India?

 

[kinth]

you should see the temperature difference immediatly i believe.

i cleaned my 9800gt yesterday because it kept overheating re applied new thermal paste to it cleaned all of the old thermal paste off and instantly saw a drop by 20c

while i doubt yours will be as dramatic(9800's are known for runnign hot and my was long overdue for new paste) the temps should atleast be normal or lower once the new paste is on.

make sure you dont apply too much a small blob in the middle will do. you dont need to cover the whole cpu.

 

[Ubrales]

Please help an ignorant American understand something
I have seen many people from India on this website with good high end systems
So I dont understand what the big deal about air conditioning is
Why do you need to be privileged to have a window air conditioner (about $150 USD)
but not privileged to have a I7 system (about $1000+)?

Is the prices for air conditioners that bad in India?

Unlike in Western countries that have cold climates, India is a tropical country. Most homes/condos/apartments have doors and windows (sometimes steel grills) that are usually left open. Central air is almost unheard of. What some middle class or rich folks do is to have a window unit on one or two rooms. Take a guess as to who gets these rooms! No homes have basements. Buildings in India, especially older buildings, are not conducive to air conditioning. That is why many can afford high end computers and cars, but these same people have difficulty in installing A/C units. Some do; not all. The prices of the units are fine; not too expensive. As the OP stated, ambient temps there are around 35 degs C, and they are bracing for 40 to 45 degs C. No lawn mowers either. That is normal life there. To compensate, we have our tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, freezing rain, snow storms, etc. here.

The home that I grew up in India has 5 doors on the first level, and several windows on the first and second levels. All doors are always open; and all windows are usually open except during storms when some of them must be closed.

By comparison, the home that I now live in Chicago has one front door and one back door; always closed air-tight (sealed). Windows on both levels are always closed; except once in a while to let in some fresh air just to feel what fresh air feels like! The basement serves as a mini junk yard, and a tornado shelter maybe once in ten years.

Hope you watched yesterday's (4-10-2011) episode of "The Amazing Race" which was filmed in Varanasi, India. If you missed it, you may be able to watch it on Hulu or something like that. It will freak you out! Flight Time and Big Easy did well!

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/ Watch episode 7

 

[king smp]

Wow maybe opening a ac and lawn service would be a good business in India?

So Mom and Dad have the window unit and son/daughter with computer
are sitting in 35c (100f) heat

same here in USA just not as extreme LOL

we have the window units in living room and bedroom
but house is sealed tight like you said typically in US

but my computer room doesnt have AC so I understand

I hope I wasnt being insulting but I couldnt understand
how a country that is at the level of a World Power status
doesnt have AC as a standard

As an American I regard India as a beautiful "nice friendly"
country
I mean the Taj Mahal is AMAZING

also 90 percent of Indian immigrants I meet are very nice,intelligent
and treat my country better than many others that live here

Thank you for explaining this to me

BTW going from India to Chicage must have been mind blowing

I mean Chicago is too freakin cold for me and I grew up in New Jersey LOL

 

[Ubrales]

Make sure you watch episode 7 of the Amazing Race. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/

This was the place I visited last year and freaked me out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGbLDrwo4Mk&feature=related

Also, google "Kutna Hora"

 

[a4rocks]

I hope I wasnt being insulting but I couldnt understand
how a country that is at the level of a World Power status
doesnt have AC as a standard

Hey not a problem at all. See, there is a thing, not many are cool with the fact of having an AC here. Yes, it does do one a whole load of good but some Indians take it to be as a way to go for extreme comfort=no work. And especially parents, they don't want you to get the bite of the luxury and want you to struggle in life to become something good. And then there's the total cost of ownership which is quite high thanks to the electricity bills, though it's just what the earlier generation thinks, very calculative on such stuff.

The next gen of people (myself included) have a different mindset of thinking and don't mind spending more just for the comfort and peace. An example for that - My PC mechanic tells me that even a Rs. 450 (USD $10) PSU (450W, unreliable brand) is the best option a PC and I can have. Yes, and he is supposed to be a computer expert. However, I did ignore his advice totally, bought myself a new Corsair CX430 ($50) off of eBay and enjoyed that my PC is now in safe and nice hands.

 

[king smp]

Make sure you watch episode 7 of the Amazing Race. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/

This was the place I visited last year and freaked me out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGbLDrwo4Mk&feature=related

Also, google "Kutna Hora"

I will check it out during slow time

I added this post to favorites bar to save the links

Thank you

 

[king smp]

Hey not a problem at all. See, there is a thing, not many are cool with the fact of having an AC here. Yes, it does do one a whole load of good but some Indians take it to be as a way to go for extreme comfort=no work. And especially parents, they don't want you to get the bite of the luxury and want you to struggle in life to become something good. And then there's the total cost of ownership which is quite high thanks to the electricity bills, though it's just what the earlier generation thinks, very calculative on such stuff.

The next gen of people (myself included) have a different mindset of thinking and don't mind spending more just for the comfort and peace. An example for that - My PC mechanic tells me that even a Rs. 450 (USD $10) PSU (450W, unreliable brand) is the best option a PC and I can have. Yes, and he is supposed to be a computer expert. However, I did ignore his advice totally, bought myself a new Corsair CX430 ($50) off of eBay and enjoyed that my PC is now in safe and nice hands.

that helps me understand

as I have gotten older the "Old Ways" are turning out most of the time
to be the "Best Ways"

true sometimes older way of thinking has to move forward (especially concerning PSUs LOL) but there is alot of wisdom in the past
generations regarding ways to live your life

Us younger folk forget that

 

[a4rocks]

that helps me understand

as I have gotten older the "Old Ways" are turning out most of the time
to be the "Best Ways"

true sometimes older way of thinking has to move forward (especially concerning PSUs LOL) but there is alot of wisdom in the past
generations regarding ways to live your life

Us younger folk forget that

+1, won't disagree one bit. The reason we are still alive is thanks to our predecessors. Though sometimes, you do have to adapt with changing times and scenarios.

 

[king smp]

Very true

I find that in my culture alot of the old cliche sayings you grow up
for example "a penny saved is a penny earned"
hold very true
it is a balance of adapting to a changing world while
at the same time holding on to traditions and ways
of our ancestors that do still apply

we who forget our past mistakes are doomed to repeat them

to paraphrase a famous quote