Replacing Thermal Paste - Remove CPU from socket?
Tags:
-
CPUs
-
Cooler Master
- Thermal Compound
- Socket
Last response: in CPUs
boomer2point0
May 1, 2011 1:42:46 AM
I've been using a CoolerMaster heatsing on my i7-820 for more than a year now. When I moved my pc this weekend the heatsink came loose and it appears the thermal paste on the contacts has outlived its usefulness (its dry, and my assumption is that when the seal is broken its not of much use anymore).
Been reading up on cleaning thermal paste and re-applying. But I'm curious as to whether I should physically remove my cpu from the socket? If I do this, should I have to format or anything or will everything just boot up as per normal?
Been reading up on cleaning thermal paste and re-applying. But I'm curious as to whether I should physically remove my cpu from the socket? If I do this, should I have to format or anything or will everything just boot up as per normal?
More about : replacing thermal paste remove cpu socket
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Best solution
king smp said:
+1by not removing the cpu it reduces chance of pins or socket being damaged
or having something conductive falling in socket for example Artic Silver 5 silver paste
Yes, you don't need to, but I would. I would apply it well it was in the motherboard though. Just to make sure it was clean I would take it out.
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boomer2point0
May 1, 2011 11:53:18 AM
a4rocks
May 1, 2011 3:59:00 PM
+1 to all the above. It depends on what you are personally comfortable with. I never liked removing the CPU because the one time I took it out, the pins totally scared me as one clumsy move and you might end up with a dead mobo which may as well go into the garbage.
My recent heatsink clean and application involved not removing the CPU but carefully wiping off the previous thermal paste with the CPU in socket. Do remember to use a reasonable amount of alcohol when cleaning. Too much and some of it might just seep into the CPU socket.
My recent heatsink clean and application involved not removing the CPU but carefully wiping off the previous thermal paste with the CPU in socket. Do remember to use a reasonable amount of alcohol when cleaning. Too much and some of it might just seep into the CPU socket.
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HostileDonut said:
Who is Gretzky? You use terms I don't even know...
I am now very sad.Dont be sad young one
Wayne Gretzky is one of the greatest if no THE greatest hockey players of all time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky
if you are famiiar with NBA
he is the Michael Jordan of Hockey
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Wayne Gretzky FTW. I'm personally a Jagr fan, but oh well... ehem...
I see what you're saying, Hostile, and yes, you lessen the chance of damage by being careful. By not taking it out at all, though, there are zero chances of damaging a pin at all, which I feel is enough to counter the fact that you might not get every last micron of compound out of a corner somewhere. Just my $0.02.
I see what you're saying, Hostile, and yes, you lessen the chance of damage by being careful. By not taking it out at all, though, there are zero chances of damaging a pin at all, which I feel is enough to counter the fact that you might not get every last micron of compound out of a corner somewhere. Just my $0.02.
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someguynamedmatt said:
Wayne Gretzky FTW. I'm personally a Jagr fan, but oh well... ehem...I see what you're saying, Hostile, and yes, you lessen the chance of damage by being careful. By not taking it out at all, though, there are zero chances of damaging a pin at all, which I feel is enough to counter the fact that you might not get every last micron of compound out of a corner somewhere. Just my $0.02.
Yeah, either way is fine, I would just take it out. I trust myself.
What does my 2 cents mean?
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someguynamedmatt said:
Just a saying a few people use. Basically, it's "Just my opinion". Personally, I'd actually do the same thing as you - I trust myself enough to be able to do the job properly. Some other people, though... not so much.
Heh!!!
I have swapped many CPUs
but for example I refurbed a S478 tower for my
wife as a browser/email maching
so I popped off the HSF and cleaned the heat spreader
instead of taking out CPU
If anybody remembers the horrors of the P4 Socket 478 cpu pin days
you DO NOT want to remove it if you dont have to LOL
You guys that started off with LGA775 (Land Grid Array style pads)
dont know how easy you have it
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I've only had to clean old compound off one time- on a CPU that was a couple of years old. The compound wiped off pretty well just with a rag, then I used a rag moistened with alcohol to get the rest of it off. If the compound was harder or had dried more, it might have taken more effort and removing the cpu from the socket might have been helpful.
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Refurbishing 101
1) find a good deal on off lease or office upgrade towers and buy as a lot
2) blow out tower with canned air and then use a diagnostic tool (Hirens Boot Cd, Memtest86 etc) and check
hard drive SMART status,memory erros,motherboard,optical read/write etc
3) if it passes all tests then install fresh legal OS (use existing COA on tower)
4) once OS is installed then clone the drive if all computers are the same model
and image the rest
5) run Prime95 with temp monitoring for at least an hour or more
to check stability
if you really want to be good then remove HSF and clean/apply fresh
paste WITHOUT REMOVING THE CPU LOL
then use Craigslist,consignment shops,flea markets etc to sell
towers for %100 profit
1) find a good deal on off lease or office upgrade towers and buy as a lot
2) blow out tower with canned air and then use a diagnostic tool (Hirens Boot Cd, Memtest86 etc) and check
hard drive SMART status,memory erros,motherboard,optical read/write etc
3) if it passes all tests then install fresh legal OS (use existing COA on tower)
4) once OS is installed then clone the drive if all computers are the same model
and image the rest
5) run Prime95 with temp monitoring for at least an hour or more
to check stability
if you really want to be good then remove HSF and clean/apply fresh
paste WITHOUT REMOVING THE CPU LOL
then use Craigslist,consignment shops,flea markets etc to sell
towers for %100 profit
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cadder said:
I've only had to clean old compound off one time- on a CPU that was a couple of years old. The compound wiped off pretty well just with a rag, then I used a rag moistened with alcohol to get the rest of it off. If the compound was harder or had dried more, it might have taken more effort and removing the cpu from the socket might have been helpful.I always like to run the computer for awhile then remove paste while still warm
taking it off a cpu that has been cold awhile is harder
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king smp said:
Refurbishing 1011) find a good deal on off lease or office upgrade towers and buy as a lot
2) blow out tower with canned air and then use a diagnostic tool (Hirens Boot Cd, Memtest86 etc) and check
hard drive SMART status,memory erros,motherboard,optical read/write etc
3) if it passes all tests then install fresh legal OS (use existing COA on tower)
4) once OS is installed then clone the drive if all computers are the same model
and image the rest
5) run Prime95 with temp monitoring for at least an hour or more
to check stability
if you really want to be good then remove HSF and clean/apply fresh
paste WITHOUT REMOVING THE CPU LOL
then use Craigslist,consignment shops,flea markets etc to sell
towers for %100 profit
What does cloning the drives mean? I looked it up on Wiki and didn't really get it. I am still learning, haha.
By the way, isn't it funny how we always get into some big conversation? I just thought it was kinda funny.
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You started it!
download Paragon Backup and Recovery (freeware-google it)
you can image a drive from the windows os but it is better to create a boot
cd
you would boot from the cd
using a Linuz kernel you can now
"clone" or "image" a drive
it is a sector by sector direct copy of your hard drive
including the Master Boot Record
that you put on a second hard drive or USB external (takes forever-I just did mine
today 70gb OS took about 4 hours)
then when your hard drive crashes or your OS is ruinded by viruses etc
you can just "clone" or "copy" your image to your C drive and
have your OS just the same as when you "cloned"
Pretty sweet
Instead of doing a complete reinstall which can sometimes take days
to do
you can have your OS back up complete with all your programs,files,settings etc
in just a few hours
download Paragon Backup and Recovery (freeware-google it)
you can image a drive from the windows os but it is better to create a boot
cd
you would boot from the cd
using a Linuz kernel you can now
"clone" or "image" a drive
it is a sector by sector direct copy of your hard drive
including the Master Boot Record
that you put on a second hard drive or USB external (takes forever-I just did mine
today 70gb OS took about 4 hours)
then when your hard drive crashes or your OS is ruinded by viruses etc
you can just "clone" or "copy" your image to your C drive and
have your OS just the same as when you "cloned"
Pretty sweet
Instead of doing a complete reinstall which can sometimes take days
to do
you can have your OS back up complete with all your programs,files,settings etc
in just a few hours
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Nope
a complete sector by sector copy of your hard drive= image
backedup to another hard drive (my Win7 complete OS boot drive is about 70gb)
then you just copy from the external hard drive back on to your primary hard drive (C)
a jump drive wouldnt work usually since you need 20gb or more of storage
in raid 1 each drive has half of the data and used together as one drive
this is an exact copy or clone of your hard drive that can be copied back
onto another drive and then you just boot into it and it is your complete OS
Win ? Ultimate = an OS you can never find your files on?
a complete sector by sector copy of your hard drive= image
backedup to another hard drive (my Win7 complete OS boot drive is about 70gb)
then you just copy from the external hard drive back on to your primary hard drive (C)
a jump drive wouldnt work usually since you need 20gb or more of storage
in raid 1 each drive has half of the data and used together as one drive
this is an exact copy or clone of your hard drive that can be copied back
onto another drive and then you just boot into it and it is your complete OS
Win ? Ultimate = an OS you can never find your files on?
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Yes
though to boot you would want to copy to another internal sata model
Of course you can make boot drives out of USB drives even thumb drives
Linuz boots nice off of a thumb drive
very handy for diagnostics
but that is a subject for another time
Cloning is good for backup
IF my OS crashes due to virus or file error
I can just copy my image back to C drive
and have my OS back the same
also good if you are upgrading to a larger drive
and want to keep your OS the same
also in the IT world when they have a large amount of the same
model computer to put an OS on
they can copy the same image to 10,20 or more at one time
over the network so they dont have to do a complete installation on
every one
You just have to enter the product key for each tower unless you
have a VLK (volume license key -same key can be used for many computers-cost a small fortune)
cloning or imaging is a basic tool you need to learn to work on computers
remember paragon backup is free and safe
though to boot you would want to copy to another internal sata model
Of course you can make boot drives out of USB drives even thumb drives
Linuz boots nice off of a thumb drive
very handy for diagnostics
but that is a subject for another time
Cloning is good for backup
IF my OS crashes due to virus or file error
I can just copy my image back to C drive
and have my OS back the same
also good if you are upgrading to a larger drive
and want to keep your OS the same
also in the IT world when they have a large amount of the same
model computer to put an OS on
they can copy the same image to 10,20 or more at one time
over the network so they dont have to do a complete installation on
every one
You just have to enter the product key for each tower unless you
have a VLK (volume license key -same key can be used for many computers-cost a small fortune)
cloning or imaging is a basic tool you need to learn to work on computers
remember paragon backup is free and safe
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Yes, I noticed you changed them. I like your quote! That is hilarious!
LOVE IT! Also, your picture is funny. My dad feels like that sometimes. He worked at Microsoft, and didn't like it after a while. (12 years) He now works at Ultimate Software. When he helps he with my computer, sometimes, I know he feels like the computer is punching him in the face. I have seen many people have issues with there computer and get mad and say, "PCs are stupid! They never work!" but, that is just because they don't have a clue how to use them. ID-10-T error! Haha.
Hey, did you ever get the new PSP for your daughter and mod her old one? Just wondering, I thought it would be pretty cool if you did. I need to learn how to code too and be able to mod and stuff like that.
LOVE IT! Also, your picture is funny. My dad feels like that sometimes. He worked at Microsoft, and didn't like it after a while. (12 years) He now works at Ultimate Software. When he helps he with my computer, sometimes, I know he feels like the computer is punching him in the face. I have seen many people have issues with there computer and get mad and say, "PCs are stupid! They never work!" but, that is just because they don't have a clue how to use them. ID-10-T error! Haha. Hey, did you ever get the new PSP for your daughter and mod her old one? Just wondering, I thought it would be pretty cool if you did. I need to learn how to code too and be able to mod and stuff like that.
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actually got her a PSP 3000 ( i hate the PSP GO)
Now when the Sony NGP (PSP3)comes out
and gets cheap enough
I will use her PSP
modding is really flashing the firmware (BIOS in a way) of the
unit
I dont recommend it if you cant afford to replace it
It is similar to flashing a bios on a video card
I wouldnt recommend you doing it on anything you
have since Dad could get mad
Really though I did some more digging on modding
the PSP and it really only helps with bootleg games
so I am not going to do it
Bootleg games are more trouble than they are worth
Usually malware and rootkits
Now when the Sony NGP (PSP3)comes out
and gets cheap enough
I will use her PSP
modding is really flashing the firmware (BIOS in a way) of the
unit
I dont recommend it if you cant afford to replace it
It is similar to flashing a bios on a video card
I wouldnt recommend you doing it on anything you
have since Dad could get mad
Really though I did some more digging on modding
the PSP and it really only helps with bootleg games
so I am not going to do it
Bootleg games are more trouble than they are worth
Usually malware and rootkits
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Bootleg games are bad!
Dont worry about learning about them
Rootkit is in simple terms a deeply embedded virus in your OS
Trying to get them out is tough from within the OS
Running Sophos Rootkit Remover while in safe mode is ok
a rootkit remover that runs from live Linux Boot CD is better
Have you tried dual booting an OS?
for example running Windows with Ubuntu Linux?
so you have your choice at boot which OS you want
also another interesting safe and free program
is Oracle's Virtual Box Virtual machine
VMs are essentially other guest OSes that run from within a shell
inside the Host or Primary OS
so for example you can have Windows XP running from within Windows 7 sharing
resources
you can designate how many cores the guest OS uses plus hard drive size and memory used
handy for trying new OSes especially Linux distros and also
a safe way to browse the internet since most viruses can only attack the Guest OS
and not escape to the Host OS
Remember Bing (I prefer Google) is your best friend for learning about computers
Also wikipedia is great for studying computers though do remember to check what sources are being used since Wikipedia is a open project
Dont worry about learning about them
Rootkit is in simple terms a deeply embedded virus in your OS
Trying to get them out is tough from within the OS
Running Sophos Rootkit Remover while in safe mode is ok
a rootkit remover that runs from live Linux Boot CD is better
Have you tried dual booting an OS?
for example running Windows with Ubuntu Linux?
so you have your choice at boot which OS you want
also another interesting safe and free program
is Oracle's Virtual Box Virtual machine
VMs are essentially other guest OSes that run from within a shell
inside the Host or Primary OS
so for example you can have Windows XP running from within Windows 7 sharing
resources
you can designate how many cores the guest OS uses plus hard drive size and memory used
handy for trying new OSes especially Linux distros and also
a safe way to browse the internet since most viruses can only attack the Guest OS
and not escape to the Host OS
Remember Bing (I prefer Google) is your best friend for learning about computers
Also wikipedia is great for studying computers though do remember to check what sources are being used since Wikipedia is a open project
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HostileDonut said:
Yes, I noticed you changed them. I like your quote! That is hilarious!
LOVE IT! Also, your picture is funny. My dad feels like that sometimes. He worked at Microsoft, and didn't like it after a while. (12 years) He now works at Ultimate Software. When he helps he with my computer, sometimes, I know he feels like the computer is punching him in the face. I have seen many people have issues with there computer and get mad and say, "PCs are stupid! They never work!" but, that is just because they don't have a clue how to use them. ID-10-T error! Haha. Hey, did you ever get the new PSP for your daughter and mod her old one? Just wondering, I thought it would be pretty cool if you did. I need to learn how to code too and be able to mod and stuff like that.
I cant take any credit at all for that quote
that is an old IT joke from so long ago I dont think anybody knows who invented it
I like that picture because when I am doing phone consultation and using remote desktop with one
of my customers I sometimes daydream of Virtual Reality Punch program to use
Dont get me wrong
I appreciate the people that need help
but sometimes they can frustrate you
I actually had somebody ask "What does the PWR button do?
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king smp said:
I cant take any credit at all for that quotethat is an old IT joke from so long ago I dont think anybody knows who invented it
I like that picture because when I am doing phone consultation and using remote desktop with one
of my customers I sometimes daydream of Virtual Reality Punch program to use
Dont get me wrong
I appreciate the people that need help
but sometimes they can frustrate you
I actually had somebody ask "What does the PWR button do?
Power, Word, Retard! That is what PWR stands for.
Yeah, I use Bing and Wiki, but I also like getting in-depth things from you guys. I can actually talk back and get the answer I am looking for.
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