Too little thermal grease on 955be?

[edgaraslt]

I've removed heatsink from my 955be,and noticed that it could be that I've put too little of it before I have installed the heatsink.
So is it too little or not?






Second question, which paste could be better stock scythe paste which has come with scythe katana3 cooler or this one http://megapchardware.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36&products_id=2912 ?

Thank you very much

 

[acer0169]

Pastes that come with your coolers will normally be fine to use, but if you're after a little more cooling something like MX-2 or Arctic Silver 5 is what most use. MX-4 is the latest in the 'MX' range which is a bit better than MX-2, but it's normally more expensive and doesn't warrant the price difference.

It does look like you're putting a little too less on as the whole surface should be connected through paste. Some people put a pea size drop of paste in the middle and let it spread as you tighten the cooler down, others spread the paste first - but personally I do them both. Put some paste on your CPU and spread it as thin as you can, but make sure that all of your CPU is covered. Then what I do is put four little blobs of paste on the CPU, about half way between the centre and the corners.

This way you know that your whole CPU should have contact with the cooler with paste in between, but if their are any gaps the extra blobs you've put on with spread out and fill them.

This is just my way - others will have their own method and claim it's the best I'm sure.

Just remember - too little paste is an issue, but you've got to put A LOT of paste on a cooler to have too much. Think of how many times you've opened a pre-built machine that has LOADS of paste on the CPU, or if you've ever opened a GPU - it's covered in the stuff.

It makes maybe 1-2C difference to have too much paste, but it can melt your CPU to have too little.

Keep that in mind .

 

[edgaraslt]

Well I've reapplied thermal grease, and put little bit more.

Temps dropped ~1-2c on heavy load.

Before it was 56-58 (60c before cooler starts run fast), now it's 55-57 (59c before cooler starts to run fast). I'm using prime95 blend for testing @ 3.4ghz

But I've noticed,that CM htk-002 is a WHITE grease, and stock scythe paste is SILVER. So does it make any difference of performance?

Which is better?
Isn't my temps still a bit high?

Also which temps should I watch? Because on full load cpu temps are about 53-55c. core temps are 55-57c

 

[acer0169]

Your temps are still a bit high yes.

The white paste is cheapo paste - the silver stuff is much better. If you're thinking of buying some, I suggest you get MX-2 (or MX-4 if you can get it at a good price) as they're very good and better than the silver stuff.

CPU temps are generally more important than your core temps, but watch them both.

 

[edgaraslt]

But some ppl has even lower temps with stock coolers fitted in worse cases.
I still can't find what's the problem with my cpu. :/

 

[edgaraslt]

Well both blend and that one which generates maximum heat on prime95 at start goes to 61c and then hangs at 57-59.

But after playing games like mafia2 and coretemp shows that maximum temperature what have been reached while playing game is well... 61c....

 

[edgaraslt]

These are my latest temps after adding 12cm intake fan on side.


Top right corner is room temp. As you see cpu is on full load.

Which temps should I watch? Could it be improved?

 

[kajabla]

Delta-T can always be improved, but those temperatures are OK. Nothing's gonna break; you're doing fine.

 

[acer0169]

Yeah I agree.. the temps are okay but could still be improved.

Does your CPU cooler feel hot to the touch? If a cooler is doing it's job properly it should be warm to the touch, not hot nor cold. The only time it should be cold is when the cooler is larger than needed for the CPU.

 

[edgaraslt]

But from this picture. For example if someone asks me what are temps of your cpu under heavy load. What should I say 55 , 57 or 58?