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Thermal compound problems...

A

AcidicRage

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Messages
346
I think I may have messed up on something. I bought some arctic alumina thermal compound and I pasted it onto the CPU, but I THINK my stock HSF already came with it (it had a greyish patch under the bottom of the HSF)... now with thermal compound + already-on the HSF = a no-no, right? How do I remove it...?
 
Can you have both thermal paste solutions? So then I don't have to remove it? Otherwise, I'm just gonna return the parts and not build the computer. Too much hassle otherwise.
 
wo wo wo now, dont be hasty. Its not THAT big a deal that would require an RMA. Have you already installed the HS to the mobo? if you did just check the running temps, its usually not recommended that you have two different compounds working together, so i would recommend removing and starting over with some AS5. Cleaner isn't that expensive, and im sure there are some other methods people around here have used, just wait a bit
 
well yea, but you want to be careful where you get that stuff, especially on the skin. I guess you can try just wiping it off, but try to get as much off as possible, maybe even use some sand paper to grind off the rest.
 
Well... the compound I'm using isn't AS5, however. It is the Arctic Alumina... but the AS5 may be on the stock HSF (I dunno if they use it)... Is it better to remove both and reapply or remove one? Oh well, I think I am just gonna sell the parts or return it..
 
so the two compounds are already mixed? if so remove both and reapply, if not remove from the cpu and leave the stuff on the HSF, since it was preinstalled it most likely has the right amount of AS5 on it already
 
OK, I have questions in regards to thermal paste:

- Do most CPU / HS / Fan (i.e. the retail AMD Athlon64 chips) already come with thermal compound on the HS? Is it a safe assumption to just use whats there, install and go?

- What is it about the paste that you can't have contact on your skin?
 
Everclear (if you're old enought to buy it) makes the best electronics part cleaner. From a few old school EE's in the family it will clean the surface off and not leave a thin film like rubbing alchohol will. Works well on thermal greases with q-tips and a little time.

Some of the paste probably has toxic, read, bad for you, stuff in it. I'm guessing on that one. Most cpu heatsinks i've seen had the thermal compound already on them. You can use it without a problem, but it needs to be replaced if you ever pull it off. Another thing with touching it is your finger prints could make air pockets, very bad, and the oil on your fingers could reduce the efficiency of heat transfer, also bad.
 
Well, the good news is I managed to remove both applications of the thermal paste from the HS and CPU. The HS was easy as I just took a clean rag and wiped it off without any other needed solutions (ie.. alcohol/nail polish)... the cpu was much harder as it was smaller and rough. Does anyone know if scratching the bottom of the stock Heatsink (that comes with the CPU) is okay? I mean, I know the rag I used wasn't 100% smooth, and when I tried rubbing the thermal paste off, I may y'know have scratched a tiny tiny there and here on the bottom of the huge heatsink... I guess thats okay, right? Or does it need a perfectly smooth surface?
 
It needs to be flat where it contacts the cpu. With the naked cores of Athlons it just needs to be flat in the centre. With an Athlon64, it ought to be flat all over, but if its only a small graze, it can be polished out with really fine sand paper (available at auto stores) quickly or slot it back in and measure the temps.

JSClark, yes the A64 retail chips come with a heatsink that does have a coating of TIM. I don't know how good it is compared to AS5, but I considered the application of it so good, so even, that any benefit of using better TIM would be lost to the superior application that AMD had done. Cools my 3K+ Winchester extremely well. Excellent OCs out of it: 250x9 straight off the bat the other evening flawlessly (though that probably has more to do with the Ballistix and DDR Booster).

A64 OEM chips do not come with hsfs at all.
 
Rubbing alcohol, a soft plastic stick or popsicle/match stick for stubborn bits, and elbow grease until it's clean. If you're using a sledgehammer and chisel to remove the excess, then that's too much force!

Don't use anything metal to clean up a hsf unit. You're likely to scratch the surface as Al and Cu are quite soft metals. If you have already scratched the surface, a light lapping may do it the world of good, especially if it's a deep scratch that will have deformed the metal at the edge of the scratch. The rag's "abrasions" will easily be absorbed by the next application of tim (unless it was a chainmail "rag!"). Use something softer next time (kitchen towel).
 
board2death986 said:
so the two compounds are already mixed? if so remove both and reapply, if not remove from the cpu and leave the stuff on the HSF, since it was preinstalled it most likely has the right amount of AS5 on it already
Click to expand...


stock HSF don't come with pre installed AS5
 
Codegen said:
Isn't Alumina mixed with epoxy?
Click to expand...

While they do make an Alumina adhesive, I believe AcidicRage used the Arctic Alumina (Aluminum Oxide) thermal paste instead.
 
they use shinetsu on stock heat sinks iirc which some people believe to be better then as5
 
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