Reapplying thermal paste

C

Cyalume

New Member
After applying the thermal paste (Arctic Silver) to my CPU and placing the heatsink on top of it, I had to lift the heatsink itself off of the CPU several times due to not placing it correctly/twisting and turning it by mistake. Should I remove the heatsink and reapply the thermal paste, and if so, how would I go about doing it? Do I have to disassemble everything and remove the motherboard so I can get the CPU out? (The CPU cant be removed unless the plate that the heatsink connects to is removed, and that is nut/washered into the motherboard)

It is an i5-4670k. In Black Hole 4.1, the following max temps were recorded during the test:

j9y883.jpg


Heatsink used: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003
 
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Your temperatures look fine to me...above 80 is where I get nervous and 60 is a middle range temp...idle should be on the 30s...make sure you dust ur comp out every now and then...technically yes you should redo the paste because the best bond is the original new bond...and you undid it several times lol...Its purely up to you...I wouldn't waste the time and effort cuz you're getting good temps...idk what set up your sinc is like but perhaps dropping the stuff on the heatsinc and some on the processor then being SUPER steady and you'll be able to do it...do it when the mobo is flat and possibly pull out surrounding equipment like the vid card and ram... =)
 
Yes, you need to replace the thermal paste as you may have air in there.

But you don't need to remove the CPU.

Clean the CPU and heatsink with isoproylalcohol and reapply a small thin bead of thermal paste and reapply heatsink.

Instructions here.
 
Cyalume said:
After applying the thermal paste (Arctic Silver) to my CPU and placing the heatsink on top of it, I had to lift the heatsink itself off of the CPU several times due to not placing it correctly/twisting and turning it by mistake.
Click to expand...

I'm firmly in the "Yes, re-apply" camp with Oke on this, based solely off that comment. Any lifting/re-setting or twisting of the HSF runs the risk of having an uneven layer (actually, lifting/re-setting guarantees it). Your temps may seem fine now, but as the TC cures with temperature variations, you will most likely end up with air pockets, if you don't have them already. It will be a slow process so nothing to OMFG freak out about, but I would definitely do it for long-term peace of mind.
 
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