Accidentally touched thermal paste on CPU fan

[ShadowEA]

Just bought ryzen 5 2600x and out of the box I accidentally touched a thermal paste on CPU fan is this too much of a damage?

https://imgur.com/a/Yo1gbN4

 

[t53186]

That should smooth out when pressure is applied.

 

[ko888]

There will be air bubbles trapped in there. Air bubbles prevent thermal transfer.

 

[ShadowEA]

There will be air bubbles trapped in there. Air bubbles prevent thermal transfer.

What does that mean? What should I do? And will it damage CPU?

 

[ko888]

There will be air bubbles trapped in there. Air bubbles prevent thermal transfer.

What does that mean? What should I do? And will it damage CPU?

It means that you'll get uneven heat transfer. Overheating may occur in the area where the air bubbles are trapped. That's the drawback of pre-applied thermal compound. Clean it off and reapply new thermal compound.

 

[geofelt]

Not best, but you should be OK.
Paste spreads out under heat and pressure.

Not to worry.
The cpu will monitor temperatures and will slow down or shut off if it detects a dangerous level.

No doubt, you are anxious to try out your new cpu.
Go ahead.
Monitor your temperatures.
At idle, look for 10-15c. over ambient at idle.
If you see significantly more, plan on cleaning off the old paste and replacing it with new.
You can monitor temperatures with HWmonitor.
It will give you current and max per core temperatures.

 

[ShadowEA]

There will be air bubbles trapped in there. Air bubbles prevent thermal transfer.

What does that mean? What should I do? And will it damage CPU?

It means that you'll get uneven heat transfer. Overheating may occur in the area where the air bubbles are trapped. That's the drawback of pre-applied thermal compound. Clean it off and reapply new thermal compound.

Any chance that it won't heat? I mean does that happens in 100% of cases?

 

[smorizio]

if you saw bare copper then you have to redo. whe nyou put the cooler on and the pressure makes a p and jelly sandwich out of the paste it smoth out on it own.

 

[mdd1963]

if you see a bare spot, put a piece of scotch tape on a fingertip, and spread it out to cover bare spot thinly...
Problem solved.

 

[bigwoofer]

Man you guys are making this way more complicated than it has to be. Toms did a measured test of the best way to apply thermal paste for heat transfer. Found that a small glob in the middle was optimum. Even vs. the folks who sand to a mirror finish and apply an atom sized layer painstakingly. Crazy huh! According to that, any worries about this could be resolved by taking a credit card/drivers license type blade and smooshing it all to center. Manufacturers put waaay too much on, all the overage smears across anyway.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-comparison,5108-3.html