Question CPU thermal paste

[Ahsyed]

hello

so building a new i made a mistake of putting the cpu cooler (ak620) on cpu without removing the sticker , i picked it up but the paste was messed so i put some more and put it back on , am i safe ? or should i remove it and clean and reapply?

i don't have any paste remover at home , any idea how could i clean it if i decide to remove it?

thank you

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

check your temps , you might not need to reapply.

 

[Ahsyed]

Well I did put quite a lot after but I had to wiggle the fan since the screw were not lining up... I read about bubbles in paste can cause issues. Should I go ahead with build?

Just to be clear I didn't remove it but put move in middle and put fan back on... should be good?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Will probably be fine , good thing you caught the error,

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

isopropyl alcohol 70%-90% , can be used to remove , if you need to reapply.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Well I did put quite a lot after but I had to wiggle the fan since the screw were not lining up... I read about bubbles in paste can cause issues.

I hear this a lot, but nobody's seemed to step up to provide any evidence of this happening. I mean, what's different about applying paste and mounting it the first time vs. lifting the heat sink from the CPU and mounting it again? Shouldn't the presence of bubbles be a risk on the first time as well? Besides, that's what mounting pressure is for: squeezing out everything, including any air pockets.

So long post short, you're fine.

 

[Ahsyed]

Ok I will go ahead and finish the build. Thank you guys for reassuring me. Didn't wanna <censored> it up.

It's just the lifting up makes sticky smudge and pressing on it can still leave bubbles is my understanding. But I don't have a solution to remove it and afraid to damage something cleaning it.

I did put a little blob more so it spread out but if there are bubbles and it goes bad we will know.

 

[CountMike]

Ok I will go ahead and finish the build. Thank you guys for reassuring me. Didn't wanna <censored> it up.

It's just the lifting up makes sticky smudge and pressing on it can still leave bubbles is my understanding. But I don't have a solution to remove it and afraid to damage something cleaning it.

I did put a little blob more so it spread out but if there are bubbles and it goes bad we will know.

You can remove paste with a dry lint free cloth if it's fresh with no dust or dirt.

 

[Ahsyed]

I can see a bit of it seeping to side , Should i be worried about that? would it drip on cpu if it gets hot?

 

[Phaaze88]

I can see a bit of it seeping to side , Should i be worried about that?

Some seeping is expected. The purpose of paste is to fill in microscopic pits between the lumps of metal that are not visible to the naked eye. The cooler mounting pressure is squeezing out excess.
If no paste was used, then air fills those pits instead; it doesn't move heat energy as well as the paste does.

would it drip on cpu if it gets hot?

The cpu die is underneath the IHS(Integrated Heat Spreader), and the IHS is sealed.
If some gets on mobo, it just becomes a pain to clean up later, that's all.

 

[Ahsyed]

as mentioned above i have to reseat the cooler , i didn't clean it but put a bit more in middle , should be alright ?

 

[hotaru.hino]

as mentioned above i have to reseat the cooler , i didn't clean it but put a bit more in middle , should be alright ?

Yes, it's fine. People who say you have to clean every time is just repeating overblown internet "advice"

At the end of the day, having something is better than nothing.