do you need to re apply thermal paste after taking the heat sink off?

[aggelos123]

hello.today i built my first gaming pc..on the building process i couldnt fit the hdd into its bracket becuase of the heat sink..(fm2 stock)..so i took the heatsink out..i know it was stupid..the pc hadnt turned on for the first time when i did that..some thermal paste was left in the cpu and some in the heatsink..i putted the heatsink...now i have temperatures of 50c when i browse on the internet..when i am gaming it goes about 66...should i re apply thermal paste again?

 

[CTurbo]

Yes you have to reapply thermal paste everytime you need to reinstall a cpu heatsink. Make sure you wipe your cpu and heatsink clean with high % alcohol first.

 

[aggelos123]

Yes you have to reapply thermal paste everytime you need to reinstall a cpu heatsink. Make sure you wipe your cpu and heatsink clean with high % alcohol first.

so thats why i am getting high cpu temperature right?

 

[aggelos123]

Yep always re-apply the paste when you take the heatsink off, otherwise there's gonna be air pockets and that's not good for effective cooling. Clean the cpu and heatsink the best you can before putting on new paste.

how can i spread the thermal paste in the cpu?i mean a thin layer of thermal paste will do or it wants fat layer?

 

[2x4b]

The reason why you should re-apply the paste is because just remounting the cooler introduces a high risk of air bubbles in the existing applied paste. Air bubbles act as an insulator and impede the transmission of heat away from the CPU.

It would be a very good idea to clean off the old paste and reapply.

 

[aggelos123]

The reason why you should re-apply the paste is because just remounting the cooler introduces a high risk of air bubbles in the existing applied paste. Air bubbles act as an insulator and impede the transmission of heat away from the CPU.

It would be a very good idea to clean off the old paste and reapply.

so does the thermal paste want to be thin spreaded on the cpu or fat spreaded?

 

[2x4b]

Although there are numerous methods to apply paste, an easy, satisfactory one would be to apply just a 0.5 ml drop (lentil sized) and mount the cooler.

Here is a good read from Tom's H.: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html

 

[aggelos123]

Yep always re-apply the paste when you take the heatsink off, otherwise there's gonna be air pockets and that's not good for effective cooling. Clean the cpu and heatsink the best you can before putting on new paste.

how can i spread the thermal paste in the cpu?i mean a thin layer of thermal paste will do or it wants fat layer?

I usually just put little blob in the middle of the cpu and let the heatsink spread it out when I screw it in place. Has worked very well for years so I'm not changing that approach

ok thanks on monday i will buy a thermal paste..my cpu temp while gaming is like 65C..is that normal temp for gaming?

 

[Lessthannil]

Unless you like air bubbles (less thermal conductivity) then yes its absolutely critical