Have I used too much thermal paste? Is the layer too thick?

[Matthew Wai]

Have I used too much paste? Is the layer too thick?
I carelessly squeezed too much out. The intended amount was just the size of a pea.

The room temperature is now 31.5°C.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

That's WAY too much. You only need about a grain of rice sized bit. Remove and try again.

 

[Matthew Wai]

But I have already installed the cooler, and the temperature is acceptable.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Then why are you here asking for advice? Seems you already made the decision. You only need enough compound to fill the microscopic imperfections between surfaces, any more than that is both a waste and impediment to heat transfer. You may not have any issues now, while the paste is new, but when it starts to dry you'll be back, complaining about how temperatures are no longer acceptable.

 

[Matthew Wai]

When will it start to dry?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Immediately upon exposure to the atmosphere and applied heat.

 

[das_stig]

Layer should be just thick enought to hide the surface of cpu and no more, all about filling in microscopic impurities in the surface to ensure even contact with heatsink and best thermal transfer.

 

[Rodrigodrt]

Note that too much is less worse than too little, you will want to try to find the right amount yourself, put dot and and seat it, then remove the block again, check if covers the entire area of the processor, no? put a little more, when you find the right amount that covers the entire area and doest leak over the sides (a little is fine) then you're probably at your ideal amount.

however, thats being a bit crazy about, if your temps are fine, theres no need whatsoever to be worrying much about it

 

[Matthew Wai]

I hope the excessive paste was already squeezed out by the heatsink.
The room temperature and CPU temperature are 31.5°C and 42°C respectively at this moment.

 

[Matthew Wai]

The room temperature is 31°C. The CPU usage has been 100% for a while.
The maximum CPU core temperature is 71°C. I think it is okay.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is the following better?

 

[DSzymborski]

Again, use a pea-sized glob in the middle and let the force spread it around.

Two years later and you're still treating it like you're making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Again, use a pea-sized glob in the middle and let the force spread it around.

I have used the following size: