I might have put too much thermal paste on CPU

[kapitana0]

Hello everyone,
Just the get this out of the way, but my native language is not English, so excuse me for any grammatical or other kind of mistakes.

Anyway ... It's my first time building a PC ... so I went to the store ... got thermal paste ... and went to put it on the cpu ... by the way I am using Intel ... and the normal Intel cooler that comes with the cpu. When I went to the store I bought the smallest thermal paste "syringe" they had and even asked if it was for one use only ... they told me yes ... but after putting it on the cpu ... I'm not really sure whether the amount is for one use only. Anyway I will attach a picture of the thermal paste I bought .. so you would know what I used and whether I should worry about it. All help is really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Pictures:

 

[stevieterry24]

Too much thermal paste can cause damage, it will act as an insulator and hold the heat in. I would remove the heatsink, clean with alcohol pads and put new thermal paste on, one little spot in the middle is all you need.

 

[kapitana0]

Well, I did put it in the middle but I'm not very sure about the amount as I already said. If you can tell me whether this thermal paste ... in the picture ... is for one use only ... or not .. would kinda solve my problem ... and if it's not for one use only ... how much of the syringe should I put(since I bought a few more thermal paste syringes just like the one in the picture)?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Stevie just told you. One little spot. Roughly Pea sized. When you attach the cooler, the paste well spread, giving the optimum coverage and when you restart the pc it will warm and then set over 24-48 hours.
Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNgFNH7zhQ

Watch from about 2.11mins.

 

[stevieterry24]

Well, I did put it in the middle but I'm not very sure about the amount as I already said. If you can tell me whether this thermal paste ... in the picture ... is for one use only ... or not .. would kinda solve my problem ... and if it's not for one use only ... how much of the syringe should I put(since I bought a few more thermal paste syringes just like the one in the picture)?

Honestly, I think you will be fine, that syringe is too much generally speaking, but I don't think it's going to blow up or anything, just watch your temps and make sure it doesn't get too hot.

 

[kapitana0]

Lol ... thank you for all the help ... I honestly wasn't expecting to get so many answers for 15 minutes. But I do think that it would be best to re-apply the thermal paste just in case. Thank you for the help.

 

[13thmonkey]

if you were using the stock cooler, it had paste already on it. Just a spot the size of a pea or less (I use less generally) how much of the syringe is difficult, maybe 5mm.

 

[DRagor]

Btw, Intel stock coolers come with thermal paste pre-applied on the cooler. Unless you did clean it off adding any extra amount of paste is probably going to be too much.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Lol ... thank you for all the help ... I honestly wasn't expecting to get so many answers for 15 minutes. But I do think that it would be best to re-apply the thermal paste just in case. Thank you for the help.

Let us know how you get on. Good luck

 

[kapitana0]

I got the cpu from a friend ... so that would kinda make it second hand ... so it doesn't come with thermal paste ... but I will update and tell you how it went after the pc is build and I start it up

 

[kapitana0]

Everything is up and running just fine. I cleaned the CPU with alcohol pads, reapplied the thermal paste(adding pea-sized amount) and the temperatures are very stable ... around 50-60 degrees when gaming. Thnx once again for all the help. I could have fried a perfectly fine CPU from carelessness. Asking for help was the right decision.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Bingo! Great job. Happy days.