Precautions when applying thermal paste?

[bbugyi200]

Hey,

So I just recently built my first PC. It is working fine, but one of the pins in the motherboard (Gigabyte Z87 UD5H LGA 1150) are bent, so I am having it replaced just to be safe. I understand that I should remove the stock thermal paste, and then reapply a new coat. This makes me a little nervous, as I have never done it before. I just have a few questions.

1. Are there any precautions I should take that I might not know about?

2. Is it OK to break the bond between the heatsink and the CPU to check that I didn't apply too much paste, or is it a one shot deal?

3. What are the risks that I am taking here? Should I be worried about this?

Thanks for helping me out. It's really appreciated

 

[laviniuc]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616.html

 

[bbugyi200]

It's fairly straight forward. Before applying new paste just make sure you clean the cpu and heatsink as good as you possibly can. Use some rubbing alcohol and lint free material such as coffee filters and finish off with a puff of air (preferably from a can).

Then put a tiny blob in the middle of the cpu and attach the heatsink - It will even out the paste as you put it in place.
Remember: Less is more.



Get a good non-conductive thermal paste such as Arctic MX-2 or MX-4 and you should be good to go.


As for you numbered questions ..
1) Look above
2) If you break contact between the cpu and heatsink, air bubbles will form and that's bad for effective cooling. So don't do it if you're not prepared to clean and re-apply the paste again.
3) The only risk is shorting if you use old conductive paste such as Arctic Silver, hence why you should go with the better MX-2 / MX-4. They also do not require any curing, so you will get great temps almost instantly.

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Hey,

Thanks for your input on this. I have already ordered the thermal paste, but I will return it if necessary. I got Arctic Silver 5. It says it is non-conductive though. Will this one work, or is it better to go with the MX-2/MX-4??
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FVI91U/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1