[SOLVED] Rate my thermal paste.

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is the amount I put okay?
Yes, in general, this should be enough. But I see your cooler has direct pipes contact to CPU and here the quality of cooler surface matters. With direct pipes contact, there are many times small gaps between pipes and cooler base plate. That is, I would put a bit more paste.

Vellaura

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You won't need that to be the size of a pea, more than a grain of rice. Also seeing you have two latches for the CPU socket, what CPU are you working with? What cooler are you working with?

Sorry I didn't understand the first sentence, is the amount I put okay?

It's a fairly older system donated from a friend to get me through shortage, high prices and covid.

Hyper 212 rgb black edition :)

Thank you
 

Vellaura

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Yes, in general, this should be enough. But I see your cooler has direct pipes contact to CPU and here the quality of cooler surface matters. With direct pipes contact, there are many times small gaps between pipes and cooler base plate. That is, I would put a bit more paste.

Ah dang, well I already mounted the heatsink, I really don't want to disassemble it, was so intense ahaThe photo doesn't really show as much but its a little thicker on the other side.

Hopefully it's just the perfect amount or maybe a little less, but negligible?
 

Vellaura

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Been at it all day and its almost 1am, my brain is fried, I'll use it for a few days and run tests tomorrow, worst case I'll have to reapply.

I did read though having a thinner layer is better. Just a matter of coverage I suppose :)

My main concern is the heatsink wearing (surface) from mounting and dismounting.
 

Zerk2012

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Been at it all day and its almost 1am, my brain is fried, I'll use it for a few days and run tests tomorrow, worst case I'll have to reapply.

I did read though having a thinner layer is better. Just a matter of coverage I suppose :)

My main concern is the heatsink wearing (surface) from mounting and dismounting.
It takes about 10 minutes of running OCCT to see if your temps are OK don't stress over remounting your probably fine.
 
I did read though having a thinner layer is better.
Yes, that's true! If both, CPU and cooler base plate would be perfectly flat and perfectly polished, then thermal paste wouldn't be needed.
Anyway, just to be "sure", usually a little bit more thermal paste is applied than actually needed, because the excess will be pushed out anyway when cooler is mounted and screwed. However, it makes bad impression if there's too much paste around CPU.
 
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Vellaura

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It takes about 10 minutes of running OCCT to see if your temps are OK don't stress over remounting your probably fine.
Yes, that's true! If both, CPU and cooler base plate would be perfectly flat and perfectly polished, then thermal paste wouldn't be needed.
Anyway, just to be "sure", usually a little bit more thermal paste is applied than actually needed, because the excess will be pushed out anyway when cooler is mounted and screwed. However, it makes bad impression if there's too much paste around CPU.

Hey guys!

So I ran that OCCT test and here are my results.

View: https://imgur.com/a/m4Y841N


I should add it is currently 31c here in Melbourne, very hot day, and I am also upstairs so its significantly hotter. My fans are also on lowest rpm for that sweet silence. I'm no genius but those temps seem awesome to me. What are you guyses honest opinions?

Thanks :)

Edit: My OCD is like, maybe if i added more it'd be even better, god dammit, think i'm just going to reapply it, its bugging me now, lmao.

Thinking I might go with a slightly smaller X shape this time, as seen in this video
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHOBRvXYqEg
 
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You are happy with your temps, why bother changing anything?
Thermal paste does not magically improve temps, it simply exists to fill gaps. The second you apply too much paste you create an insulating layer between the IHS and the heatsink baseplate. It can only transfer heat so fast.

Leave it alone.
Quit worrying about it.
Dont add more unless you see temperature issues.
 
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Vellaura

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You are happy with your temps, why bother changing anything?
Thermal paste does not magically improve temps, it simply exists to fill gaps. The second you apply too much paste you create an insulating layer between the IHS and the heatsink baseplate. It can only transfer heat so fast.

Leave it alone.
Quit worrying about it.
Dont add more unless you see temperature issues.

Yeah your right, I have a very ocd perfectionist personality. Very hard on myself and when people said it could use more I can't help but feel the same.

I honestly just put on a whatever amount because I was incredibly anxious to see if the pc even worked ( first build, little faith in myself).

Just for science though I'll change it, see how much it actually covered.

After the market and corona chills out I'll defs build something more up to date, so why not use this as a learning pc.
 
If you are concerned with paste spreading and coverage in the future just spread it yourself before you install the cooler.
The so called "credit card" method is an example of this, in doing so you can ensure the exact paste spread and thickness you are looking for instead of playing guessing games with cooler mounting pressure.
 

Vellaura

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If you are concerned with paste spreading and coverage in the future just spread it yourself before you install the cooler.
The so called "credit card" method is an example of this, in doing so you can ensure the exact paste spread and thickness you are looking for instead of playing guessing games with cooler mounting pressure.

True, I'm not too fussed, long as you put "enough" it should be enough. I put too little.

I'll update this post with the old coverage and new coverage + temps if anyone wants to see.

Even if the temps are the same, at least "I'LL" know that it doesn't matter and have that peace of mind in the future.

Going to be using the cpu as the main encoder for streaming as well so rather have it at its best.
 
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Gam3r01 gave you very good advice! If your temps are ok (and they seems to be) why fiddling further? Amount of paste is not some exact science and so, when amount is about right, it all comes down to mounting pressure and cooler base material quality. By re-mounting cooler you just challenge your luck (that something might go wrong).
 
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Zerk2012

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True, I'm not too fussed, long as you put "enough" it should be enough. I put too little.

I'll update this post with the old coverage and new coverage + temps if anyone wants to see.

Even if the temps are the same, at least "I'LL" know that it doesn't matter and have that peace of mind in the future.

Going to be using the cpu as the main encoder for streaming as well so rather have it at its best.
Your temps look great their no reason to do anything.
 
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Vellaura

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Gam3r01 gave you very good advice! If your temps are ok (and they seems to be) why fiddling further? Amount of paste is not some exact science and so, when amount is about right, it all comes down to mounting pressure and cooler base material quality. By re-mounting cooler you just challenge your luck (that something might go wrong).

Yeah look your absolutely right, but I have psycho maniac levels of OCD and just won't be able to let it go and sleep at night constantly thinking it might be too little, especially when people here seem to think so and some friends of mine thought it was little as well. In regards to something might go wrong, honestly, I bought the cooler around oct/nov last year and the warranty goes for 2 years I think, after today I can assure you I'll never be taking apart the cooler again, I'll only ever open up the case to dust the heatsink and fan once or twice a year, so if something is going to go wrong, it would be better if it happened now then after warranty right, in regards to the quality/batch or whatever? aha, I wholeheartedly agree with you though. Being my first ever build as well, I just gotta do it, you know, more peace of mind, I NEED TO SEE IT WITH MY OWN EYES, lmao.

Your temps look great their no reason to do anything.

Too late! I have and here are my results.

View: https://imgur.com/a/lUIqiFn
(previous dot coverage)

SO! I took off the heatsink and look what we have here, surprisingly that teeny tiny little blob, that I honestly thought that would have just covered a little inner circle within the cpu frame, much like the stock intel cooler circle, actually did some sick coverage, except a little in the corners, so at the end of the day, you guys where actually right. But again, I just needed to learn and see it with my own eyes. After I saw how much the little blob actually managed to cover I went with a smaller "X" instead of a bigger one like in the youtube video.

View: https://imgur.com/a/XTXF9hb
(new X paste)

As for the temps, practically the same, + - 1/2c . I'm no genius but I wanna say that's basically the cap for this type of cpu, having done 2 tests. Could also just be that it hasn't completely settled since I ran the test for the tiny blob the next day where as for the <Mod Edit> cross I ran the test moments after putting the paste in the same day. And I read that it takes even longer for the paste to reach its final form so I may even get better results later down the track. I can't remember the name, settle time or something.

View: https://imgur.com/a/4dxVT8R


In conclusion, if that tiny blob managed to cover that much space then the cross will definitely cover the same if not more then needed, which I'm okay with. I'd rather live on knowing I got the perfect amount (no such thing I know but comparing to blob), or just a little over, rather then not having enough.

Thank you all for your responses. This has been quite the learning experience for me. :) <3

P.S Gained +100 stats to COURAGE, before I'd be too scared to even open up the side panels let alone touch the cpu.
 
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The pressure of the heatsink should squeeze out any excess TIM if the mounting mechanism is worth anything. It's therefore better to apply more and accept some squeeze out so as not to risk incomplete coverage. This becomes much more important on modern processors that have larger dies or multiple dies that aren't in the center of the heat spreader. For most consumer processors that means half a pea. Gamer's Nexus did a pretty good video on it where they tested a lot of patterns and application methods.

I think paste application was far more critical in the past where mounting pressure was...questionable. Today things are much better so getting a "perfect" application is much better. Processors are also way smarter and wont cook themselves even if you apply too little paste. Back in the day a processor only knew one speed, break neck. If your paste wasn't good, or the pressure wasn't good, that processor would burn itself.

Have some solace in knowing that your first application was pretty good and your second application will be equally as good. But you may have to clean up a little more when you upgrade or repaste. Not an issue.

For full disclosure. In HS we were building PCs as part of our A+ certification. One of my classmates used the entire 3.5g tube of thermal paste on his processor. His logic was that is how much they provided, that's how much you should use. It did cause problems and even smoke I think. So, it is possible to apply too much, but you have to really go nuts with it. He was able to clean it up and use his MOBO and processor again, with a more reasonable amount of TIM.
 

Vellaura

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The pressure of the heatsink should squeeze out any excess TIM if the mounting mechanism is worth anything. It's therefore better to apply more and accept some squeeze out so as not to risk incomplete coverage. This becomes much more important on modern processors that have larger dies or multiple dies that aren't in the center of the heat spreader. For most consumer processors that means half a pea. Gamer's Nexus did a pretty good video on it where they tested a lot of patterns and application methods.

I think paste application was far more critical in the past where mounting pressure was...questionable. Today things are much better so getting a "perfect" application is much better. Processors are also way smarter and wont cook themselves even if you apply too little paste. Back in the day a processor only knew one speed, break neck. If your paste wasn't good, or the pressure wasn't good, that processor would burn itself.

Have some solace in knowing that your first application was pretty good and your second application will be equally as good. But you may have to clean up a little more when you upgrade or repaste. Not an issue.

For full disclosure. In HS we were building PCs as part of our A+ certification. One of my classmates used the entire 3.5g tube of thermal paste on his processor. His logic was that is how much they provided, that's how much you should use. It did cause problems and even smoke I think. So, it is possible to apply too much, but you have to really go nuts with it. He was able to clean it up and use his MOBO and processor again, with a more reasonable amount of TIM.

Yeah absolutely, i realised it's definitely better to have a bit more then a bit less, without going overboard of course. I just feel so accomplished on the matter because its looks so easy when your watching a video but when it comes to you actually having to apply thermal paste you get a overwhelming sense of doubt, especially if your new to this sort of thing, but once I was able to actually see the effects of my actions I was able to get a better idea of the effects of what I was doing.

Thank you for your input :)