should i remove my thermal paste?

[siaan312]

so... I built my pc about 2 monthes ago with the "help" of a "computer mechanic".
and he told me how much thermal paste which was WAYYY more than I need but I did not know that until I started watching tech videos and computer guides not long ago and by then I forgot about it, and while I decided to cable manage my pc as he didnt do that either, I removed my tower cooler and found a giant puddle of mx-4 which I heard is one of the more, "liquidy" pastes and also a very cheap one, so I wanted to ask if I should re apply it? like, I know thats not the recommended amount but, why is more not as good?

 

[hotaru251]

too much thermal compound will actually go from transferring the heat to insulating the heat in the cpu.

I would re-apply proper amount. always make sure none is on the motherboard too (as if that happens its likely too much) as if it is type that conducts electricity...it may fry your board.

 

[USAFRet]

like, I know thats not the recommended amount but, why is more not as good?

Thermal paste is just there to provide a thin layer between the CPU face and the cooler face. Fills in the microscratches.
Too much, and the heat transfer is compromised.

Too much is almost as bad as none.

Just like water...you can have too much.
You need water to survive. Too much water, and you drown.

 

[cryoburner]

MX-4 doesn't conduct electricity, so that's probably not much of a concern. If you removed your tower cooler, then you should ideally remove the old compound and put on new compound though, since it's more likely to trap air bubbles otherwise, which can potentially impede cooling performance a bit. In general, that probably won't be an issue though, and I wouldn't expect it to make much more than a couple degrees difference, so it's probably not a real problem unless you are overclocking a CPU to the limits of your cooler.

 

[siaan312]

MX-4 doesn't conduct electricity, so that's probably not much of a concern. If you removed your tower cooler, then you should ideally remove the old compound and put on new compound though, since it's more likely to trap air bubbles otherwise, which can potentially impede cooling performance a bit. In general, that probably won't be an issue though, and I wouldn't expect it to make much more than a couple degrees difference, so it's probably not a real problem unless you are overclocking a CPU to the limits of your cooler.

I think ill reapply anyway but honestly I dont overclock at all my i7 8700k under a nh-14d noctua with 2 fans on and after a session of me trying to test it (2 lazy to find a stress test load, I opened up gta v, put on max settings on 1080p and started exploding and shooting everything I could with 5 stars and it never passed 55 degress

 

[zebarjadi.raouf]

I know thats not the recommended amount but, why is more not as good?

You want to transfer heat from CPU to the heatsink as fast as possible. Aluminum/Copper conductivity is above 150 while MX-4 is 8.5. So you might wonder why we don't go CPU to heatsink directly? Because the surface of these two looks flat to us but has too many microscopic gaps filled with air. Paste fills those gaps for better heat transfer.

I heard is one of the more, "liquidy" pastes and also a very cheap one

Compared to generic stuff, it's very high quality. The best silicon paste on the market is Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut which costs around 10$.

so I wanted to ask if I should re apply it?

If you're not overheating (80c+), don't worry too much about it. You can apply it again after cleaning it if you're worried.

Just remember, too much is better than too little.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

 

[USAFRet]

Just remember, too much is better than too little.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

It is near impossible to put on "too little".

 

[zebarjadi.raouf]

It is near impossible to put on "too little".

Some people have tried using as little as possible because of "less is more proverb". I mean less than a grain of rice little. Some other idiots have tried rubbing the thermal paste syringe tip instead of "applying it". I guess they turned the thermal paste into thermal stain. LOL
Too little + benchmarks for various applications are demonstrated in the video I linked too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

 

[siaan312]

I know thats not the recommended amount but, why is more not as good?

You want to transfer heat from CPU to the heatsink as fast as possible. Aluminum/Copper conductivity is above 150 while MX-4 is 8.5. So you might wonder why we don't go CPU to heatsink directly? Because the surface of these two looks flat to us but has too many microscopic gaps filled with air. Paste fills those gaps for better heat transfer.

I heard is one of the more, "liquidy" pastes and also a very cheap one

Compared to generic stuff, it's very high quality. The best silicon paste on the market is Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut which costs around 10$.

so I wanted to ask if I should re apply it?

If you're not overheating (80c+), don't worry too much about it. You can apply it again after cleaning it if you're worried.

Just remember, too much is better than too little.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

high quality? mx 4? Its the cheapest there is in my nearby store so I guess I got off good

 

[siaan312]

It is near impossible to put on "too little".

Some people have tried using as little as possible because of "less is more proverb". I mean less than a grain of rice little. Some other idiots have tried rubbing the thermal paste syringe tip instead of "applying it". I guess they turned the thermal paste into thermal stain. LOL
Too little + benchmarks for various applications are demonstrated in the video I linked too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

well, re applied it just now, found I had some on the contact pins and could not get rid of all of that... got super scared as I tried running a cotton swab through em once and realized I can bend the pins and actually bent one a tiny tiny bit... tried taking off what I can with my finger and everything not on the contact pins but that was there before and also this thermal paste is non conductive so... I hope im good? I looked at everything and its okay, although checking through cpu-z the stress test shows that the reference i7 8700k (my chip) gets a 3700 but mine gets 3300... I didnt check how much I got before so... meh hope its fine

 

[zebarjadi.raouf]

well, re applied it just now, found I had some on the contact pins and could not get rid of all of that... got super scared as I tried running a cotton swab through em once and realized I can bend the pins and actually bent one a tiny tiny bit...

If you got some under the CPU I would be scared too. It's electrically non-conductive. That means it can insulate it and prevent it from working.

I looked at everything and its okay, although checking through cpu-z the stress test shows that the reference i7 8700k (my chip) gets a 3700 but but mine gets 3300

Should work at 3.70GHz unless the BIOS settings were changed. Could be CPU-Z reporting wrong too.