Thermal Compound Mistake

[lilith002]

I was waiting to run into my first issue with my first build and here I am. By accident, I managed to wipe off quite a bit of the factory applied thermal compound. And now wonder if I should clean all of the original compound off and reapply? I worry that the existing compound won't work as it should.

I have Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1G ready to order if need be. But if there are other suggestions for thermal compound, I would greatly appreciate them.

***This was not how the factory thermal compound on the NZXT X52 Kracken was applied. This was my error alone.

Thank you,

Lilith

-_-II

 

[superninja12]

Give it a shot, check temperatures with hardware monitor.

make sure its mounted properly.

if it gets too hot, the safety features kick in.

 

[norcalsc]

To be honest you probably didn't wipe off enough to cause an issue as it'll spread out when you tighten it down. If it makes you nervous it's no big deal to take some alcohol and wipe it off and reapply. I would go ahead and see what the results would be before I ordered more, even though it's good to have it on hand anyways. I think you'll be fine

 

[mortemas]

Don’t take chances. Reapply

 

[Dugimodo]

I never take a heatsink off without cleaning and re applying the paste. Sure it may still work ok but it'll never be as good.
You only really get one shot at a good paste interface, re-using it can introduce air and dust into the paste and reduce it's effectiveness.

 

[Gam3r01]

To be honest if you wiped off "quite a bit" and that is how much is still there, there was probably too much applied from the factory.
Thermal paste is just there to fill in the small imperfections in the IHS and coldplate, its not some magic heat transferring paste, too much can act as an insulator.

I would agree, give it a shot. You dont have anything to lose by trying it the way it is.