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Thermal Paste Doesn't Spread Evenly After Seated?

413 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  saculreklaw, 
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So after pulling off my cpu cooler and seeing a ton of thermal paste (AS5) pushed off to the sides of the cpu and very little in the center i think i found the solution to my 40 degrees q6600 @ 2.4 idle problem. My vid is at 1.325 with go stepping so its a sucky chip but i thought 40 degrees at all stock settings seemed extreme. and the problem seemed to strike me randomly. For example when i first fired up the system it seeemed pretty cool. So somehow the thermal paste has migrated to the edges.

1. Anyways my question is how do i prevent this without lapping by myself?
2. Do you know any company's that lap or is it a very uncommon professional practice? BTW i am pretty sure the problem is the chip since i use a 9700 cooler which has a very nice surface.
3. How should i apply the thermal paste to make up for the uneven spread? (i followed AS5's directions for quad's initially)
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fstfrddy
You are using too much paste,just a small dab, rice size.
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stevenma188
I think you are going to have to lap yourself. Have you tried using a razer blade to test the flatness of your heatsink and cpu?
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CyberDruid
The best way to apply TIM is this: after cleaning the surfaceswith isopropyl and a coffee filter or other lint free paper put a dab dead in the center about the size of a BB. Not too much. Like 1/8" diameter blob. Put the HS stragiht down and alternate the screws or clips diagonally to put it down as evenly as possible.

Check temps. If nol improvement remove the HS and look to see the pattern. It chould be a circle almost to the edges of the IHS but not beyond. If smaller than that add more past if more than that use less.

Chances are your IHS and HS are both less than perfectly flat. So lapping is the alternative.

Using a backing plate for your HS (if practical) helps a lot.
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Quote:

Originally Posted by saculreklaw View Post
So after pulling off my cpu cooler and seeing a ton of thermal paste (AS5) pushed off to the sides of the cpu and very little in the center i think i found the solution to my 40 degrees q6600 @ 2.4 idle problem. My vid is at 1.325 with go stepping so its a sucky chip but i thought 40 degrees at all stock settings seemed extreme. and the problem seemed to strike me randomly. For example when i first fired up the system it seeemed pretty cool. So somehow the thermal paste has migrated to the edges.

1. Anyways my question is how do i prevent this without lapping by myself?
2. Do you know any company's that lap or is it a very uncommon professional practice? BTW i am pretty sure the problem is the chip since i use a 9700 cooler which has a very nice surface.
3. How should i apply the thermal paste to make up for the uneven spread? (i followed AS5's directions for quad's initially)
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm
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Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenma188 View Post
I think you are going to have to lap yourself. Have you tried using a razer blade to test the flatness of your heatsink and cpu?
No, this seems like a good idea though. I will try it. As for the amount of thermal paste, i got the direction for quad cores right off of their website so Fstfrddy, are you saying that those are incorrect or is there just a more efficient way when it comes to thermal paste. If the curvature of the cpu is preventing my system from maintaining a idle heat lower than 40 at stock settings than i will resort to lapping before i buy a new chip. But i'm hoping i will not have to resort to either option.

Also, how do i take off thermal paste? Rag, papertowel? Nevermind got the answer from CyberDruid--Thanks!
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stevenma188
isopropyl alcohol and some lint free wipes. I use Isopropyl and a paper towel, than use compressed gas to make sure there's no residual dust specs or what-not.
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Originally Posted by stevenma188
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isopropyl alcohol and some lint free wipes. I use Isopropyl and a paper towel, than use compressed gas to make sure there's no residual dust specs or what-not.

Thanks!
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