Thermal Paste Help!

T

Turmoil

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I purchased my gaming PC from iBuyPower about 6 months ago. Today I am receiving a new heat sink in the mail for my i5. I went to remove the stock heatsink when I found that a bit too much thermal compound had been added by the folks at iBuyPower.

I began wiping off the paste but it was almost inevitable that some of it would fall off the side. I am now in a predicament where a small amount of thermal paste has fallen onto the green area below. It has not fallen on to any pins but I won't be able to get this paste off without pushing more underneath the grey area.

Is it fine there or does something need to be done to remove this?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/thermalproblems.jpg/
 
Well I will admit that its not the best picture, but if you can get a really small tool & try to pull some out, little by little, then that may help. In the future, the best thing to do is always wipe it up from the outside in, this way you can always avoid the thermal paste going near the motherboard. Also another hint in the future is to completely remove the cpu from the motherboard & wipe it off. This way you dont have to worry bout the paste getting in places it doesnt belong.

Try using a fork & put paper towel around it. Also, if you happen to have some sunglasses, the end tip of that may work (depending on how small it is). I would suggest perscription glasses, but not sure if you have that.
 
I've done some looking around and supposedly if a small amount gets on the green area it is not a big issue. Is there a possibility that it would somehow "flow" down to the pins? I have the case sitting up now and for now it looks fine. I'm not sure if heat or something could cause the paste to flow down.
 
as long as its non conductive thermal paste (Most is these days) You shouldn't have any problems.
 
The picture is a little fuzzy, but it looks like the paste fell outside of the CPU socket. As long as your CPU chip was still in place, it shouldn't have landed on anything where it would cause a problem.

If you haven't touched it at all, you also might be able to get a vacuum with the smallest nozzle you have and see if you can get it in close enough to suck up the debris.

If you can't get a vacuum or the paste won't come up, you could also try getting a toothpick in there and scraping under and outwards to see if you can push it off.

Another thing to consider is, thermal paste is used to fill in tiny gaps on the surface of your processor so your heat sink has a full and smooth surface contact that can transfer as much heat as possible.

If you wiped off your processor while it was still in place (attached to your motherboard) and it was dry enough that pieces of old thermal paste fell off, most likely there's still old paste residue on your processor.

It may be helpful to take your processor out and give it a soft rub down with a dust free cloth / Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol (peferrably 96% concentration). This will help break down any of the old paste before you re-apply the new stuff.
 
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Seeing as this isn't closed I thought Id throw this in here. Just a few tips of my own:
Remove your processor when attempting to clean the paste off, it makes it a lot easier. ESD really isn't a problem but if you are worried about it, try resting your arms (sleeves rolled up) on the computer case as you remove it, that would give you enough ground.

I wouldn't personally go the vacuum route, it can cause ESD. A can of compressed air would work just as well.

Like many posted, use rubbing alcohol. The higher the concentration the better, as stated it will really clean your cpu off. Using a Q-tip works wonders and paper towels are ok.

When applying thermal paste, there is such thing as too much, or too little. They both can cause issues with dispersing the heat. Use enough to cover the cpu but not too much. I like to get it on my little finger and dab it around my cpu till it looks covered. If you still see metal, it'll get filled when the heatsink is applied.
 
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