Do I need fresh thermal paste on CPU reinstall?

O

Objekt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 6, 2012
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I had to send the motherboard of my newest build in for repair, so naturally I had to unmount the CPU and CPU cooler. My motherboard is on its way back now, so pretty soon I'll have to put it all back together. Is there any reason I can't simply re-use the existing patches of thermal grease? I don't have any thermal paste, and don't want to buy any if it's not necessary.
 
um, I would say a big YES....first Clean the old paste off both the Sink and the CPU reapply.


AP514
 
Big yes, pulling off the heatsink leaves a jagged uneven surface that is prone to air pockets. Clean both CPU and heatsink. Then apply a rice shaped blob in the middle and squish it down.
 
You can probably get away with not replacing it, assuming you kept the heatsink and CPU clean, you're not doing any sort of extreme overclocking.

You should replace it anyway, though. I find it hard to believe that someone who posts at [H] would not have thermal paste lying around. I've accumulated probably 10 or 15 little packets of it over the years. I figured all of us did.
 
LOL..... I was going to say the same thing in my post but deleted it..I must have 5 tubes from way back to a few weeks ago..just spread around here and there.

AP514
 
Your instincts are right, but I used up my last batch of thermal paste when I was re-building my eldest PC.

I don't overclock, so the grease included on the Intel cooler was perfectly adequate for the initial build. It is clean and happy inside the original box (I hang on to original packaging as long as possible, precisely because of things like RMAs).

But neither do I want to push my luck. Guess I'll see if I missed a tube of thermal compound somewhere.
 
Just monitor the temps when you put it back on. If they are too high, then you'll need to replace the paste. If they aren't, then you'll be fine.
 
I've done it with a computer before. But if I am dealing with a $200+ CPU I'd rather spend the $10 for a tube and a some piece of mind.
 
Well that's another thing, if he's using the stock intel cooler he might not have an issue just putting it back on since stock paste is pretty solid and doesn't tend to leave residue on the CPU except for some moisture.
 
Straight from the source: Intel insists that fresh thermal compound must be applied on any CPU/heatsink reinstallation:

Intel support article on thermal interface material (aka thermal paste/grease/compound) application: http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-030329.htm

I picked up a tube of Zalman thermal stuff on the way home from work today. $10.69 is cheap insurance. And I'll be prepared for the next time a motherboard dies, I guess.

My repaired motherboard is on the UPS truck as we speak. But I'm a mature adult, and can wait patiently until it's delivered.

No, wait, no I can't. I want it I want it I want it I want it now...
 
Well it's just as well I bought a bottle that will allow multiple re-applications. My piece of garbage motherboard has failed yet again, not even a whole week after I got it back from "repairs." So I'm going to have to take everything apart *AGAIN* for another RMA, then put it back together later.

No more Gigabyte motherboards for me.
 
Buy another motherboard and sell the one you have (as is) when it comes back from rma.
 
I have my eye on an MSI model, one I was going to buy on Ivy Bridge launch day, but which went out of stock before I got around to it. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way I could get it before the 4th of July holiday, even if I ordered today.
 
hum bad luck on tha MOBO...

I just got my GA-Z77X-D3H.....

Our Comps are going to be real close if your use'n the one in your Sig...

only Im holding out for a M4 256GB --SSD

Also im about to pull the trigger ona GTX 680 4GB card
to run a 27" Korean IPS Crossover 2560 x 1440
 
I'm really close to ordering a different motherboard because I'm so disgusted with the Gigabyte board's repeated failures.

So far the leading contenders are the ASRock Z77 Extreme4, and the MSI Z77A-G43. They're both around the same price, but the ASRock has a few extra features. I don't plan to overclock, but it'd be nice to have things like power and status LEDs on the board itself (with the ASRock), which is something missing from the Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H that I've given up on.

I thought about ordering tonight so I'd get the new board by Thursday-ish (Wed. being a holiday), but I think I'll sleep on it, and ask the Forum for their opinions on those two items in the meantime.
 
my board seems to be about the exact same thing only 3cm longer....but still ATX. what was wrong w/ your boards from them ?
 
Yes, my board (-DS3H) is a little smaller, with a few features omitted. Among other differences, your board has 2 more SATA III 6 Gb/s ports, one more PCIe 2.0 slot, and a different (better?) onboard sound device (VIA instead of Realtek).

I expect your additional SATA III ports are provided by an add-on SATA controller. The Z77 chipset can only provide two SATA III connections. That explains part of the price difference between the boards.

I originally had two bad RAM sticks, which were preventing normal sleep/resume function. That made troubleshooting a real pain, until I figured out the RAM was actually bad (it caused a different system, formerly reliable, to not resume from sleep).

Things got really bad when the Gigabyte board started bluescreening, usually while I was playing a game. But then it started happening even when I wasn't doing anything in particular. Then the system would fail to boot, not even getting to POST - I got short fast error beeps and repeated powerup/error beep/powerdown cycles. After a few days of that, the system wouldn't turn on at all. So I RMA'd the board.

I called Gigabyte for a status report while they were working on my board. They said they had to repair the CPU socket.

So I got it back (last Monday, 6/25) and the system worked fine for a few days. Then it started the "sudden bluescreen/shutdown, reboot, error beeps, poweroff" cycle thing again, when I tried to use the computer on Sunday morning (7/1).

I went ahead and ordered a new board - an ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 - because I have absolutely no confidence in my Gigabyte board, and I'm sick and tired of not being able to use all the new, expensive hardware I bought (SSD, GeForce 560 Ti video card, etc.). If Gigabyte repairs the board again and it works after that, I suppose I'll find some use for it, but I won't rely on it.
 
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