How not to apply Paste

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Robergal

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
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From our front page [H]ere
Hard to believe the guy used 12 pages to describe thermal paste aplication and gets it wrong anyway!
Really he gets it ok about cleaning the stuff off however there is no need on a P4 or AMD64 with IHS to spread the paste out. You get a better interface if you just put a rice grained sized drop right in the middle of the CPU and put the Heatsink on it and tighten it down. The paste will spread out to cover the interface as soon as you apply presure.

The other issue I see is using a cotton swab to apply or spred the paste as cotton fibers can be introduced to the paste.
 
yeah...i wouldn't use a cotton swab for spreading paste on a core. definetly a razor or credit card-like object for that. as for procs with ihs, just a spot of paste.

what a silly man.
 
lol I personally just put a little dab in the middle and spread it as thin as possible all over not adding anymore paste. then I add heatsink.
 
i put a very VERY thin layer all over the whole thing using my buisenes (sp) card, and then a tad bit more in the middle
 
I use a rice grain method, sometimes less (depending on the type of CPU) then spread as much as I can with a razor leaving a nice distance from the edges. I don't trust a HS to spread it with just a dab in the middle.

"Cotton Swab" LOL, fool.
 
i usually use the rice grain method, however, does it make a difference if too much paste is put on and it goes over the sides of the processor?
 
PeeMonkey said:
i usually use the rice grain method, however, does it make a difference if too much paste is put on and it goes over the sides of the processor?
Click to expand...


yes, it can matter, depending what paste you use. for example, arctic silver 5 is conductive, meaning that if you get it on the wrong places, you can short your proc or board.
 
I use about the size of a large rice grain... Then use a credit card, or I have a plastic pyramid paperweight that I use to smooth it out over the top of the processor.

BUT NEVER COTTON SWABS! It wastes thermal paste in swabs or q-tips...
 
got some questions....just sold my a64 s764 3000+
this is the first time I'm take the heatsink off the cpu since I purchased it retail. From what I remember the retail HS had some paste already applied to it....from what I have been reading the best way to remove the paste with isopryl (i have no idea how to spell that) and with a razor? Also where can i purchase a lint free cloth? I know walmart has the isopryl....can i get the cloth there as well?
 
alkoholik said:
got some questions....just sold my a64 s764 3000+
this is the first time I'm take the heatsink off the cpu since I purchased it retail. From what I remember the retail HS had some paste already applied to it....from what I have been reading the best way to remove the paste with isopryl (i have no idea how to spell that) and with a razor? Also where can i purchase a lint free cloth? I know walmart has the isopryl....can i get the cloth there as well?
Click to expand...

an example of a lint free cloth is an eyeglass cleaning cloth.

usually if you drop by an eyeglass store they'll have a box of those cloths for cheap.
 
quadnad said:
an example of a lint free cloth is an eyeglass cleaning cloth.

usually if you drop by an eyeglass store they'll have a box of those cloths for cheap.
Click to expand...

excellent....thats exactly what I was looking for

so i put the alkohol on the cloth and wipe away the paste
then to re-apply the AS5 to the CPU just using a amount the size of a grain of rice....dont spread it out or anything and just apply the HSF to it....that correct?
 
i follow the ceramique instructions no matter what paste i use, lidless, make a line down the middle of the core, lidded, small blob.
 
well, i had a friend pick me up a bottle of alkohol but it was only 70%....from what I was reading it said it had to be 91-99%. Is it ok to use the 70% or should I get the 91-99 kind?
(I'm at work still so I wasnt able to get it myself)
 
Lord of Shadows said:
It's fine, alcohol evaporates quickly, just dont spill it all over the place. =)
Click to expand...

I'm just going to use q-tips to clean the paste off the CPU/HSF.....that should work, right?
 
Lord of Shadows said:
Might need a lot of q-tips but it will work. =)
Click to expand...

think the lint free cloth will be faster? and then just use the q-tips for a touch up?
 
Cotton swabs are usually a bad idea - Q-tip brand or not. They can leave things behind.
 
I typically use cotton swabs and GoofOff (Xylene-based, recommended by Arctic Silver) to clean up the paste. The swabs can leave some behind, but nothing visible, and (hopefully :)) nothing a quick blast of compressed air wouldn't get.

To spread the paste I put a dab in the middle, and then I put on rubber gloves (without powder - failing those, the inside of a Ziploc bag) and spready the paste with my fingers. When I did my first A64 build I hadn't heard of the center-of-the-IHS-and-press-on-the-HSF method, but that's what I'll be using next time. The card trick is just too goddamn painstaking, even for small cores.
 
Yeah, and be sure to do this in a pressurized clean room. =)

Really doubt a single cotton fiber would make a difference.
 
ok, so whats the deal now.....

do i use a cotton ball/q-tip or not....there are too many people giving conflicting answers here

i am not spreading anything with my finger....glove on or plastic bag
i am simply going to put a rice grain sized and a half of thermal paste on and going to twist the HSF when I apply it

anybody else with some feedback?
 
Dreadlox said:
I use a rice grain method, sometimes less (depending on the type of CPU) then spread as much as I can with a razor leaving a nice distance from the edges. I don't trust a HS to spread it with just a dab in the middle.

"Cotton Swab" LOL, fool.
Click to expand...


same way I do it. I always use a blade to spread it over.
and ill be doing the same with all my athlon 64 cores :)
 
yeah, yeah ... =) ... cotton swabs can be useful for cleaning. I meant they are not the best choice
for applying the paste (as seen on p.5 of the article).

A single fiber might not make a difference. Probably wouldn't help either.
 
alkoholik said:
ok, so whats the deal now.....

do i use a cotton ball/q-tip or not....there are too many people giving conflicting answers here

i am not spreading anything with my finger....glove on or plastic bag
i am simply going to put a rice grain sized and a half of thermal paste on and going to twist the HSF when I apply it

anybody else with some feedback?
Click to expand...

lint-free cloth is best, but you'll probably be fine w/a q-tip. the reason people are debating is because q-tips and cotton balls can leave bits behind; it's debateable as to whether that matters or not.

Just put a rice grain sized dot of thermal paste on and pop the hsf on. done.
 
quadnad said:
lint-free cloth is best, but you'll probably be fine w/a q-tip. the reason people are debating is because q-tips and cotton balls can leave bits behind; it's debateable as to whether that matters or not.

Just put a rice grain sized dot of thermal paste on and pop the hsf on. done.
Click to expand...

cool, thanks...finally a straight forward answer. im not sure if im going to be able to pick up a lint free cloth tomorrow so I may wind up using the q-tip/cotton ball to remove the paste. I'm just going to blow some compressed air on it after im done just to make sure nothing is left behind....think ill be ok with that? also, will the 70% isoproyl be ok?
 
alkoholik said:
cool, thanks...finally a straight forward answer. im not sure if im going to be able to pick up a lint free cloth tomorrow so I may wind up using the q-tip/cotton ball to remove the paste. I'm just going to blow some compressed air on it after im done just to make sure nothing is left behind....think ill be ok with that? also, will the 70% isoproyl be ok?
Click to expand...

you really should pick up some 90+% rubbing alcohol; reason is because the other 30% of the 70% can be left behind (oils and such).

other than that, go for it :)
 
That site is a perfect example of having a site just to have a site.

The broken Corsair USB flash drive for example:
Our “unbreakable” flash USB memory from Corsair, Flash Voyager, simply broke, as you can see on the pictures below. How? We hit it by accident with our chair while it was plugged to our desktop. It happened to us, so it can happen to you. In this tutorial we are going to show you how we were able to recover the data stored inside this broken USB flash memory.
Click to expand...
No..you guys are zipperheads. I am not a zipperhead.
 
Many recommend lens cleaning paper to help eliminate dust - coffee filters are a good substitute.

And 70% isopropyl alcohol is OK. Just a bit more water than the 90%. NO oils as someone said above.
That's what happens when you use "nail polish remover" as opposed to Acetone.
The polish remover contains oils and/or waxes to help keep the lady's nails from drying out.
Any of which can interfere with optimum thermal transfer.

If you are desperate for a cleaning solution & don't want to buy Arcti-Clean you can always order
a pint of 99.8% isopropyl from here*
Or get some "Lectra-Clean" from your local auto parts store.
 
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