installed heatsink with two different thermal compounds

C

ClockerX

n00b
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
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hi, I did my build yesterday with a e8500 and an arctic cooler freezer 7 pro. Apparently the base of the heatsink came with pre-applied MX-1. I did not know this until today, so I had added some arctic silver 5 on the base of my cpu and just put on the heatsink&cooler. My cpu idles at around 24c, but i'm worried incase this contaminated the area, and will lead to problems in the future when they cure/mix well. So should I leave it, or remove and wipe clean with alcohol.

THanks guys
 
Well, if you're feeling adventurous, you could leave it the way it is and document the results. But if you want to play it safe, you should remove the heatsink and thoroughly clean the area and remove both compounds and then reapply more AS5. I honestly don't know what would happen, though I'd guess if it actually made your temps any worse, you wouldn't even notice.
 
Mixing two different thermal compounds is not a sound idea (unless someone can prove the opposite?).
Also, having too much compound may be detrimental to the cooling efficiency.
 
Somehow I can't see mixing a great compound with an ok compound yielding better results than just using the great compound alone. And yeah, I think usually you want as little compound as possible. Back in my more noobish days I put like 3/4 of a tube of AS5 on a cpu, lol it just oozed out when I put the heatsink on it. Good times, good times.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Somehow I can't see mixing a great compound with an ok compound yielding better results than just using the great compound alone. And yeah, I think usually you want as little compound as possible. Back in my more noobish days I put like 3/4 of a tube of AS5 on a cpu, lol it just oozed out when I put the heatsink on it. Good times, good times.
Click to expand...

:p

Well, knowing next to nothing about the compounds, other then they're all designed to do exactly the same thing (transfer as much heat as possible) I'd say the temp transfer would only be as bad as whichever had the lower thermal viscosity rating. That's just a guess though.
 
Mixing the compounds in and of itself shouldn't really matter. I'd be worried about having too much paste though, since you're basically using double what you should be. If I were you, I'd take off the heatsink, clean everything, and reapply AS5.
 
Isn't he already idling at 24? That's pretty good. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
 
Frobot said:
Isn't he already idling at 24? That's pretty good. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
Click to expand...

Because the DTS in his CPU is completely incapable of reporting correct temperatures in that range, and because idle temps are completely meaningless.
 
guys, i build up enough courage to take it apart again. And what i saw shocked me a bit. The preapplied thermal compound was all over the cpu, and oozed out to the sides of the cpu heatspreader. It took me forever to clean up the cpu (actually took it out of the socket) and the heatsink with alcohol. After cleaning I applied AS5 (as per arctic silver's recommendation). Now it idles at like 24c-25c range, so idk if it was all worth it.
 
Like I said, your idle temps don't really mean anything since the sensors aren't anywhere near accurate at such low levels. You'll need to do some load testing to get a real idea of how well your CPU is being cooled. However, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.
 
ClockerX said:
guys, i build up enough courage to take it apart again. And what i saw shocked me a bit. The preapplied thermal compound was all over the cpu, and oozed out to the sides of the cpu heatspreader. It took me forever to clean up the cpu (actually took it out of the socket) and the heatsink with alcohol. After cleaning I applied AS5 (as per arctic silver's recommendation). Now it idles at like 24c-25c range, so idk if it was all worth it.
Click to expand...

Good decision I'm glad that worked out. Also remember the AS5 supposedly takes a week+ to cure.
 
ClockerX said:
guys, i build up enough courage to take it apart again. And what i saw shocked me a bit. The preapplied thermal compound was all over the cpu, and oozed out to the sides of the cpu heatspreader. It took me forever to clean up the cpu (actually took it out of the socket) and the heatsink with alcohol. After cleaning I applied AS5 (as per arctic silver's recommendation). Now it idles at like 24c-25c range, so idk if it was all worth it.
Click to expand...

Your ease of mind is well worth it. Now you don't have to give it a second thought.;)

jime
 
I just use butter on my 2600K... concern of overheating the CPU is not on the top of my list, but rather the VRs and caps surrounding the CPU.
 
ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!!11 Their trying to eat me!!!!

This thread was 4.5 years old. *tisk tisk*
 
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