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thermal paste off to side

H

hanlin

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Messages
243
I used AS5 on my video card heatsink and when I took it off, I saw that most of it was off to the side of the core. There was very little in the middle and I could see through it completely. I haven't had any problems with my video card though. Is this a problem I should worry about? I don't want to do any lapping.
 
Did you apply the thermal paste and spread it or did you just put a dab in the middle, and put on the heatsink to spread the paste over itself?

Thermal paste is just to fill in the gaps between the heatsink and processor core. If it gathers up in some areas more than others, then it is probably the heatsink that needs to be lapped.
 
I spread it around so that the core was completely covered. What happens if you apply too much thermal paste?
 
First off was the card running ok before you took it apart?
Second The purpose of thermal paste is to help transfer the heat from one surface to the other.
In the best of all possible worlds Candeed ( :D } Both surfaces would be completely flat, right down to the microscopic level, thus no paste would be needed.
I've taken many a Hs off and have seen little or no paste in the die area.
Rest easy!
Do a Lap Dance on that heat sink and Just put a thin layer on and frag away.
Good luck and Happy New Year !
 
Video card hasn't had problems. I just had to readjust the water cooling setup and took it off. Anyway, I think I put way too much thermal paste on my cpu. Will this make the cpu actually run hotter than if it was a very thin layer?
 
Yesser Re Bob !
To much will act as an insulator
Again perfectly flat Metal to metal is best. The paste works at the microscopic level
Also an air pocket once had me FLumoxed. After I took off the HS to apply new paste (slow weekend) Temps were higher . Turned out I had an air pocket
 
hanlin said:
I spread it around so that the core was completely covered.
Click to expand...

If you were careful for cover it very evenly (or if you smeared on gobs of paste like a peanut butter sandwich), then the bare spot you saw would be where there was the most contact.
 
OPUS1 said:
Yesser Re Bob !
To much will act as an insulator
Again perfectly flat Metal to metal is best. The paste works at the microscopic level
Also an air pocket once had me FLumoxed. After I took off the HS to apply new paste (slow weekend) Temps were higher . Turned out I had an air pocket
Click to expand...

Video heatsinks are rarely flat, and chips never are. He needs to lap the heatsink and use a good amount of paste to avoid creating those air pockets, unless he wants to lap the chip too. Chips can be lapped but the two times I've tried it took two hours starting with 200 grit emory board to be able to grind the surface away.

edit: Oops, the new gen cards have exposed cores I believe. Those you dont wanna touch at all. All earlier cards are covered with a heatspreader kind of thing with the core sealed inside.. that cover is what you lap, and even then you only need a square centimeter of contact in the center where the core lies underneath.
 
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