Too Much Thermal Paste

[Dylan Becker]

So this was my first time trying to use thermal paste and I ended up using too much. It just barely ran out the sides, and I cleaned that little bit off. What kind of temp differences would I notice by going ahead with a little too much paste? Is it worth wiping clean and starting over?

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

If it was only little overspill and you cleaned it up good then let it be. If the CPU and heatsink sits securely and little lever is in closed position then all should be good.
It's enough to just squeeze a pea sized blob of paste into middle of the CPU and attach the heatsink, the pressure will spread it around. No need to go smearing it around like butter with the credit card and whatnot.

[Dylan Becker]

Thanks a lot! You should probably just be employed by Valve for helping out so frequently.

[Silicon Vampire]

Unfortunately, his advice is wrong.

You break the "seal" on the contact between the CPU and heat-sink, you need to clean everything again, then reapply the compound properly.

While you can "get away with it", it may not end well as you can create air pockets that scorch your CPU.

EDIT --------------------------------------------------

I'm a tech that has been working on this type of thing for 30 years.

[_I_]

silicon is correct

if you just wiped it off the base of the heatsink without seperating the cpu and heatsink, its fine
if you picked up the heatsink to clean it, you need to start over again

[Dylan Becker]

I separated the heatsink and wiped down the paste that remained on the CPU. I left what remained on the heatsink and screwed it back into place. So you guys think there will be bubbles then?

[_I_]

yes

clean it up, and put a 1/2 pea sized dot in the center of the cpu and put the heatsink on

[Dylan Becker]

Is it bad if the paste doesn't cover the entire cpu?

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Początkowo opublikowane przez _I_:

if you just wiped it off the base of the heatsink without seperating the cpu and heatsink, its fine
if you picked up the heatsink to clean it, you need to start over again

That's what I meant by only little overspill, should have probably been more specific, good point. Besides he didnt mention anything about separating the heatsink and CPU again.

[Dylan Becker]

Yeah, when I posted this originally I hadn't separated it. Thought I'd play it safe and remove some more, but apparently that backfired:P

[Bad 💀 Motha]

So wait; did u remove the heatsink?
Or did u just wipe around the rim of the CPU/Heatsink to rid it of any excess that over-spilled?

If u didn't remove the heatsink then u should be fine.

[Dylan Becker]

I did:(

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Not a big deal, just clean it all up (surface of CPU and Heatsink) with rubbing alcohol or eye-glass cleaning solution and re-apply a smaller dab of it. Pea-sized in middle the CPU. Then when u go to install the Heatsink, take your time with that and try allow it to be centered and install evenly and not move around while installing. Then the paste should fan-out like a pancake and fill the CPU.

[Dylan Becker]

Alright guys, I tried removing the thermal paste but for some reason it won't get completely clean. It basically looks like the CPU is slightly fogged up. Is it alright to re-apply or does it really need to be as shiny as when I got it?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Should be fine to just re-apply as long as no excess is visable. If surface area was never "shiny" to begin with, then don't worry about that. Long as it is "clean"

[Literally Thousands of Bees]

be careful!