Thermal paste

[Saltnado]

So I'm installing my d15, things are going great until I cant get it to screw on properly. Ofcourse I wasn't putting enough pressure and will I say it takes alot of pressure. Well I between all that the heatsink was moving back and forth nothing serious trying to get everything to line up. Still couldnt get it so I figured I'll take the heatsink off make sure brackets are right and I didnt over do it with the paste. Probably about a hour of me messing with it total so I do some light research came up with the conclusion that I wasn't using enough pressure so I slapped it back on and got it together. Should I have cleaned my CPU and heatsink before I just put it back on? I had a very even coating on both. If so I would rather do it now so I dont have to pull everything back out.

Thanks for any info.

[TheKDub]

If you remove the heatsink, you need to clean off the paste and re-apply it. Reusing paste will almost guarantee air bubbles trapped in the paste, which means much worse cooling performance.

[Slayer3032]

Noctua's Secufirm just goes down until it stops. No need to overtighten or anything like that, just tighten until it stops and the springs on the screws are what give you the actual mounting pressure. Make sure your mount kit is installed correctly, level, no bends, loose or overtightened parts. I generally get one screw a turn or so then go for the other one, alternating and tightening it down evenly like Noctua recommends.

 

Definitely always repaste unless you're just testing to see if hardware works or not and you will repaste later anyways.

[Saltnado]

Ok looks like I'll pull it off and clean my cpu and heat sink tomorrow:/

Unfortunately @Slayer3032 mine did no want to line up at all and there are a bunch of post about it one screw would catch the first threads then pop right off. Mabey your more use to it than I am I'm not sure all I can say is getting it all to line up tomorrow is gonna be a pain without it moving around. Any tips? I understand that not all products will go together with ease but if I get one screw going just barely mabey the first thread. just to hold one side in position the other side lifts ofcourse. Does this sound like a issue with manufacturing? My brackets are on correct.

I'm running a aorus z390 master with intel 8700 pretty straight forward.

[LogicalDrm]

Depends on situation really. I've changed my cooler orientation with same paste. And after that it was in place for 2 years before I did change the paste. But if you removed paste on either half or touched it, then obviously its better to change the paste.

[Slayer3032]

12 hours ago, Saltnado said:

Ok looks like I'll pull it off and clean my cpu and heat sink tomorrow:/

Unfortunately @Slayer3032 mine did no want to line up at all and there are a bunch of post about it one screw would catch the first threads then pop right off. Mabey your more use to it than I am I'm not sure all I can say is getting it all to line up tomorrow is gonna be a pain without it moving around. Any tips? I understand that not all products will go together with ease but if I get one screw going just barely mabey the first thread. just to hold one side in position the other side lifts ofcourse. Does this sound like a issue with manufacturing? My brackets are on correct.

I'm running a aorus z390 master with intel 8700 pretty straight forward.

It still sounds like your mounting kit isn't installed correctly but make absolutely sure the mounting kit is level and nothing is tweaked or bent before you fully tighten it down.

 

It would help to push down on the screw and slowly/lightly turn them to get them started since they are sprung, I'd stick one hand on the cooler to keep it from rocking around and use your other hand to push down on the screw while turning it until it gets a turn or turn and a half down. Maybe also test the springs, you should be able to press them down. Probably not by hand but if you press into them with a screw driver they should at least compress a little. If one is like stuck or something I'd contact Noctua. My NH-D14 is 9 years old now so my springs are weaker than they used to be, so I can't really say how stiff new ones are.

[Saltnado]

I got on just had to use a little force and my mounting kit is perfect. I'm almost about to power on my new rig for the first time whoop whoop