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Too much Thermal Compund

The Crazed Child
By The Crazed Child
in Cooling
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Today I was applying some GC-EXTREME compound to my i7 2600 (non K). I already knew that only a blob the size of a rice grain was enough, but it was so little that couldn't seem to be able to spread it around with the included applicator. I added another blob and spreaded it which covered the whole surface area of the integrated heat spreader. It looked like it was a fine layer so I closed the case and fired it back up again. To my surprise, I opened up Core Temp to find that temperatures had risen a few degrees. Also when running a torture test on Prime95 (in-place large FFTs), temps got up to 96c. Before I applied the paste it got up to around 82c. 

 

I would have thought it would have reduced the CPU temps by at least 5 degrees celsius?

 

So obviously I have applied to much thermal compound. Could someone show me what is a suitable amount?

CPU: i7 2600 @ 4.2GHz  COOLING: NZXT Kraken X31 RAM: 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz MOBO: Gigabyte Z68-UD3-XP GPU: XFX R9 280X Double Dissipation SSD #1: 120GB OCZ Vertex 2  SSD #2: 240GB Corsair Force 3 HDD #1: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 600W CASE: NZXT H230
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz COOLING: Cooler Master Eclipse RAM: 4x1GB Corsair XMS2 @ 800MHz MOBO: XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLi GPU: 2x ASUS GTX 560 DirectCU in SLi HDD #1: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM PSU: TBA CASE: Antec 300
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No need to spread the thermal paste..

Just one grain and press heatsink on

watch a linus build guide

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No need to spread the thermal paste..

Just one grain and press heatsink on

watch a linus build guide

Thanks for that, I feel like such an idiot. I've seen the same thermal paste being spread before, so I thought that was what the applicator was for. Thanks!

 

Also, I don't have any isopropyl alcohol, can I still clean it off with a tissue?

CPU: i7 2600 @ 4.2GHz  COOLING: NZXT Kraken X31 RAM: 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz MOBO: Gigabyte Z68-UD3-XP GPU: XFX R9 280X Double Dissipation SSD #1: 120GB OCZ Vertex 2  SSD #2: 240GB Corsair Force 3 HDD #1: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 600W CASE: NZXT H230
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz COOLING: Cooler Master Eclipse RAM: 4x1GB Corsair XMS2 @ 800MHz MOBO: XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLi GPU: 2x ASUS GTX 560 DirectCU in SLi HDD #1: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM PSU: TBA CASE: Antec 300
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