thermal compound application

[yovoazeto]

i bought this cooler quite a few years ago, and used the thermal compound pre applied to it. and this is what it looks like now. is this a reasonable spread? it looks like their are gaps in it which bothers me, but would that actually hurt performance? or worse cause over heating in localized areas? next time should i scrap it off and apply my own?

[IkeaGnome]

That should be cleaned up and get new paste.

[CommanderAlex]

10 minutes ago, yovoazeto said:

it looks like their are gaps in it which bothers me, but would that actually hurt performance?

That's the purpose of thermal paste; to fill in the gaps in the surface of the IHS and cold plate to ensure proper heat transfer. 

 

Now, you would clean both surfaces with something such as isopropyl alcohol (>90% concentration...70% ok but will leave some residue from the water so you will have to buff it out with a clean microfiber cloth) and reapply thermal paste. 

[whispous]

Now you've removed it, you should be cleaning all the paste and re-applying new.

Were you having any actual issues?

[Somerandomtechyboi]

12 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

That should be cleaned up and get new paste.

^^^

As for paste reccomendation gd007 is pretty good and very cheap but if unavailable arctic mx4/6 should do fine aswell

 

Also you should problably get a better cooler for an fx 8350, i mean looks like you got a board capable of clocking the thing too (what looks like a 970a-g) and these chips clock pretty well

[WackySpace]

I recommend using 99% isopropyl alcohol to be safe, and the mx4/6 is a good paste, but I use thermal grizzly. Use ear buds or a microfiber cloth to be safe, and spread the paste evenly with a plastic spatula that usually comes with the paste with a pea sized grain of paste, and then install the heatsink and plug the fan into the mb.

[alyen]

When I use a cooler like that, I try to spread some paste in the gaps between the copper heat pipes and the cold plate. It may or may not really make a noticeable difference.