Too much thermal paste?

[vinnie92]

Hi there,
I'm assembling my new pc when (maybe?) an issue came out. My doubts concern  the cpu cooler installation. When I applied the thermal paste I had the impression that I used too much (although I tried to apply the minimum pressure I was able on the syringe plunger) and more or less was like that (maybe less...): 

When I installed the cpu cooler I found that it was slightly slippery when positioning it on the cpu surface and when I was screwing the screws it slightly moved on the surface of the cpu, then the issue: once I mounted it I noticed an amount of thermal paste visible near the  one edge of the cpu (the other edge visible is clean) that are not covered by the cooler  

(and maybe as I said before because it was slightly slippery when I was installing it).
Now the question is: Should I be worried about it? There is the risk that the thermal paste drips away while the case is in vertical position?

The actual situation is illustrated by the attached photos

 

Thanks in advance

[Enderman]

its fine

luke proved there is no reduced performance from applying too much paste

 

it always feels slipperly when you put a CPU cooler on a CPU with thermal paste, thats normal

 

but it doesnt look like a lot is coming out the side, thermal paste is really thick and wont drip

also its non conductive, so no risk of damaging parts

but if it does drip, it will drip straight down and hit the CPU retention bracket, not any parts, so thats even less of a concern

[Najuno]

Too much thermal compound can be as bad as too less. In case of a doubt I´d just do it again. As for you other concern with the thermal paste as long as you use non conductive paste you´re okay... not pretty but okay.

[Samfisher]

You have nothing to worry if the thermal paste is non conductive.  You've used about twice as much as I usually do and yes it does feel slippery, just the way it is.

[aisle9]

Yeah, you used a lot. I usually remove the cooler, clean it and reseat with less paste, but I'm OCD like that. Your paste job won't hurt anything.

[vinnie92]

1 minute ago, Samfisher said:

You have nothing to worry if the thermal paste is non conductive.  You've used about twice as much as I usually do and yes it does feel slippery, just the way it is.

Using the first photo as sample, my thermal paste  was of the same size of the photo but less in height. As I said I really tried to apply the minimum amount of pressure on the syringe plunger but it came out that amount. The thermal paste I used was the one included with the cpu cooler. Do you know if it is conductive?

[Samfisher]

2 minutes ago, vinnie92 said:

Using the first photo as sample, my thermal paste  was of the same size of the photo but less in height. As I said I really tried to apply the minimum amount of pressure on the syringe plunger but it came out that amount. The thermal paste I used was the one included with the cpu cooler. Do you know if it is conductive?

That looks like a Hyper 212? Not too sure about that cos I personally use Prolimatech PK-2.  As long as the paste doesn't touch the socket you're fine.

[vinnie92]

2 minutes ago, Samfisher said:

That looks like a Hyper 212? Not too sure about that cos I personally use Prolimatech PK-2.  As long as the paste doesn't touch the socket you're fine.

Sorry, I forgot to say the model. It is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo. 

[Samfisher]

1 minute ago, vinnie92 said:

Sorry, I forgot to say the model. It is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo. 

If you can reach it, try to wipe a bit off with an alcohol swab or something

[Enderman]

22 minutes ago, Najuno said:

Too much thermal compound can be as bad as too less. 

did you not watch the video??

youre completely wrong...

[vinnie92]

Thank you all, I was going crazy!  
I think that I'll try to remove the visible thermal paste using a cotton swab.

[Najuno]

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

did you not watch the video??

youre completely wrong...

Well I live of my own experiences and I´ve build more than 200 systems. So I believe what I´ve had so far... you can feel free and believe what you like best. But keep your completely wrong blabla to yourself please, because compound isn´t compound. You can easily shorten out a board with too much compound that´s conductive.

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, Najuno said:

Well I live of my own experiences and I´ve build more than 200 systems. So I believe what I´ve had so far... you can feel free and believe what you like best. But keep your completely wrong blabla to yourself please, because compound isn´t compound. You can easily shorten out a board with too much compound that´s conductive.

oh yeah sure and how many of those 200 PCs did you test with more vs less thermal compound, ran benchmarks, and compared the numbers?

0

and no, this thermal compound is not conductive

 

and yeah, you' havent proved me wrong at all

"i have built 200 PCs" doesnt prove anything lol

so since this is a public forum, and I have free speech, I can tell you you're wrong because I have proof and you dont

[Najuno]

Just now, Enderman said:

oh yeah sure and how many of those 200 PCs did you test with more vs less thermal compound, ran benchmarks, and compared the numbers?

0

and no, this thermal compound is not conductive

 

and yeah, you' havent proved me wrong at all

"i have built 200 PCs" doesnt prove anything lol

so since this is a public forum, and I have free speech, I can tell you you're wrong because I have proof and you dont

See and I have the same right to speak my mind! I don´t owe you any sort of explanation what so ever.

 

That´s why I don´t care about your BS! Enjoy your day.

[Quinnbeast]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

did you not watch the video??

youre completely wrong...

You really do have a massive hard-on for that video. It's bizarre.

[Enderman]

1 hour ago, Quinnbeast said:

You really do have a massive hard-on for that video. It's bizarre.

What does that mean?

 

I'm just saying hes wrong and he can go watch it for proof that hes wrong

 

Some people have trouble admitting they're wrong, just ignore him

OP already knows the right answer, so its good

[Quinnbeast]

31 minutes ago, Enderman said:

What does that mean?

 

I'm just saying hes wrong and he can go watch it for proof that hes wrong

 

Some people have trouble admitting they're wrong, just ignore him

OP already knows the right answer, so its good

 

It means exactly what I've typed. You'll happily dismiss anyone else's opinion that differs from yours BECAUSE VIDEO: a bit militant don't you think? You talk about 'proof' as if the subject is now moot, and cannot be discussed by other forum users who have experiences that may differ in some way. It's a forum. People discuss things, you know?

 

Doesn't Luke in fact use one type of paste with a single high-end cooler? That's not exactly a comprehensive test, and not even representative of any sort of 'average'. Different coolers apply pressure differently in terms both of the amount of pressure and the shape of the contact area (i.e. perfectly flat / slightly convex etc). Pastes have slightly different qualities too. Any yet, unless we come to the table with some sort of empirical evidence, it's not good enough for you. Oh well.

 

[Enderman]

12 minutes ago, Quinnbeast said:

 

It means exactly what I've typed. You'll happily dismiss anyone else's opinion that differs from yours BECAUSE VIDEO: a bit militant don't you think? You talk about 'proof' as if the subject is now moot, and cannot be discussed by other forum users who have experiences that may differ in some way. It's a forum. People discuss things, you know?

 

Doesn't Luke in fact use one type of paste with a single high-end cooler? That's not exactly a comprehensive test, and not even representative of any sort of 'average'. Different coolers apply pressure differently in terms both of the amount of pressure and the shape of the contact area (i.e. perfectly flat / slightly convex etc). Pastes have slightly different qualities too. Any yet, unless we come to the table with some sort of empirical evidence, it's not good enough for you. Oh well.

 

1)actually, if you even tried to read his post, his only proof was "i built 200 systems"

which is not even proof IMO

 

2) all coolers need to apply a minimum standard mounting pressure based on intel specifications, so no, mounting pressure would not be a factor in this

 

3) thermal paste is made to fill in the gap between two surfaces. a slightly concave or convex surface does not make a difference (and CPU coolers have an almost perfectly flat surface on the bottom anyway)

 

4) almost all thermal pastes are the same, as you can see from the viscosity and performance graphs

since this is not a liquid metal paste then it is not completely different

 

5) maybe if you go to school you will learn how important actual tests and data is, not just "i built 200 pcs, i would know"

If you have a problem then complain to luke, he's the one who ran the tests

 

6) If that guy provided any kind of valid data to prove me wrong I would have gladly accepted his point, but he did not, so too bad

He didnt even describe his "experiences" building his 200 systems or what tests he ran, so its pretty obvious he was just making up BS because he didnt want to admit he was wrong

 

[Enderman]

24 minutes ago, Quinnbeast said:

 

It means exactly what I've typed. You'll happily dismiss anyone else's opinion that differs from yours BECAUSE VIDEO: a bit militant don't you think? You talk about 'proof' as if the subject is now moot, and cannot be discussed by other forum users who have experiences that may differ in some way. It's a forum. People discuss things, you know?

 

Doesn't Luke in fact use one type of paste with a single high-end cooler? That's not exactly a comprehensive test, and not even representative of any sort of 'average'. Different coolers apply pressure differently in terms both of the amount of pressure and the shape of the contact area (i.e. perfectly flat / slightly convex etc). Pastes have slightly different qualities too. Any yet, unless we come to the table with some sort of empirical evidence, it's not good enough for you. Oh well.

 

Here is some proof that the concavity of CPUs doesnt make a difference

http://www.overclock.net/t/1173235/how-concave-are-new-intel-cpus-really-info

unfortunately the images are gone since the hosting site removed them for being old, but you can see that the people who did see the images agree that the tests very well done and accurate

 

You can also see that the surface between CPU and heatsink is not important because pretty much nobody laps their CPU anymore these days

[Quinnbeast]

7 minutes ago, Enderman said:

1)actually, if you even tried to read his post, his only proof was "i built 200 systems"

which is not even proof IMO

 

2) all coolers need to apply a minimum standard mounting pressure based on intel specifications, so no, mounting pressure would not be a factor in this

 

3) thermal paste is made to fill in the gap between two surfaces. a slightly concave or convex surface does not make a difference (and CPU coolers have an almost perfectly flat surface on the bottom anyway)

 

4) almost all thermal pastes are the same, as you can see from the viscosity and performance graphs

since this is not a liquid metal paste then it is not completely different

 

5) maybe if you go to school you will learn how important actual tests and data is, not just "i built 200 pcs, i would know"

If you have a problem then complain to luke, he's the one who ran the tests

 

6) If that guy provided any kind of valid data to prove me wrong I would have gladly accepted his point, but he did not, so too bad

He didnt even describe his "experiences" building his 200 systems or what tests he ran, so its pretty obvious he was just making up BS because he didnt want to admit he was wrong

 

1) You really go out of your way to be abrasive don't you? Are you suggesting he should have recorded every single build, if it were in fact true? A friend of mine used to run a small custom-build firm, and I'm pretty sure he didn't record videos of himself building systems all day long - which isn't 'proof' in any way, but does suggest he might have some valid experience on this subject. 

2) They have minimum/recommended specifications to meet. They are not, however, all exactly the same in how much pressure they apply. Intel push-pin mount vs Noctua tower mount? Nope.

3) I know what thermal paste is for. How do you know the shape doesn't make a difference (genuine question here)?

4) I'll take your word for it.

5) If you stopped insulting people unnecessarily, maybe they would actually listen to what you have to say instead of harming your own argument. I don't have a problem with the video in any way, just your complete fascination with it and your inability to discuss the subject without treating people like dicks.

6) Point 1) again? Okay. 

7) Your second post - I was talking more about the cooler base, since they're more prone to variation. That article appears to be more about CPU lapping, which is relevant but doesn't really comment on coolers (I only had a quick look). Hard to tell without the images.

8) Thanks for your time. I'm off to bed (after midnight here).

[Enderman]

17 minutes ago, Quinnbeast said:

1) You really go out of your way to be abrasive don't you? Are you suggesting he should have recorded every single build, if it were in fact true? A friend of mine used to run a small custom-build firm, and I'm pretty sure he didn't record videos of himself building systems all day long - which isn't 'proof' in any way, but does suggest he might have some valid experience on this subject. 

2) They have minimum/recommended specifications to meet. They are not, however, all exactly the same in how much pressure they apply. Intel push-pin mount vs Noctua tower mount? Nope.

3) I know what thermal paste is for. How do you know the shape doesn't make a difference (genuine question here)?

4) I'll take your word for it.

5) If you stopped insulting people unnecessarily, maybe they would actually listen to what you have to say instead of harming your own argument. I don't have a problem with the video in any way, just your complete fascination with it and your inability to discuss the subject without treating people like dicks.

6) Point 1) again? Okay. 

7) Your second post - I was talking more about the cooler base, since they're more prone to variation. That article appears to be more about CPU lapping, which is relevant but doesn't really comment on coolers (I only had a quick look). Hard to tell without the images.

8) Thanks for your time. I'm off to bed (after midnight here).

Even just saying "on some of the 200 PCs I built i noticed temperatures were excessively high so I removed the cooler and found thermal paste spilling over the sides so I removed it and reapplied and the temperatures were back to normal" would have been enough proof

 

All he even managed to say was "I built 200 systems" and "i dont owe any kind of explanation" basically just means "I'm lying and I cant prove any of what I'm saying so I'm going to leave"

 

This is really common on online forums, you'll see it a lot more often the longer you are here, since you're pretty new

 

For the proof of #3 I posted that second topic about lapping not making any performance difference

The reason why this applies to #3 is because lapping is most commonly done to intel CPUs because they are concave while AMD CPUs are not

And since you can see from benchmarks that lapping is unnecessary, the concavity of a CPU is not an issue, thermal paste fills it all

Based on this conclusion that concavity does not matter for a CPU, it will also not make a difference if the cooler is concave/convex because the thermal paste spreads out to fill the gap whatever shape it is on either side

 

 

If you're think that im "treating people like dicks" then you can press the report button right below the post instead of replying/starting arguments

I made it pretty obvious to the "i built 200 systems" guy that he was wrong, and that didnt involve you at all

The internet isnt flowers and rainbows, so tbh youre gonna need to toughen up a little and not get upset about just some pixels on a screen  or just try not to be a white knight

[Quinnbeast]

- double post - move along - 

[Quinnbeast]

10 hours ago, Enderman said:

 * things *

 

Thanks for the reply Enderman. I totally get your point about variations between CPU coolers and the IHS - but there's still nothing there that actually shows a tested comparison (i.e. proof) between different mounting systems / different CPUs on the subject at hand, although the concept looks solid enough and I'll happily take it at face value.

 

Also, thanks for your explanation for how the internet works; for what it's worth, I registered my first forum account was around 1998. I may be new here. Talk of toughening up on a discussion about CPU TIM is kind of hilarious don't you think? If there's one universal constant about the internet, it's that a little bit of anonymity suddenly makes teenagers in tough guys and lose responsibility for how they treat people, and in turn blame it on the internet. Honestly, if you pick a random set of youtube comments, would any of these people have the balls to say any of this stuff to a stranger in person? One or two would, the rest are keyboard warriors at best, and totally deluding themselves ("I totally ripped that guy a new one...on the internet"). *sigh*

 

Also - the whole "press the report button" isn't really my thing, unless someone genuinely deserves to be called out. I mean, it's the equivalent of going running to your manager at work because you had a minor disagreement with a college. All being well, you would hope that two adults could settle it between them. Also - "white knight". Woooo, I haven't been called that for a while. I prefer to conduct myself online as I do in person; I'm not really interested in satisfying the status quo for the sake of a quiet life. So yeah, you could say I set myself up for some grief. 

[Duh_tech]

Look at the video that Luke did, he went over meany different ways of applying thermal interface material and did one way with way too much thermal interface material and it trapped in the heat and made the temps to high. Just use a line across the centre of the CPU or GPU core, IHS, or die. Or you can just do a dot in the centre of the CPU or GPU. 

[ThomasD]

With the tension springs of the 212 it is all but impossible to have a too thick layer of TIM.  Sure you can apply too much, and then have it squeeze out the sides, but so long as it is not conductive, nor a truly massive excess then do not worry about it.