Question about Thermal Compound

[Don Perfecto]

I'm quite new to assembling computers, so please bare with me as this is a beginner's question:

While waiting for some thermal compound to arrive from Amazon, I started assembling some parts just to see how things work.

I attached my Intel G3900 Dual Core CPU to my MSI PRO Z270A SLI Plus Motherboard.

After seeing it attach properly, I removed the fan and realized there must have been some stock Thermal Compound on the fan that has now spread to the processor. I had read a tutorial that said to remove the stock thermal compound, so I tried to remove with a dry napkin but it was pretty hard to remove, so now my fan and processor have about half a layer of thermal compound on each.

My question is this: what should I do once I receive the new thermal compound (Arctic Silver 5) from Amazon? Should I apply the new compound over the existing, try to remove the stock and then apply the new, or just go with the stock (which I partially removed)?

Like I said I'm new to all this so any direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Dannyh2]

Doesn't really matter i think. I had a similar CPU with only 3 mounting points attached because the other one was broken on a stock intel cooler. Still running today. Just watch the temps with coretemp for example: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/. It probably wont even reach 60 degrees.

[Turk Ace]

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say your fan had paste on it already. That is odd. You need to take it off and clean it with cleaning alcohol. Thermal paste comes with a scraping took to remove the existing paste. Also the less paste you use the better. What you trying to do is get a nice thin conductive layer between the plates.

[Dannyh2]

Every stock intel cooler has TIM on it already. Think that't what he means

[jrrccmining]

My CPU of choice is the G4400. The cooling fan comes with thermal paste already applied and it is sufficient to simply use that.

Aftermarket thermal paste is really only needed if you are re-purposing a CPU and have have removed the cooling fan at some point. Otherwise, the stock paste is perfectly fine to use.

What you'll want to do is remove what you didn't know what there and apply aftermarket paste. One pea-size dab in the center is all you need.

[Undefined31415]

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say your fan had paste on it already. That is odd. You need to take it off and clean it with cleaning alcohol. Thermal paste comes with a scraping took to remove the existing paste. Also the less paste you use the better. What you trying to do is get a nice thin conductive layer between the plates.

Every stock intel cooler has TIM on it already. Think that't what he means

I think Don Perfecto was referring to the thermal compound already applied to the contact point of the stock heatsink (not fan).



The best practice is to clean the surface of the processor and the heatsink before applying new thermal compound, but it is definitely not necessary, especially for a relatively low-power processor, such as your Celeron (51W). Isopropanol will suffice, as Turk Ace mentioned. Just make sure that you pick 90%+ Isopropanol, or make sure that you wait a few minutes for any excess moisture to dissolve before seating the CPU.

[Don Perfecto]

Thanks very much for the replies everyone.

I believe the heatsink is what I was referring to. It's the underside of the CPU Cooler (the part touching the CPU).

Sounds like I'll be okay just using the stock thermal. The tutorial I watched was showing someone move a CPU from a different motherboard, so that's where I got the idea that I needed to apply an aftermarket paste.

Thanks again everyone for the direction. Cheers.