Thermal Grease Reapplication

My CPU has been runner hotter recently, so I figured it's time to reapply
the thermal grease. I already have Arctic Silver III on it, and will replace
with Arctic Silver 5. Do I need to clean the old stuff off first, or should
I just put it right over the top?

Ewan

Captain Blammo wrote:
My CPU has been runner hotter recently, so I figured it's time to
reapply the thermal grease. I already have Arctic Silver III on it,
and will replace with Arctic Silver 5. Do I need to clean the old
stuff off first, or should I just put it right over the top?

Ewan

Absolutely, clean the CPU and the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol before
applying a *thin* layer of heatsink compound on the CPU die.

Absolutely, clean the CPU and the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol before
applying a *thin* layer of heatsink compound on the CPU die.

Damn, I thought as much. What should I use to wipe it with? Will a cotton
bud be OK or do I need a special cloth?

Ewan

Captain Blammo wrote:
Absolutely, clean the CPU and the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol
before applying a *thin* layer of heatsink compound on the CPU die.

Damn, I thought as much. What should I use to wipe it with? Will a
cotton bud be OK or do I need a special cloth?

Ewan

A lint free cloth would be best. I've used alcohol swabs that you get
at the store for cleaning wounds. They're soaked in alcohol
(isopropyl), and they're more sturdy than cotton swabs, but plain cotton
swabs will work. Just make sure there's no fibers on the die before you
apply the thermal compound. BTW, do not touch the compound on the die,
as finger oils will cause problems. It's best to apply some, then use
something like a credit card, or stiff plastic, to spread it evenly on
the die.

Hi Ewan,
As Icee indicated you *must* remove all the old stuff. Don't use anything
but a lint free cloth to clean. Anything else could leave fibers (some so
small they are hard/impossible to see).
If you are working with an Intel P4 CPU do *not* spread a thin layer - go to
the Artic Silver site for complete instructions and follow them! It's not
necessary to cover the entire die with the grease, only a small circle in
the middle. Check out the instructions he http://tinyurl.com/azm0
--
Tally Ho!
Ed
"Captain Blammo" wrote in message
...
Absolutely, clean the CPU and the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol before
applying a *thin* layer of heatsink compound on the CPU die.

Damn, I thought as much. What should I use to wipe it with? Will a cotton
bud be OK or do I need a special cloth?

Ewan

"Captain Blammo" wrote in message ...

My CPU has been runner hotter recently, so I figured
it's time to reapply the thermal grease. I already
have Arctic Silver III on it, and will replace with
Arctic Silver 5. Do I need to clean the old stuff
off first, or should I just put it right over the top?

I'd remove the old grease. Just wipe it off and blow off any
remaining dust. Alcohol and a regular paper towel are also fine.

Or...

Remove the fan from the heatsink, and take everything to a chip
manufacturing plant. Just show them the secret sign of the Skull &
Bones society, and they'll not only let you in, but they'll even bring
out their stash of old-fashioned ozone-depleting cleaning solvents
just for you. Then, while still wearing your clean room bunny suit,
apply Arctic Diamond XVIII to the chip (Arctic Silver is only for
people who don't belong to Skull & Bones), and clamp on the heatsink.
Repeat every 4 days for the rest of your life because it really
matters.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll go and get some isopropyl alcohol and a
lint free cloth. I'm glad I didn't just slap it on :-)

I assume that I'm doing the right thing; my CPU temps have been crawling
upwards since the summer. I've got an Athlon XP 1800+ with the CPU VCore at
1.792. Is that normal for a non-OC'd processor? The power supply might be a
bit cheap, but the heatsink seems cooler than it used to be when I touch it,
so I assume thermal transfer is the problem.

Oh, the +12v is reading 12.576, but I assume that's OK too.

Thanks again!

Ewan

Captain Blammo wrote:
Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll go and get some isopropyl
alcohol and a lint free cloth. I'm glad I didn't just slap it on :-)

I assume that I'm doing the right thing; my CPU temps have been
crawling upwards since the summer. I've got an Athlon XP 1800+ with
the CPU VCore at
1.792. Is that normal for a non-OC'd processor? The power supply
might be a bit cheap, but the heatsink seems cooler than it used to
be when I touch it, so I assume thermal transfer is the problem.

1.6 volts is default for the 1800+. That's quite high for not being
overclocked. It's not surprising the temp is up. That's something you
should check into. If Vcore is adjustable, bring it down to 1.6v.

Oh, the +12v is reading 12.576, but I assume that's OK too.

+12 volts can generally be +-10% off, and 12.576 is just within the high
side of +5% (12.6v), so that's ok.

Thanks again!

Ewan

Good luck.

ICee wrote:
Captain Blammo wrote:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll go and get some isopropyl
alcohol and a lint free cloth. I'm glad I didn't just slap it on :-)

I assume that I'm doing the right thing; my CPU temps have been
crawling upwards since the summer. I've got an Athlon XP 1800+ with
the CPU VCore at
1.792. Is that normal for a non-OC'd processor? The power supply
might be a bit cheap, but the heatsink seems cooler than it used to
be when I touch it, so I assume thermal transfer is the problem.


1.6 volts is default for the 1800+. That's quite high for not being
overclocked. It's not surprising the temp is up. That's something you
should check into. If Vcore is adjustable, bring it down to 1.6v.

It depends on which model 1800+ he's got. Vcore for an XP model 6 1800+,
which it looks like he has, is 1.75 and his 1.792 reading is only 2.4% off
of that, which includes both measurement and regulator tolerances.


Oh, the +12v is reading 12.576, but I assume that's OK too.


+12 volts can generally be +-10% off, and 12.576 is just within the high
side of +5% (12.6v), so that's ok.


Thanks again!

Ewan


Good luck.

David Maynard wrote:
ICee wrote:
Captain Blammo wrote:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll go and get some isopropyl
alcohol and a lint free cloth. I'm glad I didn't just slap it on :-)

I assume that I'm doing the right thing; my CPU temps have been
crawling upwards since the summer. I've got an Athlon XP 1800+ with
the CPU VCore at
1.792. Is that normal for a non-OC'd processor? The power supply
might be a bit cheap, but the heatsink seems cooler than it used to
be when I touch it, so I assume thermal transfer is the problem.


1.6 volts is default for the 1800+. That's quite high for not being
overclocked. It's not surprising the temp is up. That's something
you should check into. If Vcore is adjustable, bring it down to
1.6v.

It depends on which model 1800+ he's got. Vcore for an XP model 6
1800+, which it looks like he has, is 1.75 and his 1.792 reading is
only 2.4% off of that, which includes both measurement and regulator
tolerances.

Forgot about the older model. Thanks for pointing that out, David.
Wouldn't want him undervolting the thing!