Thermal compound

[einy]

Hi folks,

I recently bought a KT7A-Raid mobo with a Thunder 1.2 and Super Orb. I tried overclocking the sucker but could only get 1260 out of it. So I bought a pretested CPU @ 1530.

How should I apply thermal compound to this set up? I know I need the most minimal layer possible but should I spread the compound over the entire top of the cpu so the whole heatsink is in contact with it? I used to do this to previous Intel CPU's but they never had all the components on the top of the CPU. Though the compound is non-conductive I'm wondering if there is an issue here.

Also, how do I clean off the thermal compound from the old CPU so I can sell it. Perhaps rubbing alcohol?

Best regards,

Einy

[Rob Cork]

Only apply the thermal paste to the raised cpu core in the middle - you'd need way too much to cover the whole ceramic, and it'd just get messy anyway. I use a pencil eraser to clean off arctic silver, it works like a charm, hasn't killed my chip yet (though I have to admit rubbing something over my cpu doesn't make me 100% comfortable... static anyone?) - try it at your own risk. Otherwise try rubbing alcohol - though nail varnish remover (acetone basically) didn't work for me, hence the eraser :-)