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HELP!!! If I touched the bottom of the heatsink is this a problem?

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tinymouse2

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Location
Surrey, England
OK so I just got a freezer 7 thing for a q9550 and I was just looking at it when I saw the bottom had some thermal paste. Then I realised my finger was on it =(

It has a finger print mark on it, does this matter at all? If so then how do I remove the thermal paste? I have a spare tube of high quality thermal paste here but should I replace it?

Thanks

Dave.
 
chill man, if its just a finger print your ok, if you took a chunk out you can scrape it off and put new stuff on.


i'm not sure how good the stuff on there is any way but i also havent bought a heatsink in years
 
You put some grease from your finger to base. I guess is not a tragedy but (for your peace of mind) if you have some high quality thermal paste you should clean old paste and put new one.
For cleaning I use isopropyl alcohol.
 
You put some grease from your finger to base. I guess is not a tragedy but (for your peace of mind) if you have some high quality thermal paste you should clean old paste and put new one.
For cleaning I use isopropyl alcohol.

I don't have any alcohol (except a bit of vodka but i'm guessing that won't work)

So its got my finger print in and a line from my finger nail. I can't actually see the copper pipe plate through the thermal paste but there is a line.

Thanks for the quick response as well =D
 
chill man, if its just a finger print your ok, if you took a chunk out you can scrape it off and put new stuff on.


i'm not sure how good the stuff on there is any way but i also havent bought a heatsink in years

Arctic Cooling brand stuff comes with MX-2 on it.
 
I would clean the existing paste off with some high purity running alcohol. I keep a bottle of 91% around just for cleaning thermal paste off. The oils from your finger will insulate the heat transfer a little bit. You are much better off with fresh, uncontaminated TIM.
 
from my experience 70% isopropyl (standard rubbing alchohol) takes off TIM just fine. Run to your local CVS/pharmacy and pick up a bottle. :)
 
I would clean the existing paste off with some high purity running alcohol. I keep a bottle of 91% around just for cleaning thermal paste off. The oils from your finger will insulate the heat transfer a little bit. You are much better off with fresh, uncontaminated TIM.

+1
 
Don't worry about it man. I remount my LN2 pots with the caked on thermal paste after a few bench runs and I never noticed a performance difference. If you are looking for absolute maximum thermal transfer, then yes change out the thermal paste, but in the end you are worrying about a fraction of a fraction of a degree difference.
 
CVS should have 91%, which will work better (and dry faster) then 70%, they may have 99% which is obviously the best for that kind of stuff.
I've been using 91 recently because 99 costs three times as much (OMGOMG $5/pint that lasts years instead of $1.95 for 91!!! Ya i'm a cheap *******) and it works just fine.
Getting alcohol from 95% to 99% requires a lot of work and expense, as you can't distill it past 95, beyond that you have to use chemical gels and such that absorb water but not alcohol.
 
The standard thermal paste for a heat sink isn't all that great anyways, and since thermal paste is cheep even for the good stuff, I would clean it off (with alcohol not vodka, that is a waste) and sleep better at night. Good thermal paste makes all the difference.
 
The standard thermal paste for a heat sink isn't all that great anyways, and since thermal paste is cheep even for the good stuff, I would clean it off (with alcohol not vodka, that is a waste) and sleep better at night. Good thermal paste makes all the difference.

The Arctic Cooling heatsinks come with MX-2 pre-applied. It is one of the most highly recommended TIM's around. The problem is his finger had touched it, contaminating it with the oils that occur naturally on ones skin. The only thing to do is wipe with rubbing alcohol and reapply.
 
The standard thermal paste for a heat sink isn't all that great anyways, and since thermal paste is cheep even for the good stuff, I would clean it off (with alcohol not vodka, that is a waste) and sleep better at night. Good thermal paste makes all the difference.

Heh thanks
And hello from my new computer!!! =D
Toothpaste is a better conductor of heat thank the thermal paste =)

Thank you all for your help and my q9550 is currently running on stock at just under 32 degrees! =)
 
The standard thermal paste for a heat sink isn't all that great anyways

Prior to that:

Arctic Cooling brand stuff comes with MX-2 on it.

And afterwards:

The Arctic Cooling heatsinks come with MX-2 pre-applied. It is one of the most highly recommended TIM's around. The problem is his finger had touched it, contaminating it with the oils that occur naturally on ones skin. The only thing to do is wipe with rubbing alcohol and reapply.

So,

Toothpaste is a better conductor of heat thank the thermal paste =)

I'm curious what thermal paste you're talking about, as the stock paste is one of the best. The only problem was self-inflicted, as stated by deadlysyn.
 
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