Processor and Thermal Paste

[McHopsky]

When I put my computer together over the summer, it was the first time I had done it by myself. I put the processor in and began to put the heatsink in and realized that there was a gel on it - I scraped it off thinking it was some sort of protective goo for shipping. I fastened the heatsink on and then read "DO NOT SCRATCH THERMAL TRANSFER GEL". I then realized how big of an idiot I was - of course there needs to be something like that! I freaked and ran to CompUSA and bought some that came in little squares and you'd peel it off. Through this whole process, I wasnt all that gentle with that gel, I didnt clean off the heatsinks bottom really and put the new gel on. N

Now, coming to think of it... could this cause any problems with my computer?

Could it potentially make my computer run slower than normal?

Is there a certain amount of time you should apply new thermal paste?

If so, do they make a particularly good one?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Dngrsone]

Your processor may run hot if the thermal paste is not doing its job correctly. If it runs hot, then its life is reduced, working the processor hard may cause shutdowns or restarts due to overheating.

Arguably the best thing out there is Arctic Silver 5-- haven't heard anyone say anything bad about it.

 

[cedjunior]

Chances are if you just went out and bought a thermal paste pad from the store, it was probably the same material as the original pad that was on the heatsink, so not removing the residue of the old stuff shouldn't hurt. If there was a problem how ever, you would see high processor temperatures. So unless your processor gets hotter than it should, it is probably fine.

 

[McHopsky]

Alright. Thanks for the help!