H150i pro re-applying thermal paste when switching cpu?

[Bram91]

Hi all, first time poster here.

 

I have an H150i pro cpu cooler, which is about a month old installed on my current setup, i used the pre-applied thermal paste that came with the cooler.

I'm getting a new cpu (i9-7900x) and motherboard (aorus x299)

and i have 2 questions:

 

Should i leave the pre-applied paste on the cooler as is or wipe it out and re-apply a new layer on the cooler?

 

Should i put a "peadrop" of thermal paste on the cpu as well?

 

The only results i found where regarding a new install of the H150i pro, but what about when you take it out and put it in a new build?

 

Thanks in advance

[c-attack]

Yes, you are definitely going to need to clean and reapply 1) after a month; or 2) When moving to a new CPU. That layer has to be pristine to work properly. Too much here or too little there will hurt the thermal transfer. TIM is not a superconductor, but a necessary material to deal with imperfections in the two metal surfaces. If you make the TIM imperfect as well, it somewhat defeats the purpose.

 

On a 7900X, use the pea drop in the center (no line). Big, fat chip. Stick it right in the center and then tighten down with the pump head. No special theatrics needed.

[Bram91]

Hi c-attack,

Thank you very much for your fast reply ! ^^

[tiessar]

There is really no such thing as too much thermal compound, the act of screwing the block down will remove any excess. You can, however, have too little to get full coverage. On an Intel HEDT I use about 2 "peas" worth. This isn't really that much when you consider you're filling in the gaps where the countersunk screws are too. The cold plate of the gen 6 is also smaller than the heat spreader so more is better to get some wicking up the sides of the base too :P

[c-attack]

There is really no such thing as too much thermal compound, the act of screwing the block down will remove any excess.

 

There is always "too much" of anything and there are innumerable passages of people who experience the random temperature fluctuations from slathering on unnecessary amounts of TIM. While the 2011/3 socket makes applying block pressure a lot easier, squeezing out the excess onto your motherboard doesn't seem like a solid recommendation for most people.

[DevBiker]

There is really no such thing as too much thermal compound, the act of screwing the block down will remove any excess. You can, however, have too little to get full coverage. On an Intel HEDT I use about 2 "peas" worth. This isn't really that much when you consider you're filling in the gaps where the countersunk screws are too. The cold plate of the gen 6 is also smaller than the heat spreader so more is better to get some wicking up the sides of the base too :P

 

So this is good?

 

[tiessar]

There is always "too much" of anything and there are innumerable passages of people who experience the random temperature fluctuations from slathering on unnecessary amounts of TIM. While the 2011/3 socket makes applying block pressure a lot easier, squeezing out the excess onto your motherboard doesn't seem like a solid recommendation for most people.

 

Absolutely every benchmark you will find online and your own personal results will show that you can never have too much.

 

Also "two peas" worth doesn't even cover the whole heat spreader on an Intel HEDT after being squeezed out.

 

You can, however, have too LITTLE, the standard Asetek pre-applied only covers approx 80% of the heat spreader after installation. Even when replacing with rubbish generic silicon based TIM I always see solid 2-3C drops in temperature with better coverage.

 

If anything, using extra means that you have more chance of complete coverage if you install the block with uneven pressure. With RAM on both sides of HEDT I find it no easier or harder than on mainstream as 4 screws is 4 screws.

 

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[c-attack]

He spends about half of the 20 minutes in the that video trying to put his comments into context, reserving situations where it is not advisable, and of course repeatedly says its just to make a point. Re-read the original question and decide if unchecked hyperbole is the way to go in this instance. That is the only area of concern. We can have a different thread discussing the joys of cleaning TIM out of the locking mechanism and people can make individual decisions about whether they think that is fun or not. My X99 socket looks like it was painted with a wall roller. That doesn't mean I blindly tell others to do the same without being very specific about the compound being used and their comfort level on a brand new motherboard and CPU.

[tiessar]

If you put a HCC Xeon in your X99 socket you can't get TIM inside it :D

 

I have a 5820K so some does get around the PCB after reapplying 10+ times without taking the CPU out to clean but nothing that alcohol spray doesn't dissolve and then the TIM just falls out.

 

You already answered everything that needed to be answered, I just suggested that one pea drop may not make for reliable coverage.

[Corsair Lettuce]

a pea is the right amount

[tiessar]

This is what happens when your pea is too small. I guess you could just install, and then remove to double check.

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