[Cialug] OT: hardware question

Tim Wilson tim_linux at wilson-home.com
Wed Aug 15 08:27:47 CDT 2007


On 8/15/07, Daniel A. Ramaley <daniel.ramaley at drake.edu> wrote:
>
> Last night i started building a new main computer. It has been many
> years since i've done so; so many that last time i didn't need to worry
> about thermal paste on the CPU heat sink (Pentium II machines didn't
> need it). How much thermal paste is the appropriate amount?
>
> I looked up a few tutorials on how to apply it, but the amounts varied
> widely. Some people used just enough so that when it was spread around
> on the CPU and on the heatsink that both looked like they had a thin
> haze on them.


This is pretty much what I've done.

But other people really gobbed it on so the CPU looked
> like a frosted cupcake and you could no longer see the actual CPU at
> all.


Bookmark that site as a place to NOT get information.

Which is right? I tried putting on an amount towards the lower end
> of the spectrum and fired up the machine for awhile. I haven't
> installed Debian yet but in the BIOS it said the CPU was running at 30
> Celsius. That temperature seemed fairly stable; i let the machine sit
> at the BIOS screen for 1/2 hour and the temperature didn't waver much
> (sometimes it would vary by a degree, but it would usually go back to
> 30 after a bit). I don't want to run the machine for very long, though,
> unless i have some other indication that i did it right; looking at the
> temperature while the machine is basically idling in the BIOS doesn't
> seem to me to be the best possible indicator.


It looks like you've got it right.

For the record, what I've done is put about a dime size blob on the heat
sink, and a rice grain size blob on the processor.  The blob on the heat
sink is spread out and wiped off so it fills the scratches, pores, and
imperfections in the metal.  I've also seen where people will polish the
heat sink to a mirror finish, and not put paste on the heat sink.  On the
processor, take a razor blade and spread out the paste over the raised part
only.  The result should be a fairly thin coat on the processo

------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake University
> Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
> +1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA
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-- 
Tim
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