So i accidentally touched the thermal paste on the CPU cooler. Should i clean it off and order some thermal paste or what? Also i did it after i installed the cooler as it wasn't installed correctly. What would happen if i installed it again?
Take out the CPU cooler and clean off the paste with 70% or greater isopropyl alcohol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9MJUuU58vE
Ok, but would it be nessecary? I
chill out man... you keep freaking over small stuff... I get you're putting it together for the first time and you don't want to wreck your investment... but it'll be ok... if you messed up installing the CPU cooler just get a microfiber cloth (not a paper towel) and clean it off, if its dry apply some alcohol to the microfiber...
put a pea-sized amount of thermal paste on the middle of the CPU and install your cooler... it'll spread and cover... the only reason it even has thermal paste is to get in the cracks and crevices between imperfection on the cpu cooler and the cpu connection... not a big deal...
But i don't have any so.... And im out of money. How much would my temps raise?
If you go to a local tech store (maybe even bestbuy) you can pick up a tube of generic paste for like $5. If you're really keen you can get some premium paste for $5-$15 on a website like newegg. It's really not that much money for some new paste.
So i live in a country called Denmark. We don't have local tech stores. But what would happen if i didn't? Overheating?
you need thermal paste... for sure... I understand you're excited and pissed at the same time... but order some more thermal paste if you used it all and install it as I said previously...
Yeah, there is talk of not having to have it, but I think every story you hear about that is either a lie...or a problem waiting to happen.....or just dumb luck. just chill and wipe it off. wash your hands and start again.
I would recommend getting some thermal paste. Most are under ten bucks(idk denmark currency, this is us currency). Arctic Silver 5 is some nice stuff. Also pick up some coffee filters and 70% or higher rubbing alcohol.
Grab a paper towel, and take the bottle of rubbing alcohol and get some of it soaked onto the paper towel. Wipe the paper towel + alcohol till the cpu cooler is clean. Then repeat the same procedure, except with a coffee filter instead of a paper towel. This will make sure there are no fibers that may cause a loss in thermal conductivity.
Then apply around a rice-pea size dot of the thermal paste right on the cpu. No need to spread it out. Mount the heatsink, and the stuff will spread out pretty evenly underneath. I find that for Intel CPUs in the 1150 and 1155 line that a blob the size of 2 grains of rice is good. Slightly more will be good for AMD CPUs.
Heck i didn't do it but i have normal temps!
Yeah, usually as long as you don't overly dig your finger into the stuff, it'll work alright.
I think this is what he wanted to know all along. XD