AMD CPU and Thermal Pad. Help!

[gizbug]

I am changing motherboards, and I took the stock heatsink off my retail amd athlon. well, where the thermal pad was on the heatsink, there is now a square missing from where the cpu was sitting on it. What should I do?
Scrap this thermal pad off, and put some of my artic silver on it? Or should I just set it back ontop of the processor, even though there is a square missing from where the cpu was sitting?

 

[Boonesmi]

i would scrape it off with something plastic (something that wont scar the metal)

and then apply some thermal compound... arctic silver works good, but the cheaper stuff works ok too

 

[jaybee]

A credit card will get rid of most of that thermal crap. Cotton swabs, isopropyl, and elbow grease will take care of the rest. When you apply the paste to the core, you should be able to sort of make out the core markings through the haze of the paste.

jaybee

 

[gizbug]

Will rubbing alcohol work on taking it off the heatsink and cpu?

 

[fatbaby]

yes, it wont take it off completely, but it'll make it easier to remove w/ a credit card

 

[WarCon]

After scraping it off I use mineral spirits (you can use Goo-gone or other not residue based oil solvents), and then I liberally clean it with isopropll alcohol and then its ready for AS3.

 

[chiefiliniwek]

I am doing exactly this same thing. I e-mailed AMD, going to call if they don't get back to me in a few days, to get their recommendations. The main thing is that you don't want to void your warranty, from what I have read here anyway.

 

[mechBgon]

To preserve your warranty, you are supposed to use phase-change thermal compound, the type of stuff that was on your stock heatsink. It's a one-use thing, as you have found out, and it's very hard to find it on the market. I emailed AMD to find out where to get it and they told me, but I can't remember where anymore.

AMD does say in their Builder's Guide that using thermal grease is an ok interim solution for testing, and it's in prolonged usage that it may "pump out" from between the CPU and the heatsink as they expand and contract many, many times. Good thermal grease should hold up quite a while, however, so I'd definitely start with the Arctic Silver 2 or 3 at least.

 

[PG]

Some places online sell 3 packs of thermal pads by Antec. I've seen them in a few Yahoo stores, but maybe some brick and mortar computer stores will sell them too.

 

[emmpee]

Originally posted by: PG
Some places online sell 3 packs of thermal pads by Antec. I've seen them in a few Yahoo stores, but maybe some brick and mortar computer stores will sell them too.

compusa b&m carries them.