I really screwed up this time

[xcas]

So I've been having crashing and heat issues recently so I took off the side panel and opened up my PC for the first time in two years to clean out some dust. Being a noob, I followed a couple tutorials and brazenly removed the fan. Now I find out that it's a cardinal sin to do so without reapplying the thermal paste. I don't have any of that and I'm way too clumsy to do that myself. Does anyone have any recommendations for getting this done professionally? And about how much did it cost? I'm going to call Geeksquad but I have a sinking feeling they won't do it.
​

 

[MustISO]

Did you remove the fan AND heatsink or just the fan?

Do you have the stock heatsink/fan for your CPU or is it an aftermarket cooler?

 

[xcas]

Did you remove the fan AND heatsink or just the fan?

Do you have the stock heatsink/fan for your CPU or is it an aftermarket cooler?

I removed whatever the thing is with the blades (it was just one big chunky thing bolted down with a few screws) and saw the dried up paste stuff. That was all I removed. It is the stock one, never replaced it once.

 

[MustISO]

Okay, if it was a metal silver piece, that's the heatsink. You should replace it but it's not a big deal if you don't I've run plenty of machines for years after removing a heatsink and the temps were fine. If you're not overclocking I wouldn't worry about it. If you wanted to replace it you can order some online and look at videos that show the process.

 

[xcas]

Okay, if it was a metal silver piece, that's the heatsink. You should replace it but it's not a big deal if you don't I've run plenty of machines for years after removing a heatsink and the temps were fine. If you're not overclocking I wouldn't worry about it. If you wanted to replace it you can order some online and look at videos that show the process.

Yes, I believe it was attached to the bottom of the big plastic fan (I don't know how to talk about this without sounding like a five year old). Thing is I mainly use the computer for gaming. It was an expensive machine.
I guess that's out of the window for now. But the thing I'm worried about is whether it's a fire hazard.

I'll hold off on getting someone to do it now, it's just rather concerning when you google this stuff and see people ranting about how awful it is and how it'll completely fry your PC. Thanks for the prompt responses though.

 

[Ichinisan]

Yes, I believe it was attached to the bottom of the big plastic fan (I don't know how to talk about this without sounding like a five year old). Thing is I mainly use the computer for gaming. It was an expensive machine.
I guess that's out of the window for now. But the thing I'm worried about is whether it's a fire hazard.

I'll hold off on getting someone to do it now, it's just rather concerning when you google this stuff and see people ranting about how awful it is and how it'll completely fry your PC. Thanks for the prompt responses though.

My nephew ran his old gaming rig for months after one of his friends lifted the heatsink-fan unit and re-applied it without new thermal interface material.

Wasn't optimal, but I believe Intel CPUs would thermally throttle themselves and there's not really a risk of permanent damage.

 

[xcas]

My nephew ran his old gaming rig for months after one of his friends lifted the heatsink-fan unit and re-applied it without new thermal interface material.

Wasn't optimal, but I believe Intel CPUs would thermally throttle themselves and there's not really a risk of permanent damage.

Well I booted it up and the temps are kind of all over the place. 25 one second and 50 the next while idle. Then again it's hard to tell how accurate these hardware monitoring tools are.

There's a lesson to be learned here. Somewhere.

 

[Burpo]

If you're in the states, Radio Shack has thermal compound. It's not hard to scrape off the old stuff and drop a pea sized glob in the middle of the chip and re-assemble.

 

[Ichinisan]

If you're in the states, Radio Shack has thermal compound. It's not hard to scrape off the old stuff and drop a pea sized glob in the middle of the chip and re-assemble.

From what I've heard, Radio Shack almost doesn't exist anymore for most of the country.

 

[Burpo]

Ok, BestBuy..

 

[CZroe]

Do not pay someone for this. Buy new thermal compound for a few bucks, clean the old stuff with acetone/nail polish remover (100% pure; some have additives), make sure there's no dust or finger oils on either surface, and reapply according to the instructions.

I clean my glasses more carefully.

 

[xcas]

Do not pay someone for this. Buy new thermal compound for a few bucks, clean the old stuff with acetone/nail polish remover (100% pure; some have additives), make sure there's no dust or finger oils on either surface, and reapply according to the instructions.

I clean my glasses more carefully.

Alright then. Any specific brand or type of thermal compound you can recommend? I've never done this before. Please understand my caution.

 

[CZroe]

Alright then. Any specific brand or type of thermal compound you can recommend? I've never done this before. Please understand my caution.

Most places don't have more than one brand so when I'm just trying to replace some to button up a system (not extreme overclocking) I just get what they have.

If I recall correctly Best Buy only has Dynex brand (house brand) but may also have Antec (if so, get Antec). Radio Shack has Arctic Silver/Arctic Alumia (silver is better). Fry's Electronics and Micro Center will have good selections if you have those available to you. Any local computer shop might have something available but specialty shops charge more and some will not carry quality stuff.

Oh! Radio Shack may have some thermal grease in a packet that's not for modern CPUs. Avoid that. It white and mostly goes on DIP chips that are often soldered into circuit boards. What you want will probably be in a syringe.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Alright then. Any specific brand or type of thermal compound you can recommend? I've never done this before. Please understand my caution.

Do you Prime?

http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-High-Density-Polysynthetic-Compound/dp/B000OGX5AM/

I wonder if I can get that with PrimeNow... D:

 

[xcas]

Most places don't have more than one brand so when I'm just trying to replace some to button up a system (not extreme overclocking) I just get what they have.

If I recall correctly Best Buy only has Dynex brand (house brand) but may also have Antec (if so, get Antec). Radio Shack has Arctic Silver/Arctic Alumia (silver is better). Fry's Electronics and Micro Center will have good selections if you have those available to you. Any local computer shop might have something available but specialty shops charge more and some will not carry quality stuff.

Oh! Radio Shack may have some thermal grease in a packet that's not for modern CPUs. Avoid that. It white and mostly goes on DIP chips that are often soldered into circuit boards. What you want will probably be in a syringe.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. The one name I did see pop up a lot in my research was Arctic Silver. The guy that said Radioshacks don't really exist anymore was right... at least I don't think there's one near me so I'll probably have to go with Best Buy. I did talk to an agent and ask and the guy wasn't sure what I was talking about. Perhaps I'll do it myself after all.

 

[Charmonium]

You can try making your own paste for a temporary solution.

http://www.overclockers.com/homemade-thermal-grease/

And btw, 90% rubbing alcohol is the best solvent for thermal paste. 70% is ok but 90% is better. You can also use Everclear if you have it. I use an eye dropper and put a few drops on the chip or heatsink base and then use a tissue and q-tips.

 

[Yuriman]

Put the heatsink back on and use it for now, until you get some paste. You're not going to hurt it. 50c is fine on a modern Intel CPU - you really only need to be concerned when it's getting into the 90's with your typical use cases.

Any paste will do, but some are better than others. Arctic Silver is an older product and not the best, but it's not bad. Phobya HeGrease is well reviews, as is Noctua NT-HT. The Noctua paste is known to need reapplication every few years for optimal temperatures, can't say for others, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[vailr]

In a pinch, zinc oxide ointment would work for a few days, until something specifically designed for the purpose & ordered online were to arrive in the mail. Might want to also include a can of compressed air for blowing out dust from fans & etc.

 

[CZroe]

You can try making your own paste for a temporary solution.

http://www.overclockers.com/homemade-thermal-grease/

And btw, 90% rubbing alcohol is the best solvent for thermal paste. 70% is ok but 90% is better. You can also use Everclear if you have it. I use an eye dropper and put a few drops on the chip or heatsink base and then use a tissue and q-tips.

I use 99.9% electronics cleaning grade isopropyl but it's not available everywhere (got mine at Fry's for $8). 100% acetone is available anywhere and it evaporates completely. With a lint-free cloth, either will work.

Put the heatsink back on and use it for now, until you get some paste. You're not going to hurt it. 50c is fine on a modern Intel CPU - you really only need to be concerned when it's getting into the 90's with your typical use cases.

Any paste will do, but some are better than others. Arctic Silver is an older product and not the best, but it's not bad. Phobya HeGrease is well reviews, as is Noctua NT-HT. The Noctua paste is known to need reapplication every few years for optimal temperatures, can't say for others, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

We're trying to make this quick and easy for him.

AS is fine for what he needs and probably better than Dynex or whatever.

 

[cubby1223]

So I've been having crashing and heat issues recently so I took off the side panel and opened up my PC for the first time in two years to clean out some dust. Being a noob, I followed a couple tutorials and brazenly removed the fan. Now I find out that it's a cardinal sin to do so without reapplying the thermal paste. I don't have any of that and I'm way too clumsy to do that myself. Does anyone have any recommendations for getting this done professionally? And about how much did it cost? I'm going to call Geeksquad but I have a sinking feeling they won't do it.
​

I'd have it looked at by a local tech. How do you know it was heat causing the problems? How do you know which component is overheating? Unless the fan was not spinning, I highly doubt the cpu was overheating, more likely than not something else is the root cause of the crashes.

 

[CZroe]

I'd have it looked at by a local tech. How do you know it was heat causing the problems? How do you know which component is overheating? Unless the fan was not spinning, I highly doubt the cpu was overheating.

How about we reapply the thermal compound and see if he still has any issues first?

 

[piasabird]

You can clean most of it off with cheese cloth or cotton balls or whatever you have available. If the surface is sticky or kind of got dried gunk on it, then you might need some serious cleaner to get it off. It should be dry with no film on it before applying new thermal paste. The reason is you want a good bond to facilitate heat transfer between the CPU and the Heat Sink.

 

[xcas]

How about we reapply the thermal compound and see if he still has any issues first?

I have decided to apply it myself. I am going to order some Arctic Silver 5 online and just watch a ton of tutorials before I sit down and do it. Is there any notable benefit to ordering and using the 2 step Arctic paste remover and surface purifier as well? Or is that a waste of money? I've seen more than a few people recommend it.

I'm a she btw

 

[Yuriman]

Isopropyl alcohol should work just as well. Most of what you read about thermal pastes and such is probably overly perfectionist.

 

[Charmonium]

I have decided to apply it myself. I am going to order some Arctic Silver 5 online and just watch a ton of tutorials before I sit down and do it. Is there any notable benefit to ordering and using the 2 step Arctic paste remover and surface purifier as well? Or is that a waste of money? I've seen more than a few people recommend it.

I'm a she btw

Alcohol should do a good enough job of cleaning. Maybe the other stuff will remove some oxidation on integrated heat sink (IHS) but I doubt that will make much difference.

In terms of applying the paste, start by put 2 or 3 daubs of the AS. They should be a little smaller than a BB - if you've ever used a BB gun. Then use your finger to spread it around. You want just enough so that you can't see the metal of the IHS. You can test this by using the same finger to try to make a finger print in the paste. As long as you can do that you have enough. It's ok if you can see little streaks of metal the width of a few hairs, but no more.

You want to use less than you think you need rather than more. If it's not enough after you spread it, add one small daub at a time and repeat until you have full coverage. Too much paste might reduce heat transfer and/or you'll have it squeezing out of the sides when you bolt down the heatsink.

By the way, don't tighten the bolts fully at one time. Get each one finger tight and then skip to the opposite side to tighten each one in sequence maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 turn at a time. Don't over tighten or you have trouble removing the heatsink at a future date.