Intel Core 2 Duo Installation

[Capt Hungry]

Hi, I am new here, be gentle......

I am building my father a Core 2 Duo based system. I began installation this evening and after I'd carefully applied some thermal paste to the CPU, I notice that Intel thoughtfully applied some thermal paste to the underside of the heatsink.

My question is - do I need to apply thermal paste to the CPU or can I rely on the thermal paste already on the heatsink?

 

[SexyK]

You don't want to use both at the same time, so choose one or the other. Either remove the TIM from the bottom of the heatsink using some rubbing alcohol or clean off your CPU and mount the HSF directly as it came in the box.

 

[GeezerMan]

What a dumb question!....A question only beginners like you...and, oh yeah, me!, ask.
Flashback to last year when I had the same question building a PC with my sister. Looking at the factory supplied heatsink with a odd, slightly raised area
(raised area = factory thermal paste) and I had a tube of thermal paste ( no instructions provided). Hmmm. I guess I just put ALL of the tube stuff on top of the raised area. Probably was enough paste for 50 installations. Luckily, after applying half the tube, I figured that it could not possibly be right, so I went next door to use my neighbor's PC to find out. Good times....
I'll never admit to any of this...., of course.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: SexyK
You don't want to use both at the same time, so choose one or the other. Either remove the TIM from the bottom of the heatsink using some rubbing alcohol or clean off your CPU and mount the HSF directly as it came in the box.

:thumbsup: Yep, use one or the other but not both. 😀

 

[Capt Hungry]

Thanks for the replies. I figured that using both would likely not be good. It just seemed to me that the 3 strips of paste Intel applies might not be enough for decent heat transfer.

 

[Roguestar]

It's enough because they apply it kinda thickly and it spreads out, but odds are if you've bought thermal paste you've bought a better one than their generic stuff. Clean it off as mentioned before, carefully using rubbing (high percentage isopropyl) alcohol (and preferably a lint-free cloth) and use the stuff you bought.