Thermal compound trouble.

[dheeraj88]

hi, i just got an intel core i3 processor. i was not sure if i should put thermal compund separately, i regretfully applied a different thermal compund without noticing that the heatsink fan comes with the compound.and installed it. within a few mins of realising my idiotic act, i removed the fan and cleaned off the extra compund i applied. the compound that was originally there on the heatsink hadn't yet dried completely. should i clean it now and reapply the compound?

 

[MagickMan]

Yes, I would clean both surfaces and reapply.

 

[dheeraj88]

so i should get like alcohol and clean it?

 

[MagickMan]

Yeah, get a 90%+ Isopropyl alcohol (I use 100% from Walgreens) and gently clean both surfaces with a plain, white coffee filter until all residue is gone.

 

[Harvey]

so i should get like alcohol and clean it?

A little Windex (ammonia based window cleaner) on a paper towel works very well to clean thermal paste.