What happens if thermal paste spills over onto and around the processor?

[Starbuck1975]

Installed my first after market CPU cooler today, and things didnt go as smoothly as I had hoped.

I read all of the threads on thermal compound application and made sure to put on a very thin layer before seating my Zalman cooler.

The problem is, I of course installed the cooler the wrong way because my Abit motherboard did not have connections that matched the diagram in the diagram...orientation was reversed.

So I had to take off the cooler, and reinstall it.

The problem is that due to the weight of the Zalman cooler, it shifted the thermal compound a bit so that I had some oozing over the sides.

I wiped off what I could, but there is still some residue around the edges of the processor.

Should I be concerned about this...will this extra compound degrade my processor or cause other problems down the line?

Makes me wish I had just used the AMD stock cooler with those nice thermal compound patches already on the heatsink...then again that Zalman cooler does look mad sexy in my case, in all its blue LED and copper glory.

 

[krotchy]

If its silicon paste, its not a big deal in general. If it is artic silver, then there is a posiblity of a short. A short is going to happen instantly when you turn the proc on, so youd probably know if you shorted it. However id recomend wiping it with some high grade isopropyl alcohol (well over 90%) if you're concerned.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Its not artic silver but rather the thermal paste that came with the Zalman cooler...as the system seems to be running fine, maybe not an issue in the short term...my next question would have been what cleaning agent to use...since you already pointed that out, I should be set for now.

 

[NaOH]

If you put on enough to ooze out over the sides, you have put on WAY too much thermal compound. Just FYI

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: Starbuck1975
Its not artic silver but rather the thermal paste that came with the Zalman cooler...as the system seems to be running fine, maybe not an issue in the short term...my next question would have been what cleaning agent to use...since you already pointed that out, I should be set for now.

I'ved used this stuff a lot:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100010

Folks have said that it's overpriced marketing and whatever else, but I've used it on maybe 10 processors and HSF's and it works like a freakin' charm every time. And it smells citrus-ish. For $6 before shipping I don't really care if it's "overpriced".

By the way, I've had a few experiences of using too much thermal paste and it's never been a problem. From what I've read, there is a possibility of a short, but you'd have to REALLY overdo it and it's better to have a bit too much than not enough.