I just installed a new i5 Sandy Bridge on an Asus P67 Sabertooth board. When I first turned it on, I received a Bios error stating there was a CPU overheating issue. I was able to navigate to the Bios settings, and the temp said 100ºC. That's obviously wrong because the computer was only on for less than a minute.
So, I ignored it and tried installing windows, etc.
I got nervous though as I read more with how bad or nonexistent thermal paste and burn out a CPU. I didn't apply any thermal paste because the heatsink came with stuff already on it. But I got nervous it wasn't properly applied, so I removed the heatsink. I saw that it was applied for the most part, and saw no issue, so immediately put the heatsink back on the CPU.
Now — my question:
Do I need to scape off the stock thermal paste and apply my own since I removed the heatsink for a few seconds, or will I be fine?
Some data points:
- using RealTemp, my CPU was clocking around 33ºC consistently.
- the stock thermal paste spread over about 2/3rds of the CPU.
Best Answer
Unless the paste looked like a dog's breakfast after separating them, there will probably be no need to clean it off and reapply. Of course, if it looks too clean then it may be that the protective plastic was never removed from the layer of paste in the first place...