how can I check I applied enough thermal paste + correctly?

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umern · #1 Post by **umern** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:55 am

Just upgraded the CPU on my T40 from a 1.3Ghz 1MB to 1.6Ghz 2MB

All seems to be working OK but I am not entirely confident I applied enough thermal paste or did it correctly (I used some Arctic silver I had left over from a previous desktop PC upgrade).

Can anyone tell me how to check the temp and what range I should expect when idling. Also any stress test anyone can recommend and what temp it should be running at when stressed?

Thanks in advance!

tim S · #2 Post by **tim S** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 9:28 am

A very small amount of Artic Silver on the little finger, patted onto the cpu, just enough for a single layer, works or me. I figure the heat sink will compress and "squish" out the extra, so why waste the compound? No cpu losses yet, either the older tricky AMD XP I had in my desktop, or in my Thinkpad upgrades.
Tim S

Zed · #3 Post by **Zed** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 9:39 am

Hi umern,

I cannot comment on your arctic silver doubts as I have never applied it myself. I only know the layer should be paper thin. Anything thicker than that actually blocks the heat coming out. It also takes some time before it actually starts to have full effect. But I guess you know all this.

So to the heat level question I have the same processor but without Arctic Silver and in t42 casing. I run the processor in dynamic switching mode and keep it slightly undervolted – 600 Mhz @ 0,762V and 1600 Mhz @ 1,292V (I have unfortunately found out that my “exemplar” is not particularly undervolting friendly plus I set it some 20% above my lowest stable voltage to be 100% sure that I won’t see the blue screen one day…). Anyway when it is idling the temperature fluctuates around 38 C when working it does not excede some 45 C. When I stress it for some 6 hours with prime95 it can reach 55 C.

Prime95 is probably the most common stressing program and can be downloaded from here http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm.

Read through this thread as well http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=11988.

Regard Zed

umern · #4 Post by **umern** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:24 am

mine is idling at 45 C - is that too high?
Does it matter? I notice the fan seems to stay on all the time.

Having said that the Artic Silver docs claims that it can take a few days for the paste to settle in?!?

Aroc · #5 Post by **Aroc** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:22 am

If you are concerned that you didn't put enough on, then you may have very well put too much on instead. The others are right. It should be paper thin. For example if there is any writing on the core, you should be able to read it through the thernal paste when the heat sink/heat pipe is removed.

Ars technica used to have a good step-by-step guide for this (for AMD CPUs) in detail. Maybe someone else can show a similar link.

Zed · #6 Post by **Zed** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:36 pm

Hi umern,

I'd say that if your CPU is neither undervolted nor underclocked (via dynamic switching) then its idling temperature is fine. If it is undervolted and underclocked then it is a bit too high. But wait and see.

Regards Zed

Nolonemo · #7 Post by **Nolonemo** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:27 pm

arctic silver has illustrated guides on their website:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silv ... ctions.htm

paper thin is just that.

#8 Post by **K. Eng** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:55 pm

The Arctic Silver instructions are very good IMO. You only need a thin layer of paste. I've changed the fan twice on my T4x and it was a piece of cake

umern · #9 Post by **umern** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:48 am

Pretty sure I didnt apply too much - was really spreading it thin - kept exposing the surface in a few places and had to redistribute repeatedly.

how can I check I applied enough thermal paste + correctly?

how can I check I applied enough thermal paste + correctly?

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