Hi, me again.

Here:
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...D&v=3#infoarea
someone calling themselves Ollie (5th post) has stated that thermal paste needs to be applied to the underside of the grey heatsink on this motherboard.

He also says to remove the plastic cover from the northbridge/southbridge heatsinks too.

I have managed to do the first thing, but was unable to remove the main (copper) heatsink. I figured that a 'plastic cover' could not hold it in place (I had unclipped the clips underneath the motherboard already) - and so realised that these statements must be currently false (design altered?). I then realised that underneath the grey heatsink is a pre-applied layer of thermal material. So now there are two layers - the pre-applied thermal material and some white thermal paste, applied to each individual chip. Could two layers cause problems? And how true might the statements made by Ollie be, do I really need to remove plastic covers underneath the copper heatsink?? Just wondering if anyone has any knowledge in this particular motherboard.

I won't start it up until I'm sure I've not screwed anything up - will remove thermal paste if necessary. I think my attempt was just a waste of time and nerves

Thanks.

You should have one (thin) layer of thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink. Too much is as bad as not enough. Follow the directions for the paste which you are using.

"... remove plastic covers underneath the copper heatsink??"
I would not remove any factory installed items.

OK thanks. I found out that the motherboard has since been modified and the plastic covers that used to be on TOP of the heatsinks are no longer there.
I am going to remove the paste I put there and trust the pre-applied pad to do its job for now.

You can follow this and download the relevant guide. It will tell you all thats necessary: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Hmm, so you only need really tiny amounts of thermal paste? I used to cover whole chips with a fraction of a mm thick layer, which would require more than is shown in the picture for the dual core AMD! So is any amount sufficient, or might it be the case that the more thermal paste, the more efficient the cooling?

Originally Posted by Tyskie

Hmm, so you only need really tiny amounts of thermal paste? I used to cover whole chips with a fraction of a mm thick layer, which would require more than is shown in the picture for the dual core AMD! So is any amount sufficient, or might it be the case that the more thermal paste, the more efficient the cooling?

The pictures are correct. If you make it thick, your heat will become trapped rather than absorbed out and overheating will occur, rather than cooling. Only an amount sufficient for covering is needed which will be spread out after the heatsink is applied and a few cycles to run in.

It says: "If you are working with an Intel P4 CPU single core with heatspreader the amount of Arctic Silver 5 needed would be equivalent to about one (1) uncooked short-grain of white rice.
For an AMD 64 single core with heatspreader the amount of Arctic Silver 5 needed would be equivalent to about one and one half (1-1/2) uncooked short-grain of white rice. In any case the rule of thumb here is “a little will go along way”."






I think thats sufficient, like the below pic attachment.

Read the PDF instructions for more.