CPU thermal paste?

I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is no longer
sticking.

Does anyone know a good place online where I can buy this cheap, or
perhaps someone has ideas for other ways of keeping the fan & heatsink in place
(vertically)?

"Ablang" said in :
I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is
no longer sticking.

Does anyone know a good place online where I can buy this cheap, or
perhaps someone has ideas for other ways of keeping the fan &
heatsink in place (vertically)?

Thermal paste does NOT stick anything together! It is used to fill in
the microscopic gaps in the microscopic irregular surface to provide
maximum thermal transfer between two mating surfaces.

Thermal *adhesive* is used to permanently bond a heatsink to a chip's
heat plate. Thermal adhesive does not have a high a thermal transfer
rate as thermal paste (unless you get really poor grade paste). If the
thermal paste has degenerated (which means it wasn't mixed in proper
proportion or some chemical destroyed it), you'll have to clean both
surfaces and use new thermal adhesive.

Thermal paste is best for thermal transfer. If there is a means of
mechanically affixing the heatsink through the use of clips or pins then
use them and thermal paste. If there is no means to affix the heatsink
other than to glue it, get some thermal adhesive (and, obviously, clean
the surfaces before attempting to re-glue the parts - and follow the
instructions!).

Thermal paste comes in various qualities depending on how much you want
to spend for what rate of thermal transfer. Artic Silver 5 is probably
the best although Artic Silver 3 is near as good. If you're thinking of
overclocking then use those. Otherwise, Artic Ceramic, Artic Alumina,
and many of the branded compounds are okay for normal use.
http://snipurl.com/5z6r has some paste and adhesive products, but you
can find it all over at lots of online vendors and in stores.

Make sure you clean off the old paste thoroughly. Use isopropyl alcohol
and Q-tips to scrub the surface and clean it completely. Don't leave
behind any threads from the Q-tips. Don't touch the cleaned heatsink
and CPU surfaces due to the oil on your fingers; if you touch them,
clean again with isopropyl. Just don't goop the thermal paste/adhesive
on so it is a thick layer. Neither conduct heat as well as metal. You
want as much metal-to-metal contact as possible with the paste/adhesive
filling in the microscopic gaps or due to a mismatch in concavity in the
surfaces. Put a dot in the middle and spread out with a thin and flat
piece of plastic or stiff thick paper stock. It should look transparent
when applied thinly, leaving only about a 1/32-inch uniform layer.
Press and moosh the heatsink around in circles to squeeze out as much
extra paste as possible and to remove air bubbles.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=378

http://www.articsilver.com/instructions.htm
--
__________________________________________________ __________
*** Post replies to newsgroup. Share with others.
*** Email: domain = ".com" and append "=news=" to Subject.
__________________________________________________ __________

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 19:02:37 -0700, Ablang
wrote:

I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is no longer
sticking.

Does anyone know a good place online where I can buy this cheap, or
perhaps someone has ideas for other ways of keeping the fan & heatsink in place
(vertically)?

Generally a heatsink clip is used. Socket 7 sockets always have heatsink
clip lugs.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 19:02:37 -0700, Ablang wrote:

I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is no
longer sticking.

The thermal paste isn't supposed to stick. That's not what it's for. There
should be a clip on the cpu cooler that attaches to thenubs on 2 sides of
the socket to hold the HS in place. If your cooler doesn't have this, then
you've got the wrong cooler.

Does anyone know a good place online where I can buy this cheap, or
perhaps someone has ideas for other ways of keeping the fan & heatsink
in place (vertically)?

I'll give you one. I've got several and no use for them anymore. You pay
postage from Texas. Or stop by and pick one up for free.:-)

--
Abit KT7-Raid (KT133) Tbred B core CPU @2400MHz (24x100FSB)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.htm

Wes Newell wrote:
The thermal paste isn't supposed to stick. That's not what it's for. There
should be a clip on the cpu cooler that attaches to thenubs on 2 sides of
the socket to hold the HS in place. If your cooler doesn't have this, then
you've got the wrong cooler.

Not all cpu heatsinks were clipped on. The socket /should/ have clips
on it, but older cpus (notably the DX2-66 overdrive) just have small
heatsinks stuck on with thermal adhesive (horrible stuff). Given that
there are clips on the socket, there should be no problem attaching a
new HSF.

--
-Luke-
If cars had advanced at the same rate as Micr0$oft technology, they'd be
flying by now.
But who wants a car that crashes 8 times a day?
Registered Linux User #345134

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 19:02:37 -0700, Ablang
wrote:

I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is no longer
sticking.

Thermal paste don't really sticky like glue and it is more like
toothpaste.
If you fan/heatsink keeps on falling, try to get a replacement (a socket
7 fan/heatsink).

--
WebWalker

PGP Key ID : 0xB3F1A279

beav AT wn DoT com DoT au" "beav AT wn DoT com DoT au wrote:
Wes Newell wrote:
The thermal paste isn't supposed to stick. That's not what it's for.
There should be a clip on the cpu cooler that attaches to thenubs on
2 sides of the socket to hold the HS in place. If your cooler
doesn't have this, then you've got the wrong cooler.

Not all cpu heatsinks were clipped on. The socket /should/ have clips
on it, but older cpus (notably the DX2-66 overdrive) just have small
heatsinks stuck on with thermal adhesive (horrible stuff). Given that
there are clips on the socket, there should be no problem attaching a
new HSF.

Exactly right. A lot of early Pentiums were the same. I have a couple of
Compaq Pentiums taken from Prolineas, a P75 and a P100. Both of them have
HS's glued on, with no groove in the HS for a clip. That's just an example,
I've seen lots of them like this, most without a place to put the clip. In
fact there's a PC on the chair across the room, P166, same deal. Long spikes
on the HS, no clip or place to fit one. (All of these are passive HS's).

The glue used isn't an epoxy, it's a gummy stuff and the HS can be prised
off. Sometimes it dries out. Maybe significantly, all the CPUs I've seen
with this set-up have been in desktop cases, so the glue has gravity working
for it as well.

Shakes head Young people these days, commenting on things they have no
knowledge of. (Not aimed at you beav).
--
~misfit~

WebWalker wrote:
On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 19:02:37 -0700, Ablang
wrote:

I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste
is no longer sticking.

Thermal paste don't really sticky like glue and it is more like
toothpaste.

What you now know as thermal paste has only been around for a few years. The
early stuff was "sticky like glue", in fact it doubled as glue as a lot of
the HS's with this stuff didn't have clips.
--
~misfit~

Ablang wrote:
I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is
no longer sticking.

Does anyone know a good place online where I can buy this cheap, or
perhaps someone has ideas for other ways of keeping the fan &
heatsink in place (vertically)?

Get a new heatsink and fan, with a clip, and a bit of the modern style
thermal paste. (Just get the cheap stuff, Radio Shack has it) Clean all the
old stuff off your CPU with whatever solvent does it best, smear a bit of
the new stuff on and bob's yer uncle. The clip will attach to tabs on the
socket and hold the HS against the CPU. Any cheap HSF designed for a Socket
7 or Socket 370 will do. Even a Socket A HSF will fit but will be over-kill.

I've got about eight of them in my drawer, I don't suppose you're in New
Zealand?
--
~misfit~

Ablang wrote:
I just inherited a K6-2 300 Mhz computer, but the CPU fan & heatsink
keeps falling down off the CPU, which means that the thermal paste is no longer
sticking.

No, it means the retainer clip is broken.


Does anyone know a good place online where I can buy this cheap, or
perhaps someone has ideas for other ways of keeping the fan & heatsink in place
(vertically)?

Thermal epoxy? But you'll never remove it... How about you buy a real
heat sink that still has its retainer clip?




--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo