CPU thermal paste?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ablang
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Ablang

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)?
 
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)?
Click to expand...


I don't know about buying the paste, but if your fan and heat sink
keep falling off your CPU, you got whole bigger problems than
non-sticky grease, my friend!!
 
"Ablang" said in news:[email protected]:
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)?
Click to expand...

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
 
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)?
Click to expand...

Generally a heatsink clip is used. Socket 7 sockets always have heatsink
clip lugs.
 
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.
Click to expand...
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)?
Click to expand...

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.:-)
 
Wes said:
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
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.
Click to expand...

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).
 
beav said:
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.
Click to expand...

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).
 
WebWalker said:
Thermal paste don't really sticky like glue and it is more like
toothpaste.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Ablang said:
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)?
Click to expand...

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?
 
Ablang said:
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.
Click to expand...

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)?
Click to expand...

Thermal epoxy? But you'll never remove it... How about you buy a real
heat sink that still has its retainer clip?
 
~misfit~ said:
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.
Click to expand...


Not for K6-2 300 era chips. For chips prior to the P100 yeah, it's not
uncommon.
 
Ablang said:
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)?
Click to expand...

A 300 MHz K6-2 is not the world's hottest chip and doesn't need any
special thermal adhesive, but ignore hacks who tell you to apply
thermal grease in the enter and a drop of super glue in each corner or
mix thermal grease with epoxy, both bad remedies.

Thoroughly clean off the heatsink and the metal part of the chip
package with alcohol, then glue them back together with ordinary
silicone rubber sealant (RTV). Apply a thin layer of RTV all over the
mating surface, just as you would apply thermal grease, by pressing
the heatsink firmly and sliding it around slightly to spread the RTV
and squeeze out the excess. Keep the chip horizontal for an hour, and
handle it gently for the next 8 hours.

Regular epoxy can be used instead and applied the same way, but the
drawbacks to any epoxy are that it runs and drips and the heatsink
will be much harder to remove later on, while RTV remains so soft that
it can be easily cut with a knife yet sticks very well.
 
do_not_spam_me said:
A 300 MHz K6-2 is not the world's hottest chip and doesn't need any
special thermal adhesive, but ignore hacks who tell you to apply
thermal grease in the enter and a drop of super glue in each corner or
mix thermal grease with epoxy, both bad remedies.
Click to expand...

They make specialised thermal epoxy for attaching heat sinks to RAM
(both system and video) chips. I'd use that, if getting a proper heat
sink with a retainer clip was out.
Thoroughly clean off the heatsink and the metal part of the chip
package with alcohol, then glue them back together with ordinary
silicone rubber sealant (RTV). Apply a thin layer of RTV all over the
mating surface, just as you would apply thermal grease, by pressing
the heatsink firmly and sliding it around slightly to spread the RTV
and squeeze out the excess. Keep the chip horizontal for an hour, and
handle it gently for the next 8 hours.

Regular epoxy can be used instead and applied the same way, but the
drawbacks to any epoxy are that it runs and drips and the heatsink
will be much harder to remove later on, while RTV remains so soft that
it can be easily cut with a knife yet sticks very well.
Click to expand...

I can't wait to get some old-ish equipment to play around with this
idea! :-)
 
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.
Click to expand...

But he doesn't have a a 486 cpu. he's got a K6-2-300 Pentium class and it
fits in a socket7. The proper cooler will have a spring clip that
attaches to the nubs of the socket.
 
Wes said:
But he doesn't have a a 486 cpu. he's got a K6-2-300 Pentium class and it
fits in a socket7. The proper cooler will have a spring clip that
attaches to the nubs of the socket.
Click to expand...

The 486 is the most notable, as it was the first to commonly be fitted
with active coolers, so having an overdrive chip with a passive cooler
was strange...

--
-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
 
sooky said:
Not for K6-2 300 era chips. For chips prior to the P100 yeah, it's not
uncommon.
Click to expand...


Yea my P100 has a "factory installed" HSF that is glued o the chip.

BTW thermal grease has been in use in the electronic industry for decades. I
recall the early automotive electronic ignitions used the same while paste
to mount their modues and that was 30 years ago.
 
ignore hacks who tell you to apply thermal grease in the enter
and a drop of super glue in each corner or mx thermal grease
with epoxy, both bad remedies.
Click to expand...
They make specialised thermal epoxy for attaching heat sinks
to RAM (both system and video) chips. I'd use that, if getting
a proper heat sink with a retainer clip was out.
Click to expand...

I have 2 old jars of Delta Bond thermal epoxy but haven't used them,
except when I needed a putty-like epoxy, and to glue on heatsinks I've
used only silicone rubber RTV, except in the case of large heatsink
and a small contact area, where I used regular epoxy. Thermal epoxy
for a 300 MHz K6-2 is an utter waste of money.
 
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.
Click to expand...

Thermal "paste" has been around for ages. First used it the 60's for some
early transistor power amps. Has been used for years in the
electronics/computer industry. It was "discovered" for CPUs when the heat
started rising, and heatsinks started being needed.

JT
 
JT said:
Thermal "paste" has been around for ages. First used it the 60's for
some early transistor power amps. Has been used for years in the
electronics/computer industry. It was "discovered" for CPUs when the
heat started rising, and heatsinks started being needed.
Click to expand...

Yep, I know that. I was talking specifically about the PC side of things. I
have a mate who's into electronics and I remember him using "thermal
transfer compound" on some of the transistors/heatsinks on his home-made
power amplifiers 20+ years ago. I don't kmow what it was made of but I do
remember him telling me it was really toxic. Zinc oxide? That seems to ring
a (faint) bell.
 
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