[Cialug] OT: hardware question

[David Champion]

Daniel A. Ramaley wrote:
> Thanks for the quick replies! I think i did it right; i was careful to 
> spread the thermal paste evenly, so it should be covering the entire 
> CPU / heat sink interface. I did not put very much paste on, but i did 
> notice that a very tiny bead of it leaked out around the edges when i 
> clamped the heat sink down. I guess the next test will be to see how 
> hot the CPU gets under full load.

You should be OK. The general rule is "less is better" - too much
negates the thermal transfer, and if theres so much that it oozes out is
a very bad thing. Some thermal compound (i.e. the fancy "Artic Silver"
stuff) is conductive. I've seen blown AMD Athlons - because they have
the famous contacts on the top you could connect for overclocking, that
were smeared with thermal paste.

-dc