HELP. Installing CPU - paste smudged etc.

Just installing (first time) a AMD 64 3500 with the included heatsink and may have screwed up the the paste patch that was on the heatsink when I got it out of the box. 2 questions: 1) Is this patch of thermal paste enough? - everything I have read talks about adding your own paste. And 2) given it is a bit smudged, is this a problem? The smudging is only where it rubbed off on the actual CPU and should be pretty much in the right spot. SHould I buy and add extra paste? Also will this affect warranties etc. Many thanks, Shallow.

 

You should buy artic silver 5 thermal paste for best conductivity; also you dont want any of your fingers touching the paste/heatsink itself because of the grease we naturally have ;To clean the surface use alchohol pads.. it is wise to only apply a paper thin layer of artic silver paste to the heat sink itself ; once you apply the dab onto the HS using cloth rub in the paste so it fills in the micro holes onto the surface itself. The small 2oz bottle ( i believe) runs bout 10$ in a store.

 

1) Is this patch of thermal paste enough?

Yes, this pad was designed by AMD to its own specs so it should be sufficient for normal use. Should you desire to overclock it you might want to upgrade it.

2) given it is a bit smudged, is this a problem?

If its smudged on the die and has not yet been run it is probably ok. Those pads pretty much melt when it is first turned on and should fill all the gaps accordingly. If you really messed up the pad, then do as suggested previously and remove all of the thermal material and apply a quality thermal paste according to the directions.

2.5) Also will this affect warranties etc?

Most likely it will void your warranty if you remove the factory paste and use almost all aftermarket products. It will also void your warranty if you damaged the pad during installation and fried the cpu... So if you doubt the pad is still intact enough, I would replace it. I've yet to see an AMD processor go bad that hasn't been install or treated improperly, so even if you do change the paste it would be really rare for you to need the warranty anyway.

 

Thanks Guys. I think I will see how I go if I just turn it on as I think Njal's answer is pretty logical. Is there a way I can tell if the CPU is overheating before it gets damaged?