Thermal compound question

[Musicrab]

Hi - wondering if my Intel E4300 is sufferring from too much thermal
compound. Just been advised that only need a small amount (grain of rice)
whereas I emptied the whole tube :-( Symptoms are I only get an overclock
(from 1.8) to 2.5GHz with highest CPU temp reported as about 40C with CPU
temp 1.5V. Too much compound?

 

[Conor]

Hi - wondering if my Intel E4300 is sufferring from too much thermal
compound. Just been advised that only need a small amount (grain of rice)
whereas I emptied the whole tube :-( Symptoms are I only get an overclock
(from 1.8) to 2.5GHz with highest CPU temp reported as about 40C with CPU
temp 1.5V. Too much compound?

WAY too much and too much acts as an insulator. A tube should do
several dozen CPU installs.

 

[Frank McCoy]

Hi - wondering if my Intel E4300 is sufferring from too much thermal
compound. Just been advised that only need a small amount (grain of rice)
whereas I emptied the whole tube :-( Symptoms are I only get an overclock
(from 1.8) to 2.5GHz with highest CPU temp reported as about 40C with CPU
temp 1.5V. Too much compound?

40C ain't so bad. What's your complaint?

 

[Phisherman]

Hi - wondering if my Intel E4300 is sufferring from too much thermal
compound. Just been advised that only need a small amount (grain of rice)
whereas I emptied the whole tube :-( Symptoms are I only get an overclock
(from 1.8) to 2.5GHz with highest CPU temp reported as about 40C with CPU
temp 1.5V. Too much compound?

If the compound is oozing out the sides, you've applied way too much.
If so carefully remove and clean the excess with an alcohol swab. A
little dab will do ya.

 

[Musicrab]

Hi - wondering if my Intel E4300 is sufferring from too much thermal

40C ain't so bad. What's your complaint?

I assumed I'd be able to get a bigger overclock with an expected higher CPU
temp. Just wondered if too much compound might be what's holding it back.

 

[Frank McCoy]

I assumed I'd be able to get a bigger overclock with an expected higher CPU
temp. Just wondered if too much compound might be what's holding it back.

The extra compound is *way* excessive; but if your CPU temp is 40C, then
it likely isn't causing any problems except a horrid mess on your
motherboard. Ugly; and if you leave it there, a really *bad* thing to
clean up later. But not likely causing problems since your CPU *does*
run, and the temperature is that low.

 

[Ed M.]

Hi - wondering if my Intel E4300 is sufferring from too much thermal
compound. Just been advised that only need a small amount (grain of rice)
whereas I emptied the whole tube :-( Symptoms are I only get an
overclock (from 1.8) to 2.5GHz with highest CPU temp reported as about 40C
with CPU temp 1.5V. Too much compound?

Yes, you did apply far too much compound, but your temps show that it is
not 'insulating' the CPU very much. I would definately remove the CPU and
reapply the thermal compound very sparingly just to avoid a real mess to
clean up later. Most folks with the E4400 are getting to 2.7Ghz fairly easy
and some even up to 3.0Ghz with air cooling. I have a liquid cooled E6600
(2.4Ghz) up to 3.6Ghz now at about the same core V as you (1.52V IIRC). Make
sure you set your memory at a low enough speed so that you know that it is
not limiting your OC. You can work with that later after you get to your CPU
max. Some folks set their memory to 'Linked' and use one of the dividers
instead of 'Unlinked' and set to a specific safe speed and their problem is
the memory is giving them problems at the higher end and not necessarily the
CPU limiting them. If you go over to alt.computer.hardware.overclocking
there are several folks that have done overclocking projects with C2D
processors over the past few months and there is some good info there that
may help you out a bit.

Ed