Replace TIM or buy a new heatsink?

acidCow

acidCow

Broken In
So I have a 5 year old desktop running on Core2 Duo E7400.
Lately it was running hot ( could hear the fans frequently) so I decided to take it apart completely and clean everything. When I removed the stock heatsink, the previous thermal compound was just a dry layer (I have no idea if this was normal).

Anyway after I put together everything and booted up, the fans started revving up immediately. Cpu temps on idle was about 75 degrees celcius. If i'm right only the thermal compund has to be replaced. But then I have a plan of building a new PC around October so I want to know if I would be better off buying a new heatsink which I can then use in the new PC.

Will it be a good idea? If yes please recommend me a heatsink for about 2k.
If its not a good idea to buy a new heatsink then please recommend me a thermal compound. (500 bucks or below).

And by the way my PC was originally a Compaq desktop which was last upgraded 5 years back and hence the cabinet.
 
harshilsharma63

harshilsharma63

DIY FTW!
You'll eventually need to buy the TIM, for the new rig. So just replace the tim with something good like AS5. One syringe will last 5-6 applications if done properly.
 
harshilsharma63

harshilsharma63

DIY FTW!
acidCow said:
How do I make sure it will fit in my cabinet? And do heatsinks come with thermal compound?
Click to expand...

by checking the available space between cpu and side panel and comparing it with cooler's height. you should have 170 mm of space.

acidCow said:
How do I make sure it will fit in my cabinet? And do heatsinks come with thermal compound?
Click to expand...

by checking the available space between cpu and side panel and comparing it with cooler's height. you should have 170 mm of space.
 
topgear

topgear

Super Moderator
Staff member
acidCow said:
How do I make sure it will fit in my cabinet? And do heatsinks come with thermal compound?
Click to expand...

yes, with coolers like Cm hyper 212 Evo you'll get a syringe of high quality TiM which is enough for 4-5 application.
 
OP
acidCow

acidCow

Broken In
My cabinet was too small for the Hyper 212 Evo, so I chose to replace the thermal compound for now.
I got the Arctic Silver 5 and followed the instructions on how to apply (Vertical Line Method) on their website. It didn't work initially. Load temps were still 101 degrees Celsius. When I checked , the compound hadn't spread properly so I spread it and now temps are 42 degrees idle and 65 degrees on load.

Good enough ?
 
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