Removed heatsink from processor, do I need new thermal compound?

I had to remove the heatsink from my processor because it needed cleaned badly.

So after a good vaccum, air blast & wipe down its all clean & put back together.

But should I have added new thermal compound?

There was still some on there from when I received it from the factory, but it wasnt "fresh"

I dont have any thermal compound, but will get some if new is needed - I dont want to burn my processor out. (quad core)

Also, now the fan is making a slight noise since I removed & cleaned it (I was very careful) but if I push down on the top of the fan housing slightly it goes away. Any ideas on how to quite it for sure? It just comes & goes...

kodi said:

Do not run your system without replacing the thermal paste.
Make sure you clean off the old paste first and apply the new.

Well I left the old paste on there... been running it the last few hours... and dont have any new on hand...

kodi said:

That can be dangerous make sure you have a GOOD temperature monitor running.
I personally would not risk it and would wait till i got the new paste.
Arctic Silver is one of the best and you can use Isopropyl alcohol if you have it or rubbing alcohol to remove the old paste.
The noise could be a dry bearing, try peeling the label back and putting 1 or 2 drops of light oil on it

Have a suggestion for a good temp monitoring widget? I've got a cpu usage one now that I like alot.

I'm trying to think what store is close to me that even sells thermo paste. I'm sure BestBuy or something does, but thats way over on the other side of town.

Does walmart sell thermo paste?

Also, what kind of oil should I drop below the label? Do it while its running?

JohnnyScience said:

kodi said:

That can be dangerous make sure you have a GOOD temperature monitor running.
I personally would not risk it and would wait till i got the new paste.
Arctic Silver is one of the best and you can use Isopropyl alcohol if you have it or rubbing alcohol to remove the old paste.
The noise could be a dry bearing, try peeling the label back and putting 1 or 2 drops of light oil on it

Have a suggestion for a good temp monitoring widget? I've got a cpu usage one now that I like alot.

Also, what kind of oil should I drop below the label? Do it while its running?

Also a temp widget that will see & tell me the temp of both of my video cards. I think one may be running hotter than the other for some reason? They are next to each other in the box...

Check out the following program- AIDA64 | PC Benchmark | System Diagnostics | Network Inventory
It is a replacement for Everest and will show all your temperatures/mortgages etc.. There is no better software in the marketplace.

As far as your CPU cooler is concerned, please follow the excellent advice provided by members as you are clearly risking your system without " properly" resetting your CPU cooler. Make sure that you carefully clean both surfaces (CPU and cooler) away from the motherboard to avoid spreading the paste onto your motherboard.

Given your physical configuration, I would suspect that the card on the left is the one with limited airflow, however if the overheating card is the one on the right slot then your problem is not necessarily air flow related. Try switching the positions of the two cards to help identify if it is a defective card or defective connections. Heat is your biggest enemy, whether CPU or GPU.

kodi said:

...The noise could be a dry bearing, try peeling the label back and putting 1 or 2 drops of light oil on it

JohnnyScience said:

...Also, what kind of oil should I drop below the label? Do it while its running?

If you know someone with a sewing machine, they might have some sewing machine oil you can use. You can use cooking oil (you only need a couple of tiny drops).
Don't do it while the fan is running, for one you need it stopped to peel the little sticker off the top, and two the oil will just get flung around instead of going into the little space between the shaft and the bearing. Make sure you replace the sticker as it stops dust getting in there.