Try the paste first. Paste tends to dry up and become less effective over time. You can get Artic Silver 5 pretty cheap on the internet compared to your local computer store - $3 vs $10-15 for a tube whcih will do many many cpu'*.

**Do not use CompUSA or OCZ branded silver compound. Both are fakes and neither use silver. OCZ has issued a recall but I beleive CUSA still sells theirs.

I already have some Dynex "Silver Thermal Compound" that I got from Best Buy a few weeks ago. It says it is 75%-80% silver content by weight. Will it work alright?

They must have worked on their formula; it used to be only 50%. It should work better than what you had thats for sure.

Be sure to apply it properly, about a bb'* sized drop in the center of the cpu, Put heatsink on and twist back & forth a little to help spread the drop. The pressure from the heatsink clips will do the rest to spread it. Too much will act more like an insulating layer btw, its a common mistake people make.

Thanks for the advice! I actually have a CPU heatsink/fan on order already. It'* this one from Newegg. Hopefully it'll get the job done in addition to new paste.

That looks like it should work well and be fairly quiet at 2200rps. Don't forget to lower MBM'* alarm thresholds I've got several of Rosewill products so far all are working well and a great value for the price.

So I'm a little disappointed....

I swapped out the heatsink and fan tonight with a buddy'* help, though we almost killed my processor from thermal paste overload. He has built a few systems, and said he always puts paste over the entire bottom surface of the heatsink. Bad idea. The paste must have created a short between a few of the terminals on top of the processor, so after hitting the power button and watching the system begin posting the mobo speaker started wailing like a siren and the system shut down. We cleaned some of the paste off the heatsink and proccy, then put it back together. The computer works, but unfortunately my system idle temps are only 2*C cooler than before! What a bunch of crap!

So I'm wondering if there'* too thick a layer of paste between heatsink and processor. I just can't believe this humongous heatsink is not keeping the system cooler. The fan is turning at the advertised RPM, too. Idle temperature is now 51*C, compared to 53* or 54* on the stock heatsink and fan. I don't know why this thing won't run cooler. I'm not overclocked or anything.

Ideas?

yes Ben, too much is just as bad. it only needs to be a film of paste.

I guess I'll just pull it apart and re-paste it. Damn I hate it when I have to redo something!

ahhem...

Yeah popatim, I remember now

I trusted my friend'* opinion and let him slather the stuff on the heatsink, which ended up almost killing my processor. I'll open it up and redo it right. I should have just listened to you in the first place