Date: 09/06/07 (Computer Help)    Keywords: no keywords

This heatsink/fan combo arrived in the mail today. I cleaned off the old thermal grease (it was almost 3 years old), applied a small amount of new grease (about the size of a grain of rice, maybe a little bigger), and snapped in the heatsink. My computer only idles about 2 C cooler now than with the stock heatsink and fan, though. (It used to idle around 49 in the summer, whereas now it idles around 47.) Shouldn't there be a bigger improvement? Reviewers on the site reported much bigger drops in temperature (like 7-10 degrees lower at idle than with stock fans). I cleaned the processor with Q-tips and a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution. Should I try cleaning it with better materials?

My processor is an Athlon 64 3200+, and it might also be worth mentioning that my case has atrocious airflow and that the ambient temperature, if my sensors can be trusted, is about 45 C. I can't seem to get it below that, no matter what I try.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/813836.html