Reseating an i5 SandyBridge stock heatsink before first switch on, is the stock thermal paste still ok?
Hi
I'm in the middle of a new i5 SandyBridge build (built a PC once before about 11 years ago)
Having installed the motherboard, cpu and stock heatsink 2 days ago; and having taken a break to read up on a couple of things;
today I decided to reseat the heatsink 90 degrees (when reinstalling top casefan found cpu fan wire might obstruct casefan).
I expected the three strips of stock thermal paste to be unchanged as obvioulsy hadn't swiched computer on yet;
but it's spread out (thought the paste was more solid and that might only happen when heat is first applied).
Is the thermal paste now too uneven to continue?
Do I need to clean and apply some new aftermarket thermal paste?
thanks for any replies