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arctic silver 5
- Thread starter vict0r
- Start date
Sure. Its possible to put to little and leave air gaps that would inhibit heat transfer but really its a simply matter to put a small blob on and use a credit card to smooth it out.
So long as the entire surface has a nice even coat (ie you cant see the silver of the heatspreader) then you have enough on.
So long as the entire surface has a nice even coat (ie you cant see the silver of the heatspreader) then you have enough on.
Arcygenical
Fully [H]
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- Jun 10, 2005
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- 25,066
I do... and it's worked for me for years.
digital_exhaust
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - May 2008
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- Aug 14, 2006
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Me too.
I see threads like this come up from time to time and wonder if I've just been lucky, or perhaps it's an issue people tend to over analyze
first you need to prep the surface, whether or not you decide to lap is your choice. Clean off both sides, heatspreader of CPU and base of heatsink with some rubbing alcohol. Next, take a bit of the grease and smear it on to the heatspreader and the base of the heatsink. Your goal is to "discolor" the metal so you know that the grease has gotten into the small crevices of the metal, wipe it down so that it's clean with a dry paper towel.
Add a small bit in the middle, it's all you need, the size of a grain of rice. Install heatsink and fasten it down evenly.
By prepping the surface first, you cut down on the curing time of the grease as that's where that extra 1-2C comes in usually after a few hundred hours of breaking it in. The constant heat cycling gets the grease to naturally flow into those cracks.
I've had my temps start low and stay consistent even after the so called 200+hr break in.
The only thing that will yield an extra bit of performance is the lapping of both the cpu and the base to perfect flat surfaces, doing only one side doesn't help too much because the heatspreader is usually not flat to begin with and in some cases makes the performance worse with some heatsinks.
Add a small bit in the middle, it's all you need, the size of a grain of rice. Install heatsink and fasten it down evenly.
By prepping the surface first, you cut down on the curing time of the grease as that's where that extra 1-2C comes in usually after a few hundred hours of breaking it in. The constant heat cycling gets the grease to naturally flow into those cracks.
I've had my temps start low and stay consistent even after the so called 200+hr break in.
The only thing that will yield an extra bit of performance is the lapping of both the cpu and the base to perfect flat surfaces, doing only one side doesn't help too much because the heatspreader is usually not flat to begin with and in some cases makes the performance worse with some heatsinks.