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Is this how thermal paste should really be applied??

L

LawGiver

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from OCZ website,

"Due to the presence of a heat spreader sitting between the core and the cooler o♥n this kind of processor, a different method of installation is needed. Place a small amount of paste about the size of an uncooked grain of long-grain rice in the centre of the Heatspreader and install the chip in your mainboard.

Lower the CPU cooler down directly o♥nto the CPU to minimize smearing. Although it will appear that o♥nly a fraction of the heats spreader has had paste installed, the cooler will squeeze the paste out to the appropriate width over time. This method minimized the chances of air bubbles and inconsistent thickness. Spreading compound over the entire heat spreader will simply result in a less even, thicker spread resulting in higher temperatures overall."
 
Yes, I used this method for my previous and current setups and it always worked very well. It's best to rely on the HSF to spread the paste and if the surfaces isn't 100% flat (concave or uneven), it will spread better than doing it by hand. The way to spread with a plastic card is only reserved to the IC without any headspreader.
 
LawGiver said:
Spreading compound over the entire heat spreader will simply result in a less even, thicker spread resulting in higher temperatures overall."
Click to expand...

That has never made any sense to me. There's only so much space between the HSF and the IHS, so no matter how much paste you put on, the left-over paste is going to be displaced on contact. So adding a ton of paste will be wasteful, but I don't see how it can be harmful.



 
I treat thermo paste the same as duct tape..... don't be afraid to use too much :D

If it spills over, it cleans up easy enough.

Keith
 
All I do is put a dab on the CPU and don't spread it around and let the heatsink flatten the grease.

For CPU's with bigger cores I usually spread it around.
 
I just put some on and use a credit card (or something similar) to spread it out paper thin to coat the cpu
 
aldamon said:
That has never made any sense to me. There's only so much space between the HSF and the IHS, so no matter how much paste you put on, the left-over paste is going to be displaced on contact. So adding a ton of paste will be wasteful, but I don't see how it can be harmful.



Click to expand...


Too much paste and it becomes an insulator.

Worf said:
The reason is that thermal grease is used to fill in the minute pits on the otherwise smooth surfaces of the heatsink and CPU/GPU/etc (even if it's perfectly smooth, it still has pits and "mountains"). That's why mechanical parts that rub together need grease or oil to keep them from wearing out prematurely. The problem with grease is that the more you have, the more it forms a thermal barrier (as it has lower conductivity than the heatsink), so too thick a layer is like putting an insulator inbetween the heatsink and CPU. Thus you want a very thin, almost imperceptible amount of grease (you need a bit to fit into the pits on the heatsink side), but it comes out to be "less is more". You can dab a bit on, then use a flat edge to smooth it out and remove most of it.
Click to expand...
 
You can definitely put too much paste on. Your heatsink will certainly spread the paste around but if you put too much on, its not just going to squeeze out the excess. The grain of rice method is a good one and it is perfectly acceptable to let the heatsink spread it out. You can find instructions on Arctic Silver's webpage that gives instructions for AS5 and Arctic Ceramique. Don't use paste like duct tape. That is some of the most easily contradicted advice i've ever seen.
 
A major note too, the past is also a good conductor of electricity, and if it does get on some points it will create a short, I had it happen on an XP+ cpu, took the board with it because I accidentally let a drop hit the board in the wrong spot and when it powered up POOF! instant blue smoke.. Differently just let the heatsink spread it for ya,\:cool:
 
Too much thermal compound will result in higher temperature because the contact of the IHS and heatsink are thicker.
 
paper thin even coat. can't strees this enough makes a dif. 4-5 degrees just for doing it right sounds like a good deal to me.
 
I tried the thin coat, my temps were huge.

So I did the rice sized application, temps dropped 12 degrees under load.
 
That's not as bad as it might appear, and the idea of using a razor blade to smooth it out and scrape off the excess is in line with the best practice for applying a thermal compound to begin with.

The layer should literally be mildly transparent - you should almost be able to see the metal or material that makes up the HSF mating surface. Any more than that - and doing right would mean leaving a layer of compound about 1/5 the thickness of a regular piece of notebook paper so it's not something you can really eyeball - and you stand to hamper the cooling efficiency.

The purpose of the thermal compound is to act as a conduit passing the heat from the IHS to the mating surface of the HSF - it's not to absorb it directly, which is what happens when you put too much compound on.

As one person said above and many thousands of us, myself included, learned the hard way: the thin layer is the proper methodology. Put on a thick coating, your cooling efficiency is going to suffer. Redo it with a razor blade and a nearly transparent layer of AS5 or whatever compound you choose to use and you'll see the temps plummet big time, guaranteed.

The Arctic Silver website has always had what I believe to be the very best instructions for applying a thermal compound, not necessarily their own stuff:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

Pick your CPU type and run with it. Follow them precisely and get that nearly transparent super thin layer on the HSF and you're all set.

Hope this helps...
 
i normally spread mine on with a old Card. seems to work perfectly fine.
There are a few different methods. like the "pea drop"

I prefer spreading with a card.
 
LawGiver said:
so these guys must be nuts???

http://www.frozencpu.com/resource/r8/How_to_Apply_Thermal_Paste.html
Click to expand...

How they are doing it will work for the average Joe. But I would NEVER use that method when i'm trying to squeeze every ounce of performance out of an OC. The point of the thermal material is to fill the gaps between the device and the heatsink and nothing more. The thermal paste/grease we use is less conductive than the heatsink...so why would you want more of it there;less conduction to the heatsink. Less is more in this case.
 
lol I lucked out the first time I did thermal paste, I had no real idea how to do it so i just put a dab in the center of the heatsink and spread it out in a circular motion with my finger :p definatly not the best way to do it but when I overclocked that cpu I was idleing at 22C so it obviosly worked lol
 
Ragenrok said:
lol I lucked out the first time I did thermal paste, I had no real idea how to do it so i just put a dab in the center of the heatsink and spread it out in a circular motion with my finger :p definatly not the best way to do it but when I overclocked that cpu I was idleing at 22C so it obviosly worked lol
Click to expand...

can i get more details about the CPU/overclock? :D
 
I dont trust that rice, pea size in middle then squeeze. The heatsink gets attached one side at a time so the pressure isnt even. To me it doesnt make sense that it will become pefectly spread.
I do it my hand by spreading it with a credit card. Then when heatsink is attached you twist the heatsink clockwise and counterclockwise ever so litely to remove the air bubbles. To me at least i know its 100% by doing it manually like that.
 
*Raise hand*

How does those Intel stock paste preform? They are like at least 0.5mm when you press it down. My laptops Northwood 2.66 idles at 47C, since I got some spare change for a AS5 3.5g tube would it be worth it?

True story - Had a girl come in with an A64 rig claiming cpu overheating. When I opened it up turns out the bracket was broken before. Now get this:

1) Her boyfriend PVC'ed the bracket to the MB.
2) Since the plastic clip part was broken the b/f then GLUED THE HEAT SINK TO THE A64 WITH WHITE SILICONE (The type you seal kitchen sinks with.) and the bracket.
 
mmm-sandwich said:
can i get more details about the CPU/overclock? :D
Click to expand...

It was an e6600 batch: L646G510 (A pretty bad OC'ing batch) I managed to get it to 3.32 @ 1.5V running stable anything higher than that would cause crashes no matter the voltage.
 
guess i'll post my "i do this" lol


I put a bit on the IHS in the middle... bout the size of a grain of rice...

i use a plastic grocery bag stretched over my index finger untill it gets really tight

i use my finger to spread it evenly as possible

then i move my finger to another spot of the bag and go over it again to remove a little bitty bit of paste

i repeat the finger move about 2-3 times untill the paste started to get transparent and all that remains is a very thin - fairly even layer of TIM


guess i'm of the less is more camp - i think of it as a micro gap filler

if your black is flat and the ihs is flat then you don't need much IMHO
 
maybe thats why im getting high temps? How I apply thermal paste is that I put about half size of a pea then I use my finger and spread the thermal paste covering the cpu in a thin layer then I Just put the heatsink on it.... Oh well Im going to buy a thermalright heatsink anyway..

So should I just put a grain sized thermal paste on the center of the hsf?:confused: Thanks.
 
nvidiapwnsati said:
maybe thats why im getting high temps? How I apply thermal paste is that I put about half size of a pea then I use my finger and spread the thermal paste covering the cpu in a thin layer then I Just put the heatsink on it.... Oh well Im going to buy a thermalright heatsink anyway..

So should I just put a grain sized thermal paste on the center of the hsf?:confused: Thanks.
Click to expand...

should never use you're bare finger - oil = bad

try a plastic grocery bag stretched tight over your finger - works well for me
 
malicious said:
should never use you're bare finger - oil = bad

try a plastic grocery bag stretched tight over your finger - works well for me
Click to expand...

oops, why did I never thought of that? :rolleyes: well when I buy the heatsink and when it arrives I will clean the cpu with the rubbing alcohol then re apply thermal paste and use my parents cc card and spread out the thermal paste over the cpu... better? :D I decided that I will get a Thermalright HR-01-775 from newegg.

edit... but plastic bag=static and static is the #1 computer's enemy/murderer though :D
 
nvidiapwnsati said:
oops, why did I never thought of that? :rolleyes: well when I buy the heatsink and when it arrives I will clean the cpu with the rubbing alcohol then re apply thermal paste and use my parents cc card and spread out the thermal paste over the cpu... better? :D I decided that I will get a Thermalright HR-01-775 from newegg.

edit... but plastic bag=static and static is the #1 computer's enemy/murderer though :D
Click to expand...


do you notice a ton of static when dealing with grocery bags?

I've done it for years and never fried a chip

i also don't use a wrist strap when dealing with motherboards and don't even make a conscience effort to touch the case etc...

never a dead part from static = myth to me
 
I do half a pea sized drop in the middle. I place the heat sink down flat, and hold it down while attaching opposite corners. Once two corners are attached, I let go and attach the other two.

Works great for me, and I never get any excess overflow.
 
malicious said:
should never use you're bare finger - oil = bad
try a plastic grocery bag stretched tight over your finger - works well for me
Click to expand...

I've been using Saran Wrap lately with great success. Less chance of using a "dirty" grocery bag.
 
I remember Apple had to recall a lot of notebooks a couple years back because they were too hot. It turned out the thermal paste was put on too thick.

The evolution of dual core and quad core does mean the thermal paste has to cover more than one core adequately so the little dollop in the center isn't as good as the line that cover bothn cores. Check Arctic Silvers site for directions on your cpu because they arent all the same.
 
Why do they recomend a line down the lenght of the cpu for C2D vs a drop in the center for X2 AMD? Are the intel chips more rectangular?
 
WIth the dual cores and qad cores there is more of a critical area to cover. I single core in the center can be covered by a drop of material in the center that expands outwards but 2 cores extend the area that needs coverage. Here are photos from AS5 instructions for dule core cpu's:



The instructions say:

"The red line in the photo depicts the amount and size of Arctic Silver 5 you will be using. Note the bottom photo. This is an Intel Dual Core processor as well but with the heatspreader removed. Notice the elongated chip and how the line of thermal compound will vertically cross the dual core chip when properly applied"

Here are photos they use for quad cores. The principle is the same even if direction of line varies:

 
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