Hi guys whats the best way to apply thermal paste, i got told a grain of rice size in the middle of the cpu then spread it with a plastic glove (or a bit of plastic bag) or do you just put a dab in the middle of the cpu then place the cooler (H70) on top and let it spread itself ,....ive tried putting Artic silver 5 on the cpu and tried the plasic glove routine but the paste is too thick and it just wants to roll up. thanks guys take care
For the past few years I've used the "grain of rice" and "let the clamping pressure of the heat sink spread the TIM" method and have had decent results. I've known others to spread the TIM manually, and others to apply TIM in an X pattern.
My tests concludes that it depends. If your processor is big and large.. like a GPU, then you need to spread it , as you want to maximize the heat transfer. If the processor is small, than the 1 grain of rise (even thought it more than a grain of rise, but you try), trick works. For medium size processors like the Core i7 900 series, than you want to apply more than a grain of rise, but still a little. In general an injector tube, should give you 3-4 tries for a CPU, 2-3 for a large GPU. A factor to consider however is the heatsink texture of the area of where the processor does contact. If it's super reflective and smooth, then 1 grain of rise trick is fine. But if it's textured like most heatsink.. you need a lot more to fill in the groves, but not too much to spill out. So you want to spread it manually, at the thickness that makes the texture of the processor disappear.. not more. Now for the crappy heatsink where it's super textured. You need to apply on both the heatsink and the processor Then of course, you want a descent thermal paste. Getting the best of the best is not worth it, in my opinion. You pay A LOT more, for 1-2 degree difference... (unless you compare with the low end thermal paste, usually used by many OEMs, where the difference is much higher) and that 1-2 degree can be easily lost by a miss apply of the TIM. As long as you don't do super crazy over the top overclock, it won't affect you. Safe your money and get decently good TIM, like the Arctic Cooling MX-4 just for an example, among many others. Of course, DO NOT touch the heatsink area that will do contact with the processor, do not touch the processor metal casing, and if you remove the heatsink (unless you just put it without turning on the computer), you need to clean it up, and put new one. Why? As it will dry a bit.. so when you'll put it back, you can form bubbles which will hold heat at the inside, and you end up with a very warm/hot processor. Also dust can come in. As for the reason to not touch the heatsink bottom and processor, well that is simple, you'll leave out grease... even if you just cleaned out your hands... a thin layer of grease will come to it, plus you leave dry skin particles. if you do come in contact with either things, no worries: simply clean the surface that you had contact with, with 70% or more rubbing alcohol. At 70% it is powerful enough to kill germs, break up and remove with the cloth grease. Use a cloth like good paper towel or Q-Tip or cotton ball, as they don't leave out particles.
For my titan fenrir, I've done the spread it with credit card method. The fenrir eats tim for breakfast with the gaps it has between heatpipes.
If you are using Arctic products eg Silver or Ceramique there are instructions on the website http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm They would probably apply to other manufacturers' products as well
Yes the credit card method works for me as well (Artic Silver 5), but imo the credit card is a bit to thick and stiff, so I just prefer to cut out a piece of a blister box and use it instead.
I do go back and forth with the card till it's super thin, I've also used a bit of jiffy wrap on my finger to rub it evenly till it's smooth, and thin enough to see the copper below if you press too much. Can't say my temps are any worse for wear.
If TIM acts as an insulator when it's too thick, then is it a good idea to pack loads in between heatpipes?
But even if the gaps between the pipes and the plate is only a couple of mm thick, and possibly deep, I'd have though that was more than enough for the Tim to start insulating instead of passing the heat through, thereby heating the CPU up more in those places. Would have though Air would be the better option, at least some of the heat escapes.
It doesn't work like that. We are not trying to cool off the chip itself, we are trying to dissipate the heat produced by the chip (hence why we use a heatsink). The fans will do the cooling. Good heatsink, doesn't have the heatpipe visible like that. Good: Good: Bad:
That's what I mean, My Contac 29 is fairly decent for the price, apparently there is some advantage from having the heatpipes in direct contact with the CPU, but then there is the issue with the gaps in between the pipes and the plates. If Tim is too thick than instead of transferring the heat, it starts to act as an insulator, keeping the heat trapped, which is likely to happen in the areas where you're advised to fill with TIM to make a smooth surface on the plate.
I laugh. How is it that BitTech raved about the titan fenrir? I mean, were they being paid off to say it was a good cooler? I get good temps with my fenrir. I'll just assume you mean 'for the most part' bad.
Thanks guys, but where does this leave me with my H70 as you have to twist the cooler to line up with the clips, does that mean as im twisting the cooler im messing up the TIM thanks take care
There is usually a bit of twisting involved which will help with the spreading, just be careful not to lift it off the CPU if it can be helped.
Yup. So no worries. As the thermal paste is still.. well a liquid paste and not dried up, there is no problem.
