Thermal Compound on i7 ...which way?

Jono

Jono

Jono

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According to Arctic Silver instructions you put the AS in a horizontal line across the chip's heatspreader for a Quad Core Intel Chip, as the Cores run horizontally.

Am I correct in thinking it should be vertical for i7 (assuming triangle is in lower left corner)?

OR do I just spread the stuff all over the heatspreder/core like in the good old days.

Cooler is a Titan Fenrir.... (
 
I just put a pea-sized blob in the middle. It's going to get flattened anyway, I watched some videos on youtube and though the blob gave the nicest finish.
 
I followed arctics instructions putting mine on horizontal. If u d/l the pdf is shows you a pic of where the cores are under the heat plate.

Horizontal worked for me(Small thin line), dropped my max temps by 18deg!
 
OTE: Core i7 or i5. Please use the quad core instructions at left with one modification: If you orient the CORE i7 or i5 CPU where the triangle marker is up and to the left it will put the cores on a horizontal plane. With the cores (quad) being on a horizontal plane you will apply a horizontal line of thermal compound as depicted in the quad core instructions and the picture above.
Click to expand...

http://www.arcticsilver.com/images_v2/instructions/i7_dipicting_tim_across_the_chip.jpg

spreading a thin layer all over doesnt work to great unless your lap your cpu/heatsink first to make sure both surfaces are proper flat because sometimes a thin layer isnt enough to fill any tiny dimples so you can end up with air bubbles

blob is good for amd because amd cores arent in a straight line
 
Well ideally you want 100% of the heatspreader covered for optimal heat transfer, I tend to just spread a very thin layer all over.
 
I use a thin line straight down the middle as well. Seems to do the trick with quads. Reseated an i7 n q9550 yday using this method.
 
I spread out a thin layer over the whole IHS.

Though, I've tried comparing different methods to see if it makes any difference at all, and from my experience I didn't witness any difference between spreading it out, or using the blob or line methods.

The only reason I spread it out is so that I know that there is an even coverage over the IHS.
 
DavyBoy said:
I spread out a thin layer over the whole IHS.

Though, I've tried comparing different methods to see if it makes any difference at all, and from my experience I didn't witness any difference between spreading it out, or using the blob or line methods.

The only reason I spread it out is so that I know that there is an even coverage over the IHS.
Click to expand...

even coverage doesnt mean anything unless your cooler and top of the cpu is 100% flat often they arent if you spread a thin layer and its not thick enough to fill any gaps you wont get optimal heat transfer.

you only need to cover the cores anyway people still use old fashion methods from when the core was the majoriy of the chip.
 
arknor said:
you only need to cover the cores anyway people still use old fashion methods from when the core was the majoriy of the chip.
Click to expand...

Presuming the heatsink is flat it's optimal to have thermal compound wherever there is contact (the more surface area the better), the difference in practice is probably minimal but in theory it's better. :)

If you have a convex heatsink it won't make any difference whichever way you do it and if the heatsink is concave it's probably better to send it back rather than worry about bridging the gap with thermal compound.
 
mmj_uk said:
Presuming the heatsink is flat it's optimal to have thermal compound wherever there is contact (the more surface area the better), the difference in practice is probably minimal but in theory it's better. :)

If you have a convex heatsink it won't make any difference whichever way you do it and if the heatsink is concave it's probably better to send it back rather than worry about bridging the gap with thermal compound.
Click to expand...

even if they look flat they probably arent anyone who has ever lapped a heatsink/cpu will know this. blob/line on the cores will fill gaps a thin spread might not.

its going to get crushed flat anyway aslong as you dont put to much on you dont need to worry.
 
I always just put a blob the size of a grain of rice on and bolt the heatsink down. Temps are always fine. I think people get too hung up on paste application.
 
i7paste.png


Use the line method, makes sense. Blob will work ok also.
 
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