Thermal compound application- Newbie.

neblur

neblur

neblur

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Joined
9 Sep 2012
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Location
Glasgow,Scotland.
Hey there guys I have a problem, Well basicley i am building my first ever rig with a quite experinced friend this coming tuesday, I have put about £2000 into it and i want to get the best results posible. Anyway the thing im worried about is How to apply the thermal compound what will be the best method for the cpu fan im using,the thermal paste im using, the processor im using. I am going to be using the cooler master 212 evo cpu cooler, with artic silver 5 thermal compound and a quad core 3rd Generation i7 3770K 3.50GHz Socket LGA1155. In the cooler master evo box it sugest the thin layer method aka spreding method, I am all for this but what do i know its my first build Hence why im asking you guys the more experinced people.On the artic silver website it says apply a line for quad core processors. My questions are What is the best method for apply the thermal compound for my build-parts. So far the thin layer spreding method has looked to be the best method imo But if you have any sugestions let me know it would be much appreachiated.

Thanks -Jay:)
 
For any application imo, just a small blob in the centre, size of a grain of rice at the most, heatsink will spread it perfectly for you, I get best temps this way. The line method is old, on my Q6600 I used a tiny amount of TIM right in the middle of the cpu heatspreader, then just plonk heatsink nicely on top. Spreading it yourself is a waste of time, messy and can leave air pockets.

gm_paste_applied.jpg


I use about same amount as this, leaves a very thin perfect layer of it in a circle under the heatsink, covering cores etc , no need to have the compound over the whole heatspreader.

Less is more hehe.
 
BrianB said:
For any application imo, just a small blob in the centre, size of a grain of rice at the most, heatsink will spread it perfectly for you, I get best temps this way. The line method is old, on my Q6600 I used a tiny amount of TIM right in the middle of the cpu heatspreader, then just plonk heatsink nicely on top. Spreading it yourself is a waste of time, messy and can leave air pockets.

gm_paste_applied.jpg


I use about same amount as this, leaves a very thin perfect layer of it in a circle under the heatsink, covering cores etc , no need to have the compound over the whole heatspreader.

Less is more hehe.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your reply i really apreachiate it. Is this ok to do because as5 is thin anyway but im worried incase its to hot because i have heard that ivy bridge is pretty hot.
 
Thank you also for your reply. whats you take on the line method since the corse are kind of in a line? thats what as5 suggests
 
I was looking at the i5 350K internals and how it works for the best way to apply the thermal paste.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/processors/intel-core-i5-3570k-1077183/review

I'm taking my cooler off next week so i'll be trying the line method that ive read about online which a fair few people have been saying is best for ivybridge processors, you just basically put a reasonable thickness line from top to bottom of the cpu and let the cooler spread it in the same way.
 
i used to do the line as well, but with a little dot each side so it looked like a +, but got same results with the blob, its upto u really, but dont do the pre-spread
edit, to above post, DONT go to the edge of cpu, as if it overflows, as5 is conductive and will cause damage
 
A small pea/little bit of rice is best imo as it gives a good circle and minimal paste, the gap between cpu and heatsink should be flush so you don't need much paste at all. It's really just to transfer the heat nothing more, and the less you have the more efficient it should be. Watch videos of people using the different methods on glass, the small pea is the best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyXLu1Ms-q4
 
I didn't find anything wrong with the spread method, but it was harder to do and messy, also I wouldn't want to be doing it with AS5, because AS5 is conductive and I wouldn't want it to get on anything, I've made that mistake in the past and nearly killed my x800 pro lol.

Personally get better temps with the small pea method and it's as easy as just squeezing paste onto the centre of cpu and you are done.
 
the spread method was popular a few years back, but not now as its been proven u get little air pockets in it.
just go with either a small pea size like pic above or a line about 5mm long like a grain of rice, in the centre of cpu,
u will be fine
 
Thanks a lot for your advice guys! I will post pictures on my build once im done #cantwait tuesday :)
 
Posted on toms hardwear aswell and getting the spread method this is what i mean to many diffirations to what way to do it the only thing that really is worrying me is that artic silver tell me for quad cores to apply a line im so confused!
 
neblur said:
Posted on toms hardwear aswell and getting the spread method this is what i mean to many diffirations to what way to do it the only thing that really is worrying me is that artic silver tell me for quad cores to apply a line im so confused!
Click to expand...

For third party pastes I would always go with the manufacturers reccomendation, they make the stuff and will have thoroughly tested the best application methods for their particular product. The spread method is what people always used to use so it's what most people know and will advise you to use but that doesn't make it the best method. It's now generally accepted and can be seen on many youtube videos that the spread method creates air pockets between the CPU and cooler preventing proper heat transfer. I'm not too suprised that some heatsink manufacturers have yet to change their fitting instructions likely the same set dealing with paste application just gets copied from cooler to cooler and never gets revised. Applying the paste to the CPU either as one or more dots or lines and letting the pressure beween the cpu and cooler spread the paste to where it needs to go has been proven to be the best application method which is why paste manufacturers are now telling people to use this method instead. I've tried both methods back to back and got a 3c improvement in both idle and load temps using the pea method over spreading.
 
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