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i7-3770k Thermal Paste Spreading technique

mikehull89

mikehull89

mikehull89

Associate
Joined
1 Oct 2011
Posts
22
Hi guys,

I've just bought the components for here and it is coming wednesday (woohoooo!).

Me and my friend (he has experience) are going to be assembling the machine; Which technique is the most beneficial to thermo-pasting the CPU? He says spreading but a lot of what im reading state how blobbing some in the middle and letting the heat sink do the work is the best method?

Thanks

Mike
 
The latter method is fine, rice grain sized blob and let the heatsink spread it. Manually spreading can lead to air bubbles. Though pastes such as the coollaboratory liqid ultra/pro need to be spread, due to their different consistency than normal pastes.
 
I find blob method works best. Small pea/rice/grain sized piece is what is recommended. The heatsink will spread the thermal paste itself ensuring as little air bubbles are present. When putting the heatsink on move it around gently in a circular motion to help spread the paste better.
 
If my rice grains were the same size as peas I'd be putting pc upgrades on the backburner & getting massive kitchen cupboard upgrades instead! :\

Seriously for anyone reading this for info this is a big discrepancy in "blob" size? (always did the spread with credit card method myself....now am thinking of blob method in future....but rice or pea??? )
 
CD32 said:
If my rice grains were the same size as peas I'd be putting pc upgrades on the backburner & getting massive kitchen cupboard upgrades instead! :\

Seriously for anyone reading this for info this is a big discrepancy in "blob" size? (always did the spread with credit card method myself....now am thinking of blob method in future....but rice or pea??? )
Click to expand...

Rice but it has to be Basmati!
 
Small pea or grain of rice, just don't go overboard or the TIM starts to act as an insulator. 1st thing to do after fitting the cooler is to check your temps, if there's a problem you'll quickly see it...

You can expect a temperature variation between cores as well, its pretty normal, but it shouldn't be larger than 8 or 9 degrees. If it is then you might have an air bubble or uneven spread and will need to start again.
 
I tint both the heatsink and CPU first so it fills in any minute crevices, after that i use the line method as its supposed to work best with the cores being in the centre of the psu.
 
The Matrix said:
I tint both the heatsink and CPU first so it fills in any minute crevices, after that i use the line method as its supposed to work best with the cores being in the centre of the psu.
Click to expand...

I think I remember doing the same thing on last CPU install. Giving both surfaces a rubbing in of paste before applying main application to fill in those imperfections. (rubbing with hand in a freezer bag)
 
Majority of people just use a blob, and then let the heatsink spread it. I have done it 3-4 times and never had an issue with temps, at the moment i'm getting sub 50 degree load temperatures on my H70.
 
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