Best way to apply Arctic Silver 5 on a Q6600

Sniper123 · 30 Aug 2007 at 11:07

Brought a Q6600G0 yesterday and some Arctic Silver 5 to go with it.How are we applying this these days?
Just a thin line down the middle or a blob in the middle?Would love to see a picture of a "pro" applying the paste

Teaf · 30 Aug 2007 at 11:14

Thin line down the middle, just make sure it's vertical in correspondance with the placement of the die underneath the heat spreader and not horizontal across it. There is instructions of how to apply it at the Arctic Cooling website

enigmo · 30 Aug 2007 at 13:33

I put a blob in the middle about 4mm across, stretch a bit of plastic bag across my finger, and use that to spread the AC very thinly across the whole surface of the CPU. This works very well

jim_e · 30 Aug 2007 at 13:38

Arctic Cooling's website shows the best way to apply for all the different CPU types.

Darg · 30 Aug 2007 at 15:42

Quad cores might be different then the single line. I heard some people use a single line in both directions like a cross. Don't know 100% though. The thin layer all over is generally best if you're not sure. You're talking about maybe 1-2C difference between that and the thin line down the middle.

Craig321 · 30 Aug 2007 at 15:44

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

Naj · 30 Aug 2007 at 15:56

Craig321 said:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

Thanks man, will apply it like that once i have lapped up the heatsink.

Mlingard · 30 Aug 2007 at 16:09

enigmo said:
I put a blob in the middle about 4mm across, stretch a bit of plastic bag across my finger, and use that to spread the AC very thinly across the whole surface of the CPU. This works very well

same here then you dont get any oil from you skin on the AC5 not sure if it makes any difference though .

enigmo · 30 Aug 2007 at 16:46

Well, previously, I used to just blob on a bit and rely on the heat and pressure to spread it out. With the highly technical finger-spread technique, I found I could measure out exactly how much was needed for a very thin coating and no more. It did seem to keep things cooler by 2-3C when compared to the blob and squish method

mofnet · 30 Aug 2007 at 20:08

ever since i started using artic silver, some 6 years ago i think (can't remember) i've always put a blob on the cpu (or heat spreader these days) then "scrape" across the cpu in all directions several times with a stanley knife blade. If done smoothly it leaves a very very thin layer of paste on the heat spreader. If u've done it really well, u can sometimes make out the markings on the heat spreader underneath the paste, i just make sure there are no definate holes in the layer then apply the heatsink and off u go..

the heat transfer pastes job is simply to even out the contact between the 2 metal surfaces, nothing more.

cheers
ian

Tuvoc · 30 Aug 2007 at 22:17

But I guess - if the heat spreader is slightly concave, spreading the paste out in this way is surely not the best way ? The "blob in the middle" and then putting the heatsink straight on on would allow it to fill in the concave bit and achieve better heat transfer ?

Mr Plow · 30 Aug 2007 at 23:19

There's a nice picture on the following thread in post number 4 of some AS5 applied to a quad -->

http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?t=300298

Naj · 31 Aug 2007 at 00:26

Mr Plow said:
There's a nice picture on the following thread in post number 4 of some AS5 applied to a quad -->

http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?t=300298

Nice idiot proof guide there.

BigglesPiP · 31 Aug 2007 at 02:37

Plus a lot of pressure if you have a backplate style cooler, if not use less paste.

Also, put the line the other direction, that's a Conroe.

mofnet · 31 Aug 2007 at 16:06

i dont suppose there's a right way and a wrong way, i just like to cover the entire heat spreader with paste as the heatsink contacts the entire heat spreader so i give the heat the best possible chance to transfer from heat spreader to heat sink. thats why i use a blade to scrape across, so the layer is nice and thin but covers the entire heat spreader. also remember that using too thick a layer of paste turns the compound into an "insulator" which then prevents heat transfer.. with the blob method, if insufficient pressure is applied by the heat sink, the thicker blob in the centre will insulate which is definately not the desired outcome..

cheers
ian

enigmo · 31 Aug 2007 at 23:47

Tuvoc said:
But I guess - if the heat spreader is slightly concave, spreading the paste out in this way is surely not the best way ? The "blob in the middle" and then putting the heatsink straight on on would allow it to fill in the concave bit and achieve better heat transfer ?

I've never come across a CPU with a spreader all that concave or convex for that matter, and even if they were slightly out they wouldn't be by more than fractions of a mm, would they? Even pre-spreading the goo, either with a finger or a blade, the heat and pressure would redistribute the paste to fill in any large-scale defects like that, but you could end up with hot-spots through uneven paste distribution anyway. Pre-spreading just limits the amount of goo you use in the first place so /should/ reduce temps marginally, defects or not.

BigglesPiP · 1 Sep 2007 at 01:18

enigmo said:
I've never come across a CPU with a spreader all that concave or convex for that matter, and even if they were slightly out they wouldn't be by more than fractions of a mm, would they? Even pre-spreading the goo, either with a finger or a blade, the heat and pressure would redistribute the paste to fill in any large-scale defects like that, but you could end up with hot-spots through uneven paste distribution anyway. Pre-spreading just limits the amount of goo you use in the first place so /should/ reduce temps marginally, defects or not.

There was a batch of conroes like spoons.