Applying Thermal paste..

Rensin · 23 Mar 2011 at 15:38

have decided to upgrade to a 2600k cpu and was wondering what the best way to apply thermal paste is?

Will it be similar to a q6600, i.e a grain of rice in the centre and install cpu cooler?

Stormar · 23 Mar 2011 at 15:44

thats all i did for mine and get good temps 17-23 on a 2500k

Surveyor · 23 Mar 2011 at 17:15

Stormar said:
thats all i did for mine and get good temps 17-23 on a 2500k

Must be a cold room.

23JMZ07 · 23 Mar 2011 at 17:22

pea in the middle is perfect tbh, I don't agree that a rice size ammount is enough

Rensin · 23 Mar 2011 at 18:13

thanks for the replies

joemo13 · 23 Mar 2011 at 18:32

So you don't spread it out at all and just let the pressure do it?

twist3d0n3 · 23 Mar 2011 at 18:38

just let the pressure of the block/heatsink spread it

and yes, a pea sized blob in the middle is all you need (and not a big pea at that

)

Rensin · 23 Mar 2011 at 18:42

joemo13 said:
So you don't spread it out at all and just let the pressure do it?

nope, let the pressure from the heatsink spread the paste

edit beaten to answer

joemo13 · 23 Mar 2011 at 19:00

Why not spread it out manually then? I thought the best way was a very thin layer all over a CPU.

Gin0rm0 · 23 Mar 2011 at 19:13

Amos91 · 23 Mar 2011 at 19:19

joemo13 said:
Why not spread it out manually then? I thought the best way was a very thin layer all over a CPU.

Because spreading it can cause air bubbles to form which isn't good when in contact between the cpu and heatsink.

I always did a line with the q6600 between the two cores, otherwise a pea sized amount is fine.
Like this:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/q6600 apply thermal paste line/killa_concept/sidebysidecomp.jpg

w3bbo · 23 Mar 2011 at 21:11

A pea size is normally way too much for most pastes. IC Diamond is perhaps the only paste I have used that requires anything anywhere near pea size. Half a pea is normally enough. Here is a pic of the amount I normally use (MX-3):

Some people use a line, others spread, some use the X method. You will get varying results depending on whether your cpu is concave, convex and the same goes for your heatsink, be it a watercooling block or a air cooler. Thats not all either as some heatsinks have direct heatpipe technology which requires a little more paste than usual.

The best method is the one that works for your particular setup, there is not a 'one size fits all'.

liamcrane · 23 Mar 2011 at 22:25

I wrapped my finger in a sandwich bag and spread my AS5 over my 955

Done that about 2 years ago now and it still idles nicely around the 30c mark OC @ 3.7ghz 1.40v and underload 43c max in games like battlefield.

smiley1987 · 23 Mar 2011 at 22:32

liamcrane said:
I wrapped my finger in a sandwich bag and spread my AS5 over my 955 Done that about 2 years ago now and it still idles nicely around the 30c mark OC @ 3.7ghz 1.40v and underload 43c max in games like battlefield.

Damn i wish i had of thought of that 2 years as i used my laser card to spread my thermal paste .

MumboJumbo · 23 Mar 2011 at 22:43

It has been proven and shown many a time by extensive tests that you should just put a pea sized blob and put the heat sink on. Do not overcomplicate it and just take it as truth.

Awahwah · 23 Mar 2011 at 22:48

As everyone has said above, pie sized in the centre works well. I've tried both the line and pie application with the same end results.

mikeyholt · 23 Mar 2011 at 23:16

Rice sized works well for me.

AsLan · 24 Mar 2011 at 09:04

Artic silver's website have different recommended methods depending on the CPU. They also recommnend tinting the heatsink and cpu first. This involves spreading the compound on, and then wiping it off with a lint free cloth.

~Mike~ · 24 Mar 2011 at 09:52

Awahwah said:
As everyone has said above, pie sized in the centre works well. I've tried both the line and pie application with the same end results.

What kind?

I quite like a steak and ale pie myself.