Best TIM Application Method?

[sjt269]

Hey all,

I've got an Ivy 3570K arriving (hopefully) tomorrow, along with a bunch of other kit to make my first build in ~4 years or so. I've got a CM Hyper 612S heatsink coming with it, looking to get a respectable overclock out of it but nothing record breaking (say 4.2-4.4Ghz or thereabouts?).

I've read a bunch of different opinions on TIM application, some for older single or dual core processors, but I'm a little bewildered by all the different methods, so I wanted to settle this definitively and ask what's the preferred method of application for current Intel quad core processors?

The contenders:

1. The Pea-Sized Drop - put a pea sized drop of thermal paste dead in the middle of the IHS and let the pressure from the heatsink spread it evenly. Seems simple enough, but I'd worry that it wouldn't get an even coverage over the whole processor.
2. The Straight Line - draw a straight line of thermal paste right over where the processor cores actually lie under the IHS (the thread about lapping the Ivybridge chips was particularly helpful for visualising this). This is my preferred method so far; seems to ensure coverage of the hottest parts, while being simple and allowing the heatsink pressure to spread the paste. My only queries are: which direction do we draw the line (i.e. top-to-bottom or left-to-right as you read the front of the chip), and does anyone have an image of how much paste to use? I think it would be easy to use too much with this method.
3. The Credit Card Method - put a pea sized drop of thermal paste in the centre, then use a credit card or a finger wrapped in cling-film (from Huddy's website) to smooth the paste out over the entire surface of the processor. Little messier, always the risk of being clumsy and getting TIM somewhere it shouldn't go, but ensures uniform coverage. Possible drawback is that again, it seems easy to put too much on.

So, what's the best option to use? Or if anyone has a better alternative, please go right ahead and post it, I'd be interested to hear any new methods I haven't heard of yet.

Thanks,
Steven

 

[sjt269]

Yeah, my previous one (years back) came with thermal paste pre-applied, so I didn't have to think about it back then, but this time round I want to do things as 'properly' as I can. The Hyper 612 comes with a tube of CM's own paste, as Surveyor mentioned above. Maybe not as good as the higher end stuff, but for the sake of a few degrees, it'll do for me.

 

[sjt269]

Arctic Silvers official method http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#

Interesting, I didn't realise manufacturers had a recommended way of doing it. I'm still leaning towards this method, #2 in my OP, and the pictures here are a great help. I assume that 'vertical' in this case means that if you had the CPU oriented so that you were reading the text on the front, the line of thermal paste would be vertical? This might seem a daft question, but I just want to check we're using the same convention here. The images in that link rather unhelpfully have no text on the processors.

 

[sjt269]

I ended up going with #2, the straight line, but keep the information coming!

Haven't been able to test properly yet since my copy of Win 7 hasn't turned up yet, but the BIOS shows 34C idle, which is good enough for me.