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How much TIM - on a I2500K?
- Thread starter miker1
- Start date
Did you mean AS5 thermal compound?
They recommend a vertical line on the cpu:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf
They recommend a vertical line on the cpu:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf
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I use AS5 and put a two rice grain splodge in the middle and smooth it over the CPU with my finger, probably not the best or recommended way but its a very thin application and I have never had any issues with my Phase change or air setups. In fact I'm running an i5 2500k at 4.5Ghz with OEM fan (RMA'd H80) and its currently idling at 23c on load its at around 60-61, these are great chips.
But saying that, I have experience and don't put to much on. You want a light coating to fill air gaps between CPU and HS.
Less is more
But saying that, I have experience and don't put to much on. You want a light coating to fill air gaps between CPU and HS.
Less is more
I've always used a Rice grain sized amount smack bang in the middle of the CPU
this,
Caporegime
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I get a thin plastic bag and stretch it over my finger and rub it across the cpu heat spreader. very finely 100% coverage.
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The heat comes from around about the center of a CPU. You don't need the whole thing covered, which is why the line down the middle or the pea/rice grain method works just as effectively.
I find it fairly surprising that people are even suggesting spreading it with their finger or a plastic card.
This video helped me gauge how much paste to use and helped me to see that manual spreading clearly isn't as effective as letting it spread itself. I wouldn't take notice of how well any of them are spreading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyXLu1Ms-q4&feature=related
yeah spreading it finely with your finger or whatever shouldn't make a massive difference in the grand scheme of things, just put some in the middle of the heat spreader and it'll spread evenly when the cooler is applied, never wasted time doing fancy spreading and temperatures have always been good. I don't use Arctic Silver 5 no more, moved onto the Liquid Metal Pro which is both fantastic and terrible all at the same time! 
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I've always used a Rice grain sized amount smack bang in the middle of the CPU
I used this method everytime too, the trick is not to use too much.
Otherwise it'll end up looking something like this!
Man this pics old... dunno what Nvidia was thinking putting that much on.
Why do you think the metal cover on CPU cores is called a 'heatspreader'? more surface area between CPU & heatsink means a more efficient heat transfer so spread method should improve heat transfer in theory.
It doesn't make a great deal of difference how you do it, lots of theories about air pockets etc but in practice they're all more or less the same... some prefer a small blob others prefer to spread for maximum coverage.
Man this pics old... dunno what Nvidia was thinking putting that much on.
There's nothing wrong with it, as long as it's not conductive the excess doesn't have any negative impact.
At least they aren't being stingy.
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Why do you think the metal cover on CPU cores is called a 'heatspreader'? more surface area between CPU & heatsink means a more efficient heat transfer so spread method should improve heat transfer in theory.
It doesn't make a great deal of difference how you do it, lots of theories about air pockets etc but in practice they're all more or less the same... some prefer a small blob others prefer to spread for maximum coverage.
There's nothing wrong with it, as long as it's not conductive the excess doesn't have any negative impact.
At least they aren't being stingy.
Yes, it doesn't make a great deal of difference to temperatures, that isn't the point though. Why worry about covering 100% of the CPU if you're not gonna worry about the pockets of air that will hinder the heat transfer?
Admittedly being incredibly nit-picky.
I've always used the rice grain or line method, more so with the line method, just don't overdose it LOL.
Enjoy the rig, when putting it together, just take your time, re-read anything a few times before hand if this is your first build especially!
Good Luck!
Enjoy the rig, when putting it together, just take your time, re-read anything a few times before hand if this is your first build especially!
Good Luck!
I used this method everytime too, the trick is not to use too much.
Otherwise it'll end up looking something like this!
Man this pics old... dunno what Nvidia was thinking putting that much on.
I put thin strips of compound along the heat-pipes on a heat-sink like this to guarantee good contact from the copper to the processor of which I also add a pea sized amount of thermal compound to it's center.
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Why do you think the metal cover on CPU cores is called a 'heatspreader'? more surface area between CPU & heatsink means a more efficient heat transfer so spread method should improve heat transfer in theory.
It doesn't make a great deal of difference how you do it, lots of theories about air pockets etc but in practice they're all more or less the same... some prefer a small blob others prefer to spread for maximum coverage.
There's nothing wrong with it, as long as it's not conductive the excess doesn't have any negative impact.
At least they aren't being stingy.
Metal is actually a better conductor of heat than any of the pastes you find. But due to manufacturing defects the surface of the metal is uneven. This causes gaps that would normally fill up with air -- and air is a much much worse conductor.
So the idea with thermal paste is to just about fill all the gaps between the two metal surfaces. This is the ideal case and will lead to the best head conduction from processor to heatsink to the atmosphere.
Any more and you will degrade thermal conductivity, and any less will also degrade the result.