Re-Applying Thermal Paste. Does this look good?

[The__Malteser]

If you want to spread then get some Gelid Extreme - most other thermal pastes aren't really designed to be spread and doing so potentially won't efficently cover the geometry where the hottest bits are and/or leave air bubbles.

One problem with the line method - you really need to know the orientation of the cores under the IHS for it to work best - with some of the newer multicores I'm not sure its as efficient as it used to be with the old dual cores, might get better results with a well placed blob or blobs.

EDIT: One of the reasons I like Socket 2011 is due to the reinforced (built in) backplate and socket so its much easier to get a flush fit without risking damage or under/over tightening.

Arctic Silver have a specific guide for a number of CPUs.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/methods.html

I have an i7 4770k Haswell CPU, so the vertical line method was the one for me.

I think of maybe one problem why the screws were not low enough, and that is due to backplate problems. You need to insert some sort of screw holders according to some length. I just put them on the max length, and made the they went in the correct holes. Seemed to work.

As I said, temps are great now. On 100% stress, temps just go over 50 deg. After around 45 minutes of prime, max temp was 52, although they are normally around 45.

I am happy,and will probably leave them at that

 

[The__Malteser]

Last question, promise.

I set my system up as shown in this picture. Fan 3 is connected my my motherboard Sys_Fan 4. It is a three pin header.

The motherboard doesn't let me set a profile for this fan. is it because it is a three pin?
Fan 2 is on a profile, and I want them to have equal profiles, but this can't be done. Do I plug it in a different port?

Also, fan 2 is now running at 100% (from the noise). No idea why. Temps are a chilly 19 deg, and it has no load at all. It should be running at 40% according to the profile set.