Dot or + in the middle, let the pressure do the job. Spreading a layer over the entire surface only makes trapped air bubbles and is the worst of any methods. I used to smear and spread the TIM all over the CPU until I learned about the facts, not some irrelevant opinions, and I'm using a drop/rice/+ method ever since. Especially with heatpipe direct touch coolers, spread makes no sense ad only pressure-based methods should be used, and since a dot might not be enough for these, a plus or stripes are the best.
Not if you do it correctly with a razor blade. Although using one of those plastic applicators usually suck.
Thats the truth.. I used the plastic applicator that came with a Cooler Master VGA cooler I bought and it was no good. You can't get a nice even spread over the die with those things
The actual "processor" is centered on the "package". scheherazade actually posted exact pictures of where the actual processor is located on the "package". As long as that portion of the IHS is covered, you get optimum heat transfer. I have silver and copper based compounds that are actually conductive....the packaging even states this is very large, bold lettering. But yes, in the majority of cases, you're right. I just happen to have tubes of the worst thermal compound ever made....lol.
The cores are located in the centre, not the outside edges. At 4.0Ghz my 955 temps max out at 49c w/ 100% load and 34c idle, so I must be doing something right....
I spread a really thin layer with my finger over the whole thing then leave a drop in the middle. I've tried spreading it with a credit card and all the other methods but this one seems to work best, at least for my heatsink and paste (AS5).
Hi guys, I'm sorry I took so long to reply to my own thread. When I started it I got some useful information on how to apply it and decided to go with the thin layer spread. I got good temperatures (I think), one idle 34C with an ambient of about 28C. I never got to testing load temps since my pc was struck out by lightning the very damn next day after I built it! Everything was plugged out, it struck out through the network cable. I will be getting my replaced computer later in the week from the insurance. Since reading more in this thread it seems that the general opinion is using the small drop in the middle, as confirmed by the benchmarks results in the previous post. I will be trying this when I build by computer (again rage) and will update you guys on the results. Thanks for all the useful comments. saguran
If your unsure of which method or quantity of paste you might prefer simply place a white envelope or sheet of printer paper flat on the table. Squeeze a pea size or corn kernel size of thermal compound on the envelope. Then gently lay a clear thin sandwich baggy over the compound. Then simply sit your heatsink on the bag and press down slightly with a litle twisting motion. Lift it up and you will see the projected coverage you will achieve on the cpu. With the CM 212 Hyper 212 on the i7-2600k cpu the above suggestion worked fine using a pea size amount of Tuniq 2 compound and my temps are 29C idle using Aida64. Everybody has various ways but the above test & trial technique makes for a NO clean up mess to determine the amount of compound you finally decide to use. Regards,
Or just put the compound on the cpu, attach the hsf, remove it to see how it spread, and if you're happy clean it, and do the procedure exactly the same way.. You waste a little bit of the paste, but what the hell...
