Best way to apply thermal compound?

[Zak33]

no.. I meant i'd not use clingfilm myself cos of the static.. which is gluey anyway...

my bad joke.. though it's not a joke really. Static and cpu's not best friends....

[watercooled]

Hmm yeah I never thought of that...

[MoonPig]

Flat = small blob of TIM in middle of CPU
HeatPipes = thin line on each pipe

Always worked perfect for me. Remember, small.

[mightymouse]

all plastics can attract some form of static electricity and in the case of cling film its more likely cuz of the polymer used. i dont think they actually put a gluey substance when making it cuz then it would be hazardous when used to cover food for microwave or storage. Also when you use it to apply the TIM static electricity will transfer into the CPU surface. The best it would do is hang on to the TIM longer

[Golden Dragoon]

I still use the old fashoned method of putting on a little bit and spreading it thin with a razor blade (the old type razors are the perfect size to run across modern heatspreaders and give a nice flat application regardless of any dips in the ihs)

[fiish]

What I did (bearing in mind the last system I built used an Athlon XP 2000+) with thermal compound was usually just put the small blob on the middle of the CPU surface, put the HSF on, slide it back and forth a bit then clamp it down, the compound does flow into gaps and spread itself and I never had thermal issues.

[peterb]

This is a topic that has been debated many times in the past - to the extent that there is a Hexus guide on the subject:

http://forums.hexus.net/help-technic...tim-guide.html

But basically:

Clean off any old compound by scraping with a soft item (wooden lolly-pop stick or similar)

Remove the residue with TIM cleaner and/or isopropyl alcohol. (Don't use nail varnish remover - it contains oily stuff designed to protect nails and will leave an oily residue on surfaces, and it contains acetone which is an aggressive solvent which will attack plastics and the conformal coating on the mobo if you spill it - don't use other aggressive solvents for the same reason)

Apply the compound of your choice (and there really isn't much to choose between them) sparingly (that is important) in accordance with the mfrs instructions.

And did I mention, apply the stuff sparingly?

[looney]

No it really does. I thought it was just static myself but it's not - I remember watching it on How it's Made

These videos might be helpful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyXLu1Ms-q4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffK7L0Qj13Q

[UseItNow]

modd1uk, I know I'm a little late? but thought this might help, it's the Arctic Silver instructions!
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

The only temps I've ever monitored are for an E6750, applied MX-2 using the instructions for Arctic Silver 5, have had temps idle at 20/21°C (Winter)/ 25/27°C (Summer) at idle, whilst at load, maximum I've seen it hit with stressing/tests is 50°C. I would say I'm happy with those temps.

[Phage]

modd1uk, I know I'm a little late? but thought this might help, it's the Arctic Silver instructions!
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

Yup - I followed that, and I have all 4 cores at 44C at idle and haven't seen anything higher than 70C outside of a burn test.