Thermal paste

Just a quick question guys....
This only came about recently after I repaired an Xbox 360 from RROD.
When I put a system together I always put a "blob" of thermal paste on the cpu, but a few people I know have said that they spread it over before putting the heatsink down. Now I've always had decent results from the "blob" method, but others have been championing the "spread" method.
Has anyone tried both, if so what method gave the better results?
As I was always told you should put a "blob" on and let the heatsink spread it to avoid any air getting trapped.
Any thoughts on either method guys?

Cheers.
Tom.

I've always used the spread thin method and it has never let me down. I tried the blob method once on my old Pentium D 805, and it didn't go so well. The temp shot up to over 80c! Don't really want to try it again after that.

One way of spreading is to use this stuff - it has a brush! OK for most CPUs if not extreme.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=388704

Peter.

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Originally Posted by Ikthezeus

Just a quick question guys....
This only came about recently after I repaired an Xbox 360 from RROD.
When I put a system together I always put a "blob" of thermal paste on the cpu, but a few people I know have said that they spread it over before putting the heatsink down. Now I've always had decent results from the "blob" method, but others have been championing the "spread" method.
Has anyone tried both, if so what method gave the better results?
As I was always told you should put a "blob" on and let the heatsink spread it to avoid any air getting trapped.
Any thoughts on either method guys?

Cheers.
Tom.

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A blob will always spread out when the heatsink goes down, and many use it.

I've always gone for the spread method as i can be sure that there is a good amount all over the component. Partly as i'm a pesemist though and i want to be sure.
Either way, when doneproperly it shoudn't matter.

Blob works for me.

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Originally Posted by Andy3536

A blob will always spread out when the heatsink goes down, and many use it.

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The problem with the blob method happens when the bases are not flat, either concave on convex. It can leave places where it doesn't reach..

I use the spread type personally :)

If you check out Arctic Silvers installation instructions, for Intel they recommend the line method, vertical line for dualcores and horizontal line for quads (current Intel quads have two dies side by side, hence horizontal line)
Spreading wouldn't yield any better results solely due to the actual CPU core being central on the heatspreader.

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Originally Posted by LuckyNV

If you check out Arctic Silvers installation instructions, for Intel they recommend the line method, vertical line for dualcores and horizontal line for quads (current Intel quads have two dies side by side, hence horizontal line)
Spreading wouldn't yield any better results solely due to the actual CPU core being central on the heatspreader.

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Well I looked at the Arctic silver blurb and it seems to me illogical as the heat would spread over the metal of the cpu by conduction and the cooler needs max contact all over to take the heat away.

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Originally Posted by Agent

The problem with the blob method happens when the bases are not flat, either concave on convex. It can leave places where it doesn't reach..

I use the spread type personally :)

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The 'blob' method also can also cause trapped air, from bubbles to entire pockets.

i have always spread but i have noticed the line method b4 never tried it though lol

I just used the 'line' method on a 6550 the other day and a Noctua NH-U12F and my temps are roughly 10c above room at 100% load. Works fine for me, although I did use to use the spread method back in the day!

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Originally Posted by Giraffe

One way of spreading is to use this stuff - it has a brush! OK for most CPUs if not extreme.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=388704

Peter.

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Yep, that stuff is the best, and easy to apply. I once tried to spread the AS5 and uhm yea no go on that, you end up wasting half the tube of AS5 trying to spread it, I wouldn't even recommend trying to spread the AS5 its so thick it just creates air pockets which is not good for thermal conductivity.

I think the ability to apply a thin even coat across the entire surface yields better results.

I have a small plastic stick for spreading AS5.

Grain of rice sized blob for me.

Unless you need the grease to actively bridge large gaps, but your cooling's going to be poor in that case anyway.

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Originally Posted by aidanjt

I have a small plastic stick for spreading AS5.

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I've always used my finger.....and why we are on the subject of AS, why not use methylated spirits for removing AS, you can drink and work at the same time.

Either way is fine as long as it is done right ...sort of like painting a wall

quick question regarding thermal paste...

Do the Core 2 Duo/Quad's come with thermal paste on or will I need to get some along with my order?

If they're retail, yes they come with it applied to the heatsink.

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Originally Posted by LuckyNV

If you check out Arctic Silvers installation instructions, for Intel they recommend the line method, vertical line for dualcores and horizontal line for quads (current Intel quads have two dies side by side, hence horizontal line)

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method i will be using

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Originally Posted by Giraffe

One way of spreading is to use this stuff - it has a brush! OK for most CPUs if not extreme.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=388704

Peter.

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That's what I use. No probs, but I don't OC

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Originally Posted by LuckyNV

If you check out Arctic Silvers installation instructions, for Intel they recommend the line method, vertical line for dualcores and horizontal line for quads (current Intel quads have two dies side by side, hence horizontal line)

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But.... but... but... doesn't that depend on whether you have your case lying down or standing up? Surely vertical or horizontal alignment is a matter of perspective and relativeness?

I'm confused :crazy:

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Originally Posted by Shooty*

But.... but... but... doesn't that depend on whether you have your case lying down or standing up? Surely vertical or horizontal alignment is a matter of perspective and relativeness?

I'm confused :crazy:

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don't understand, its on the cpu die

I'll put it another way: How do you tell what is a horizontal line, and what is a vertical line when the item that you are "painting" is a flat square surface?

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Originally Posted by Shooty*

I'll put it another way: How do you tell what is a horizontal line, and what is a vertical line when the item that you are "painting" is a flat square surface?

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Ah, well, a horizontal line is anywhere across the face of the chip. A vertical line is more difficult...

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Originally Posted by Shooty*

I'll put it another way: How do you tell what is a horizontal line, and what is a vertical line when the item that you are "painting" is a flat square surface?

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aim the arrow to the bottom left

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Originally Posted by schmunk

Ah, well, a horizontal line is anywhere across the face of the chip. A vertical line is more difficult...

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You get where I'm coming from ;)

How does one paint air?
What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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Originally Posted by excalibur2

Well I looked at the Arctic silver blurb and it seems to me illogical as the heat would spread over the metal of the cpu by conduction and the cooler needs max contact all over to take the heat away.

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The line will get spread out over the whole surface of the CPU package, if done properly. Worked absolutely fine for me on multiple occasions.

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Originally Posted by excalibur2

I've always used my finger.....and why we are on the subject of AS, why not use methylated spirits for removing AS, you can drink and work at the same time.

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Don't use your finger for spreading TIM, your skin excretes oils that impede the effectiveness of the material as well as the uneven weave of your finger prints doesn't allow you to get the spread thin enough.

I have always used an unneeded 'credit card' (or plastic card of the same variety) to spread thermal goop, and white spirit and a kitchen cloth to take it off.

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Originally Posted by schmunk

I have always used an unneeded 'credit card' (or plastic card of the same variety) to spread thermal goop, and white spirit and a kitchen cloth to take it off.

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I've always used the credit card method as well. Though I use Akasa TIM remover to get it off.

Spread for me. I used to use a thin plastic plant pot label for spreading but now I use a very thin knife. If you have to use fingers then put your hand into a plastic bag and spread. Once finished turn bag inside out and throw away.

I think next time ill
1-paint some on
2-spead some more with my finger
3-(grab second tube)
4-place lines horizontal, vertical and diagonal
5-place a blob on top for good measure ( like a Mr Whippy )
6-force CPU cooler down as hard as posible
7-clean excess off motherboard with Tim-clean

actually the bag trick above is a damn good idea better than having a rag handy to wipe finger on.

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Originally Posted by s3ds

I think next time ill
1-paint some on
2-spead some more with my finger
3-(grab second tube)
4-place lines horizontal, vertical and diagonal
5-place a blob on top for good measure ( like a Mr Whippy )
6-force CPU cooler down as hard as posible
7-clean excess off motherboard with Tim-clean

actually the bag trick above is a damn good idea better than having a rag handy to wipe finger on.

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The bag isn't for no messy fingers, it's for not getting skin oils all over the TIM and causing a barrier between the TIM and your heatsink. But even bags aren't very good for even TIM distribution.

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Originally Posted by aidanjt

The bag isn't for no messy fingers, it's for not getting skin oils all over the TIM and causing a barrier between the TIM and your heatsink. But even bags aren't very good for even TIM distribution.

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ok point taken ill never use my finger again , would you remove the pads from a retail fan or would you leave it ?

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Originally Posted by s3ds

ok point taken ill never use my finger again , would you remove the pads from a retail fan or would you leave it ?

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They tend to be the first thing to go for me, I just use a creditcard like piece of plastic for that, and my little plastic stick for spreading of the TIM.

I personally use a bag (like sandwich bag)...

I first clean the surfaces with a HS cleaner.. then I apply a small amount to the heatsink first... which I then buff off with a kleenex. Basically you want the fine metal particles of AS5 to sit in the grooves and tiny crevices on the surface of the heatsink but not cover it up, so buff away hehe.

Once thats done... I apply a half rice grain sized blob to the centre of the CPU.
Then with my finger through the corner of a sandwich bag for protection, I smear it all over the CPU surface into a thin (almost transparent) layer.

I find that keeping your AS5 in the fridge makes it spread easier.

You do not want a thick layer of compound... you want it real thin to maximise metal to metal contact.

The thermal compound is not supposed to be a barrier between the chip and HS... It is merely there to fill in the minute gaps that appear on the surfaces and maximise surface area contact.

From personal experience, this gives me far superior results to all other methods that I have tried to date on all the builds I have done.

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Originally Posted by excalibur2

I've always used my finger.....and why we are on the subject of AS, why not use methylated spirits for removing AS, you can drink and work at the same time.

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:lol: Top

I dont know if the dye used in meths is a good idea....
Surfaces for AS5 should apparently be prepared with high quality isopropyl alcohol..
petroleum or citrus based oil cleaners are not advised as the oils they contain will sink into the tiny pores of the metal surface and reduce the effectiveness of the compound.

Also... i saw someone reccomending Akasa HS cleaner... as far as I know, thats a citrus based cleaner.

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Originally Posted by twicksisted

I dont know if the dye used in meths is a good idea....
Surfaces for AS5 should apparently be prepared with high quality isopropyl alcohol..
petroleum or citrus based oil cleaners are not advised as the oils they contain will sink into the tiny pores of the metal surface and reduce the effectiveness of the compound.

Also... i saw someone reccomending Akasa HS cleaner... as far as I know, thats a citrus based cleaner.

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I've used brandy or whisky in the past, but would think the AS is already in the pores of the metal before you start wiping it off, to replace with a fresh dollop. And I doubt that most people would scrub the surface clean.

Just to add some more thoughts I use artic cooling MX1 and have tried both methods.
Current system AMD x2 5000 black edition at 3.1 Ghz @ 1.375 v with a freezer 64.

Spread thinly resulted in my system restarting as the cpu over heated.

Blob in the middle and a twist of the heatsink as shown on the artic cooling website and now at 46 degrees at 100% cpu with dual prime 95.

So I think it also depends on the tim you use.

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Originally Posted by teachmech

Spread thinly resulted in my system restarting as the cpu over heated.

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Woahhhhhh, that's sounds like the HSF wasn't seated correctly :)
A CPU at stock should never overheat, just run warmer; even with no TIM as long as there is a heatsink on it.

ive always used the finger in bag method!

For removing TIM use Acetone - 50ml bottle for around 99p from chemists. Cheaper on ebay but you'll get a bigger bottle.

I use Ceramique/MX1 (not together though) and I believe with those you have to put a blob on. I thought only Acrtic Silver had to be spread?

I can't believe half a grain of rice size paste can be spread over a IHS or core - please can someone post pics (sometime ago I do remember looking at the Arctic Silver site but still couldn't believe it).

If you are going to use acetone then be careful with it because it will dissolve alot of plastics (and you won't find out which ones until you've spilt it on your mobo/cpu etc)

I would recommend isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol, IPA) because this will not attack plastic. Available here, more than you will ever need. I'm sure other places like fleabay do it too. Be careful though, it is flammable!

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Originally Posted by iranu

If you are going to use acetone then be careful with it because it will dissolve alot of plastics (and you won't find out which ones until you've spilt it on your mobo/cpu etc)

I would recommend isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol, IPA) because this will not attack plastic. Available here, more than you will ever need. I'm sure other places like fleabay do it too. Be careful though, it is flammable!

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Yes, you've got to be careful with Acetone as it states on the bottle "attacks plastics".

With regards Isopropyl Alcohol, I've never used it to remove TIM as I thought it wouldn't remove it! I do use it to clean the heatsink/cpu core, once I've removed the TIM with Acetone.

You can get isopropanol in a large can from Maplin as well. A few quid. Removes thermal compound very nicely.

I had a job removing some TIM from the heatpipe cooler of a Asus A8N SLI Premium.

Acetone and Isopropyl Alcohol couldn't remove the TIM so I ended up scraping off the top layer and then using Acetone to do the rest.

Would Akasa TIM have removed the paste (without having to scrape the top layer)?

I applied MX1 and fortunately (thank God) the MB temps are down by 5c 'ish. Used to be the MB temps were higher than the passive Ninja temps.

I've often found that the stuff the manufacturers use on graphics cards, chipset coolers etc is rock hard (and often poorly applied) so I tend do scrape it of with a very small sharp knife (scalpel) or a pencil sharpener blade aswell. Then finish with IPA.

I've not come across a safe solvent that will get rid of the manufacturers crap. Nowadays I remove heatsinks and put my own thermal paste on asap.

I use cling film and finger with AS 3 which is quite runny.

I have found though that spreading it thinly isnt that great. Perhaps because
C2D are slightly concave. so put a little bit more in the centre blob style.

Horizontal line on my quad core worked a treat! Artic ceramic paste.

I can't see how spreading will have any effect, the heat will take the most direct path, i.e from the core into the heat spreader and then straight into the heatsink, it's not going to spread out across the wholse face of the heat spreader.

I use both the Zalman with a brush and AS5 spread with an old credit card as AS used to tell you to do in in the 'old days'.

Zalman is easier, both seem to yeald similar results - with most comparison tests giving AS that extra 1 degree - not much in it really.

How should I spread MX2?

In accordance with the mfrs instructions - look at their web site.