how do you spread your thermal paste?

bomberboysk said:
*snip*
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Based on the video, yes, I can see your argument for using the dot method. However, only for silicon based thermal paste.

The video shows for a fact that AC3/5 is much higher viscosity, doesn't spread like silicon does, thus, wouldn't be made for the dot method. (It seems the video is more of an argument for using silicon, but thats for another day).

And infact, said video doesn't show the effects of the spread method used with AC3/5. And I could argue that the additional amount of coverage based on the spread method (whereas the dot is only in the center) removes the negative affects of bubbles.

:) Yes, I'm just being stubborn.
 
wag 42 said:
So, if I understand correctly what you are saying, it's not as important to cover the entire CPU (square shape) but more or less a circular pattern in the center?
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If you took off the metal heatspreader from a CPU, you would see it only makes contact with a small point, which is the chip itself, which is in the centre. That isn't to say only that one rectangle of heatsink above the chip gets hot, but the vast majority of that heat is on that point and the directly surrounding areas, the area around it and the very edges don't get hot at all really
 
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Aastii said:
I said at stock ;)

You know what my chip is like, have already said about it in Super Pi thread, highest I can get it without going to silly high voltages is about 3.6, but even then the highest I have seen it is 41 when stress testing and low 30s when gaming.

And yea I know the i7's aren't the best for heat, but I'm still happy with having a chip that is near ambient temperature at idle, can't exactly complain, be it any AMD or Intel chip, that is still good going
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I7 at stock clocks puts on more heat than a Phenom II X3 overclocked to 3.6 hands down.
 
kobaj said:
Based on the video, yes, I can see your argument for using the dot method. However, only for silicon based thermal paste.

The video shows for a fact that AC3/5 is much higher viscosity, doesn't spread like silicon does, thus, wouldn't be made for the dot method. (It seems the video is more of an argument for using silicon, but thats for another day).

And infact, said video doesn't show the effects of the spread method used with AC3/5. And I could argue that the additional amount of coverage based on the spread method (whereas the dot is only in the center) removes the negative affects of bubbles.

:) Yes, I'm just being stubborn.
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The video is an argument against the spread method, not a proponent of the use for silicone based thermal interface materials. Also, pretty much every thermal interface material on the market has a silicone binder, and even extremely thick thermal interface materials such as shin etsu X23-7783D incur better results by allowing the pressure of the heatsink to spread it.

Also, the extra surface area is not going to help thermal performance. You are not going to achieve better thermal results by covering the entire cpu vs just covering the main area where the heat is dumped.
 
bomberboysk said:
Also, the extra surface area is not going to help thermal performance. You are not going to achieve better thermal results by covering the entire cpu vs just covering the main area where the heat is dumped.
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Ehh, I'd say except direct touch heat pipe HSF's. If the outer pipes don't get paste, you're only utilizing 1/2-2/3 of the cooler.
 
Um, this topic has me confused now, you guys are saying that you should use this method for this cpu with this type of thermal compound and blah, blah, blah........ So how would you apply MX-3 on a Athlon/Phenom II x3/x4 with a Zalman 7500 all copper heatsink? And please explain why.
 
No the only difference was the type of cooler you have. If you have a cooler with a flat surface, just apply a dot in the middle and attach the heatsink (which compresses it and expands it, this provides the best results). If you have a direct touch heat pipe cooler, you need to spread the paste differently.
 
Oh ok then I was fine in the beginning cause that was exactly what I had in mind... till I started reading this topic XD. I keep hearing pea size, but has any one made actual measurements? I don't know how big your pea's are.
 
lemon07r said:
I don't know how big your pea's are.
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:D:D :good:
You know, I have often thought that when people quote "Pea size". Are we talking "garden peas", "yellow peas", marrowfat peas","processed peas", "fish and chip shop type "mushy peas". Let's have some measurements :D
 
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Well on my E6300i took out the processor,put on the plastic protector it comes in and put about half a pea size on and spread it out with a piece of old plastic credit card or something...i got better temps on my E6300 doing it that way rather than just putting some in the middle and shoving on the heatsink.

My E6300 with AS5 applied...Had this on a Asus Silent Knight 2.

PIC_00851600x1200.jpg


On my Q6600 though i didnt take it out the mobo,i still applied it the same way though...and get 28c to 30c idle on my Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme.
 
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Alright my dad decided to be stubborn and say no; I have built 2 computers and know how to spread the grease. He used his finger and quickly just spread it around. When he took it off, half of the cpu was covered in air bubbles. So I say to my dad see how bad it is, and he says no what do you mean? I don't see any air bubbles, it's perfect. I tried to take off the zalman cooler when he left and re-apply it, but it was on too tight, my finger hit one of the fins and now I'm bleeding like a pig. How bad will this be on my cooling? What should I do, the thermal grease is used up, and the stuff my dad put on could be dry (will it be dry?) I can take a credit card and use that to scrape the thermal grease off the stock cooler and use that, should I? And any tips on taking the zalman fan off (it goes on the same way as the stock am3 cooler)?
 
Wow, his finger??? OMG

If he put too much on, you should still have enough to take the heat sink off and fix the grease and then remount. DON'T use your finger LOL.
 
I think he put the right amount, its just that he used his finger XD. Hope fully I dont cut my self again. I'm going to use a hammer this time >=D.
 
The fan is freaking impossible to get off, I even tried dolphin nose pliers, flat nose screwdriver and a hammer. All I did was scratch my new motherboard, (it doesn't look like I hit a chip). Any help on how to get the freaking zalman 7500 off of the am3 motherboard?
 
lemon07r said:
The fan is freaking impossible to get off, I even tried dolphin nose pliers, flat nose screwdriver and a hammer. All I did was scratch my new motherboard, (it doesn't look like I hit a chip). Any help on how to get the freaking zalman 7500 off of the am3 motherboard?
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Hope your joking, if not probably screwed your board up.

It just has a retaining clip that goes through the bottom of the cooler that hooks onto the CPU bracket on each side. Just push down on the end of the clip on one side and it should unhook itself from the bracket, then it should come right off.

If you didnt get that download the manual
http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=167
 
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I use some cheap stuff but I just put a small dot on my cpu then just put the heat sink on. Usually works fine.
 
Ok I gave up after like getting 8 cuts (the fins are sharp), but its worse then I thought, im getting bad temps, I idle in the high 40s and load in the low 60s on a unlocked athlon 445, (phenom II b45 x4 3.2ghz @ 1.315v {prime95 tested}).
 
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