Thermal paste question.

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Why is it that these days it is no longer require that you cover the CPU in paste and that you just make a thin line of it that is the same length as the heat spreader?

Is it because the paste spreads itself once the HSF is placed on top?

 

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...and why does the gf complain when you get your thermal paste everywhere !

 

It does make a mess, especially if you get it in her hair

 

before I get told of by the ladies again

 

As far back as I can remember (10yrs with Pentium 1's) it's always been the case that a small blob of heatsink compound is enough so that when the heatsink assembly is placed on top it will spread the compound evenly.

Too much (so it's all oozing out) prevents a good even heat distribution the same as too little.

In more recent years Intel (can't speak for AMD as always been an Intel man) started to put the blob on as a disk which spread on heating up thus meaning we didn't have to add any further compound.

 

This may help :-

http://www.articsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

It has lots of good advice like these :-

They are from docs above.... I'd also like to add :-

• Don't spread it like peanut butter...

I think the general idea is not to overdo it but to have a thin film covering the heat spreader after the heatsink has been pressed down, too much will probably ooze out or possibly result in uneven spread.

 

There's also a good explanation here :

http://www.pcguide.com/byop/byop_ThermalConductingCompoundTape.htm

with a warning note at the end about AMD processor requirements

 

Yep appears ArticSilver is not necessarilly the market leader anymore so shop around, also AMD seem a bit picky what they support and using an unapproved thermal compound could violate your warranty.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26951.pdf

 

When I started doing builds for a local comuter shop they used this :

http://cpc.farnell.com/SAHEATSINKCO...-aids/product.us0?sku=servisol-200001000-25gm

and have done ever since !

Always done the job for me

 

When I have built comps in the past I have always dropped a small pea size shape on the heatspread and then smoothed it out with my finger. Seems this isn't needed any more.

It's funny that Artic sliver instructions fore a core 2 duo say a long thin line on the heat spreader and some places say pea sized drop.

The cpu I will be getting is an E8500 3.16GHz.

 

If it's a new processor then you won't need to apply any compound. You only do that if you remove the heatsink assembly at any stage and refit.

Intel confirms the compound is already there on new processors :

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-023107.htm

 

I wont be using the standard HSF I am buying an after market Zalman cooler.

 

You still won't need any as the compound is already on the cpu by Intel, the boxed products don't come with the heatsink assembly attached so it is "unused" in that respect and will bond when you fit your heatsink.

 

I thought the pads where on the HSF and there was nothing on the cpu.

 

D'oh !

Yes. I am an idiot

Sorry, m8, not concentrating this morning !

Check your new one, if it has stuff on it then don't apply any more (was the point I was trying to get across)

 

I will do, I am sure it'll need something on it.

 

The thermal paste is supposed to smooth out imperfections in the metal surface on the CPU and the HSF to maximise surface area contact, and therefore heat dissipation in to the heat sink. It only needs to be a few microns thick when everything is installed. If you put too much on it oozes out the side, but more importantly it has the opposite of the desired effect, it starts to insulate the CPU, reducing the transfer of heat in to the heat sink.

Also note the right orientation of the thermal paste. When the top is off the CPU you can see the cores are rectangular, this is where all that heat comes from!

 

Hogwash. Meh, trust your computers to other compounds, if you will... but most use good-ole trusty AS5.

 

Cheers I'll be getting some Artic sliver 5 with the cpu. Rep given

 

The application of the paste is different for every CPU, because it is based on where the core resides. As Nightwalker graphically explained, the paste should be applied over the C2D cores.

You don't need to smooth it out... apply a little bit, and let the HSF do the smoothing work. It'll distribute it a lot more evenly than your finger will!

Those knowledgeable, detailed, and most importanly, correct instructions are yet another reason to go with a trusted brand like Arctic Silver. Rep to NW.