we have already established that using
any thermal compound will allow
sufficient cooling. What these last few posts have been is talking about those last few degrees of temp that can be saved by using ac5 or liquid metal over other types. At that point,
any benefit of even .5 degrees can result in a "win" for a particular method/product.
In the case of the "bb method":
CPU protector/spacer (the big metal thing you see over the little CPU)
That is the heat spreader. It "spreads" heat over its surface to allow a larger contact area for the heatsink. Yes, it does protect the cpu but that is not its only purpose. Basic physics allow that the entire piece of metal will transfer heat. even the corners that are not directly on top of the cpu. You are right in that the majority of heat is lost directly over the cpu, but the rest of the spreader does get hot.
I am not trying to be argumenative, just pointing out that at this point in this thread, we were talking about saving maybe 1 degree in cooling. In that case spreading the grease over the entire sink will allow more transfer, which may lower temps another half a degree or so. That is an improvement.
Essentially that is what you are doing by rubbing both components to "fill the gaps" before installing. Same thing I was saying, just different way of doing it. That is the whole purpose of the compound anyway, to fill gaps allowing better overall heat transfer. That is also why you need very little of it no matter what method you use.