Question Best Thermal paste method?

[ashzark]

Hello

i got a 7800x3d and AK620 cooler , I am Trying to make sure i don't mess up thermal paste so asking what method / quantity should i be going for? the videos are not helpful from what i can find. Does it matter if it doesnt spread on all the cpu? just the middle is enough? or should i make sure it covers most of the cpu?

Thank you

 

[kanewolf]

Hello

i got a 7800x3d and AK620 cooler , I am Trying to make sure i don't mess up thermal paste so asking what method / quantity should i be going for? the videos are not helpful from what i can find. Does it matter if it doesnt spread on all the cpu? just the middle is enough? or should i make sure it covers most of the cpu?

Thank you

I use a drop in the middle, then a nitrile gloved hand to smear the drop around the surface. It is even and you can easily see if you missed a spot.

 

[ashzark]

I don't have glove at hand (no pun intended) , Any other way?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I always just put a drop in the middle and use my finger. If it makes you feel better, put your hand or at least your finger into a plastic ziplock or sandwich bag and spread the paste out. But I’ve used the spread with a finger method for years and just wipe off my finger when I’m done. What paste are you using? Personally like Arctic mx4. Spreads evenly and is inexpensive. Though the stock deepcool stuff might be fine, I just haven’t used it. You might try to read and see if it’s electrically conductive or not.

 

[ashzark]

The one that comes with AK620 cooler . so spreading it evenly on all cpu is best? and how much should be ?

 

[Lafong]

I do this:

Do you know what a BB is? A bee bee? It's a round pellet about 1/5 of an inch in diameter.

I put a drop of about 1/2 BB in size in the middle. That's about 1/10 of an inch across.

Then wrap a finger in Saran wrap or use a rubber glove. Spread that half BB all over so that all of the surface has at least a very faint layer of paste.

Then put another half BB in the middle, but don't spread it at all.

Then mount the heatsink. Over time with heating, that half BB in the middle will be spread around to some extent.

That's what I do, but the fact is it isn't a critical issue. Just get somewhere in the ballpark. It's a ritual. Bark out a few incantations as you apply the paste if you like.

All you are trying to do is fill in microscopic imperfections in the surface. Microscopic.

The natural tendency is to use too much paste. Imagine a green pea or the eraser on the end of a common pencil. I would not use more than that in total. A green pea size dot right in the middle and not manually spread at all would likely be just fine and within any margin of error.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

The other description of the size would be about the size of a grain of rice. Some describe it that way also. But as the guy above said spread it out. I don’t personally put the extra in the middle again, but that’s a valid method. You just mainly want to be sure to get an even spread and that you don’t use too much. With thermal paste, less is more.

 

[thestryker]

It really doesn't matter if you spread it manually or not. There are pretty much going to be infinite methods for putting paste on and most of them are fine. I wouldn't do anything that's likely to add foreign material to the paste otherwise do whatever you're comfortable with.

One thing I will say regarding Zen 4 is that I wouldn't just put paste in the center because the cores are located towards the bottom of the substrate. Maybe a quarter or third of an inch off the middle should work fine.