How Much Thermal Paste To Put On?

[mrme20]

is 1g of thermal compund the right amount to put on? should i only do half of it?(this is what imgettinghttps://www.amazon.ca/Thermal-Grizzly-Kryonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B011F7W3LU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1521419509&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=grizzly+thermal+paste+3g

 

[mdd1963]

i use enough for a pea sized blob, then spread it out with a scotch-taped fingertip into a fairly thin film you can almost see through, to within 1 mm of edge of CPU's heat spreader....

 

[azaran]

More than you ever wanted to know about thermal compound...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600-5.html
The above link is a straight shot in to how to apply paste.

 

[Solandri]

You want to use as little as possible. The "mayonnaise between the bread and meat in a sandwich" model of applying thermal paste is wrong. The majority of the heat transfer is via direct metal-on-metal contact between the processor and the heat sink. If you apply a thick mayonnaise-like layer between the two, it's actually worse than having no thermal paste. The role of the paste is to fill in microscopic air gaps between the two surfaces because they aren't perfectly flat. Not to sit between the two surfaces. Paste conducts heat about two orders of magnitude better than air. But likewise, metal-on-metal conducts heat about two orders of magnitude better than paste. So having paste reducing metal-on-metal contact can easily cancel out the benefit of using paste.

I put about a half-pea size dollop, then push around and rotate the heatsink to spread it out. When I feel metal grinding on metal, I know I've spread the paste out enough. If I did it right, there should be a little bit of paste squeezing out the sides. Then I can clamp it down. If you're unsure, you can practice, then lift the heatsink off so you can confirm that the paste has spread out to cover the central portion of the CPU's heat spreader. (Then clean the paste off and repeat.)