[SOLVED] IC Diamond Paste amount

[nhin79]

Is this enough or did I use too much thermal paste on my laptop?

https://imgur.com/H08bRBO

View: https://imgur.com/H08bRBO

 

[thx1138v2]

The function of the thermal paste is just to fill in microscopic voids between the chip and its heat sink. Now, if you scrape that paste off with a razor blade, spreading it as you go, you could have a good thermal interface. But if you are considering just mounting the heat sinks and allowing them to smush the paste down you will get very poor results.

 

[AllanGH]

Looks fine to me....why haven't you mounted the heatsinks yet?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Too much paste wont cause a problem with most modern pastes as they are non conductive.

When you mount the heatsyncs the extra paste will spread out and wont cause higher temps. Gamers nexus did test on this and it fine.

 

[AllanGH]

::: nod :::

There are more productive things to be anal about than getting "just the right amount" of TIM, and making certain that it doesn't "squoosh out" and make things unattractive.

 

[britechguy]

The amounts shown in that picture are, in my opinion, far too much.

Though, in the end, I agree that it really doesn't matter all that much, either.

For heat sinks that are fairly large, as many are in that image, I'd be far more inclined to spread the paste out in a thin layer first, then push on the chip.

For smaller ones, a tiny dab in the middle and allowing the pushing on to force it to spread is generally just fine.

 

[AllanGH]

most are conductive actually, as a lot of them are silver based or in IC diamond's case diamond based which is more conductive than a silver based one so too much is a bad idea...

Point of Order:
The above, as applied to modern-day, good quality TIM pastes, is completely false.
Please disregard it.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Most modern pastes are silicon + diamond or ceramic based and are completely electrically nonconductive.

Older pastes would us zinc or iron which are electrically conductive, but most newer pastes are not.

 

[britechguy]

And to throw wikipedia into the mix:

Thermal grease - Wikipedia

It is a rare thermal paste these days that is electrically conductive. They're all thermally conductive (which is not what those of us objecting to the naked adjective are objecting to) by design and function.

Addendum: It's also interesting to note that silver is, far and away, the most electrically conductive metal as well as being an incredible thermal conductor, and diamond is most generally a complete electrical insulator (unlike many other forms of carbon that are electrically conductive) and a fabulous thermal conductor [See: Is Diamond a Conductor? among other references].