Pasting Questions

[MahtXL]

I have a tube of Arctic Silver 5. And my CPU needs to be re pasted, its got old dried up and cracked paste atm, not very high quality at all, so im going to clean the old stuff and put something better in. My question is this. Is it ok to put a pea sized amount in the centre of the cpu, then seat the heatsink and screw it in, or is it really necessary to spread it thinly and risk making a big mess? Ive read the entire thing doesnt have to be coated, and in other places ive read it has to be spread thinly across the entire thing. So before i even attempt this i want to make sure whatever i do will be the correct way, id like to do it once and not have to worry for a few years after.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

One of the timeless questions hehe,
peadot is fine, stripes are fine (especially with the direct touch line coolers)
and spreading with a card or bagged finger is also fine, there are a million ways to apply paste and none are particularly 'better' than any other,
as long as its thin enough, too much is as bad as not enough
Moto

 

[BuddiLuva]

You can do both, me personally- I just squeezed a pea sized amount on the cpu and placed the heatsink ontop and let it spread itself out. Hasn't caused any problems for me.

 

[MahtXL]

One of the timeless questions hehe,
peadot is fine, stripes are fine (especially with the direct touch line coolers)
and spreading with a card or bagged finger is also fine, there are a million ways to apply paste and none are particularly 'better' than any other,
as long as its thin enough, too much is as bad as not enough
Moto

Do you have a pic showing how much is the right amount? Like a pic of a cpu with a pea size on it, so i know what to shoot for?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Google is your friend here, its more a BB pellet sized blob than a pea, but check it out, maybe do a G.images search and you'll see the various amounts used,
Theres a couple of good pics Here though
Moto

 

[MahtXL]

Google is your friend here, its more a BB pellet sized blob than a pea, but check it out, maybe do a G.images search and you'll see the various amounts used,
Theres a couple of good pics Here though
Moto

Wow thats so little. And good thing we got the right stuff for cleaning to, got a new bottle of 70% rubbing alcohol. Looks like it should go smoothly.

 

[MahtXL]

Google is your friend here, its more a BB pellet sized blob than a pea, but check it out, maybe do a G.images search and you'll see the various amounts used,
Theres a couple of good pics Here though
Moto

Well i did it. cleaned both heatsink and cpu, dryed them off, apllied about the same amount as in the pic there and screwed it all in. So we will see how this turns out in the coming days.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

No problem man, glad to help
Moto

 

[lostgamer_03]

Peasized in the middle is my suggestion.

Also, if you would like the best thermal paste out there my vote goes for the Noctua NT-H1. It beats the arctic 5. It has slightly lower temperatures.

- http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/noctua_nt_h1/5.htm

You don't need to cover the whole CPU, because as you install the CPU cooler and tighten it, the thermal paste will be spread in a thin and even layer.

 

[MahtXL]

Best answer selected by MahtXL.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Thank you for B.a. man, glad to help
Moto