Should I spread thermal paste or not

[Anavil Patel]

I am assembling my first computer and I bought thermal paste and I wanted to know if I should just put a blob and then put the heatsink on top or spread it out using a plastic bag. I watched Newegg's tutorial and they spread it evenly but in some of the other threads people say to just blob it. Which one is better and more useful? I have a coolermaster hyper 212 plus cpu cooler and i7 4790k cpu

 

[KyleADunn]

http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Thermal-Paste-Application-Techniques-170/

This should shed some light on the matter! Hope it helps

 

[ksham]

A pea-sized dot at the center will suffice. Once the heatsink goes on top, it will spread it out evenly. The problem if you do it manually is that some places may have more while other places may have less. So they're not even.

 

[Anavil Patel]

A pea-sized dot at the center will suffice. Once the heatsink goes on top, it will spread it out evenly. The problem if you do it manually is that some places may have more while other places may have less. So they're not even.

does the paste have to cover the entire cpu?

 

[KyleADunn]

A pea-sized dot at the center will suffice. Once the heatsink goes on top, it will spread it out evenly. The problem if you do it manually is that some places may have more while other places may have less. So they're not even.

does the paste have to cover the entire cpu?

No, but more surface area coverage = better cooling.

 

[DubbleClick]

A pea-sized dot at the center will suffice. Once the heatsink goes on top, it will spread it out evenly. The problem if you do it manually is that some places may have more while other places may have less. So they're not even.

And when you're putting the heatsink on, it becomes flat anyway, just by a larger area. Not going to say that the dot method isn't good, your argument simply doesn't make sense.

 

[KyleADunn]

A pea-sized dot at the center will suffice. Once the heatsink goes on top, it will spread it out evenly. The problem if you do it manually is that some places may have more while other places may have less. So they're not even.

And when you're putting the heatsink on, it becomes flat anyway, just by a larger area. Not going to say that the dot method isn't good, your argument simply doesn't make sense.

Another argument for the pea method would be that manual spreading causes air bubbles to be created. If you could imagine the gaps made while spreading, then placing a flat surface atop, you could see how air bubbles would be formed. Hope that argument makes more sense >.>

 

[DubbleClick]

A pea-sized dot at the center will suffice. Once the heatsink goes on top, it will spread it out evenly. The problem if you do it manually is that some places may have more while other places may have less. So they're not even.

And when you're putting the heatsink on, it becomes flat anyway, just by a larger area. Not going to say that the dot method isn't good, your argument simply doesn't make sense.

Another argument for the pea method would be that manual spreading causes air bubbles to be created. If you could imagine the gaps made while spreading, then placing a flat surface atop, you could see how air bubbles would be formed. Hope that argument makes more sense >.>

He didn't mention air bubbles. 😉

 

[ksham]

And when you're putting the heatsink on, it becomes flat anyway, just by a larger area. Not going to say that the dot method isn't good, your argument simply doesn't make sense.

Negative. That's now how physics work. When you put a heatsink on top, it spreads out the thermal paste evenly to fill the gaps. That is not to say that it will guarantee full coverage on the entire surface area of the CPU, but it will be evenly distributed around the surface area that it needs.

The point of the thermal paste is to fill any gaps between the heatsink and CPU to improve heat conductivity. Try this experiment out yourself -- if you do it manually and one spot (top right) is just a little more than everywhere else, and you put the heatsink on top, it won't spread that little extra spot evenly across the whole CPU. It will just spread it out evenly across a certain area and most will come spewing out. Moreover, when you spread it out, you don't know how big the gap the thermal paste needs to fill in a certain spot, so you may be completely off or apply too much. Either way, it does not help.

I said nothing about thermal paste being "flat". That is misleading terminology.

 

[DubbleClick]

And when you're putting the heatsink on, it becomes flat anyway, just by a larger area. Not going to say that the dot method isn't good, your argument simply doesn't make sense.

Negative. That's now how physics work. When you put a heatsink on top, it spreads out the thermal paste evenly to fill the gaps. That is not to say that it will guarantee full coverage on the entire surface area of the CPU, but it will be evenly distributed around the surface area that it needs.

It will do exactly the same if you apply it unevenly. The heatsink will push on the IHS anyway and spread out the balled areas of paste.

As for the "applying too much" argument, you can't be serious. If you place a dot and let it spread by the heatsink or if you place a dot and then spread it manually, that doesn't change anything. If at all, you'd notice on the spreading method that you applied too much.

 

[ksham]

How would you apply a pea-size amount unevenly? That makes no sense.

Anyway, the point is to fill the gaps to improve conductivity. While spreading a pea-sized amount with the heatsink, it conforms to fill the gaps between the CPU and heatsink. The purpose is NOT to push it flat, but to fill the gaps. It's also not about applying too little or too much. If you spread it yourself, you may not accomplish that. Applying too little or too much are both bad. Thermal compound is not a better conductive medium than direct connection between the heatsink and the CPU. It only improves the places where there are gaps. If you manually spread it too thinly, you may not accomplish filling those gaps. If you spread out a thick layer, then it's a mess to clean up and performance is poor because that whole blanket of thermal paste will act an insulator. Again, metal to metal is a better heat conductor than through a blanket of thermal paste.

The only places you need thermal paste is for dents and scratches between the two surface. Spreading them out doesn't conform to the proper shape. I hope that helps.

 

[RobCrezz]

How would you apply a pea-size amount unevenly? That makes no sense.

Anyway, the point is to fill the gaps to improve conductivity. While spreading a pea-sized amount with the heatsink, it conforms to fill the gaps between the CPU and heatsink. The purpose is NOT to push it flat, but to fill the gaps. It's also not about applying too little or too much. If you spread it yourself, you may not accomplish that. Applying too little or too much are both bad. Thermal compound is not a better conductive medium than direct connection between the heatsink and the CPU. It only improves the places where there are gaps. If you manually spread it too thinly, you may not accomplish filling those gaps. If you spread out a thick layer, then it's a mess to clean up and performance is poor because that whole blanket of thermal paste will act an insulator. Again, metal to metal is a better heat conductor than through a blanket of thermal paste.

The only places you need thermal paste is for dents and scratches between the two surface. Spreading them out doesn't conform to the proper shape. I hope that helps.

+1

This man speaks sense.

 

[DubbleClick]

How would you apply a pea-size amount unevenly? That makes no sense.

Anyway, the point is to fill the gaps to improve conductivity. While spreading a pea-sized amount with the heatsink, it conforms to fill the gaps between the CPU and heatsink. The purpose is NOT to push it flat, but to fill the gaps. It's also not about applying too little or too much. If you spread it yourself, you may not accomplish that. Applying too little or too much are both bad. Thermal compound is not a better conductive medium than direct connection between the heatsink and the CPU. It only improves the places where there are gaps. If you manually spread it too thinly, you may not accomplish filling those gaps. If you spread out a thick layer, then it's a mess to clean up and performance is poor because that whole blanket of thermal paste will act an insulator. Again, metal to metal is a better heat conductor than through a blanket of thermal paste.

The only places you need thermal paste is for dents and scratches between the two surface. Spreading them out doesn't conform to the proper shape. I hope that helps.

That's nothing new to me, thanks for pointing it out nevertheless. However, spreading it out manually in general doesn't give worse results than using a dot in the middle. If anything, gives better results if done properly.

 

[ksham]

That's nothing new to me, thanks for pointing it out nevertheless. However, spreading it out manually in general doesn't give worse results than using a dot in the middle. If anything, gives better results if done properly.

Dropping a "if done properly" at the end there was clever. Can you please explain, in detail, what the proper way to spread it is? Don't stop at "if done properly".

 

[zachparr2442]

bottom line there is alot of ways to do it there in the pea size, there is spead there is a x there is a line, they all do what you want i always do the pea or spread , you'll see a degree or 2 difference. yes you want as much coverage as possible but the pea method make sure you cover the cores properly.

 

[DubbleClick]

That's nothing new to me, thanks for pointing it out nevertheless. However, spreading it out manually in general doesn't give worse results than using a dot in the middle. If anything, gives better results if done properly.

Dropping a "if done properly" at the end there was clever. Can you please explain, in detail, what the proper way to spread it is? Don't stop at "if done properly".

Neither putting it 5mm thick nor forgetting some areas. Simply spreading it as smooth as you can and letting the heatsink do the rest.

 

[ksham]

Well ... sure. Not as easy. I didn't say that it isn't a viable option. But doing it manually can have disadvantages, which if OP is asking this question, it's best to just use a pea-size amount.

 

[DubbleClick]

Well ... sure. Not as easy. I didn't say that it isn't a viable option. But doing it manually can have disadvantages, which if OP is asking this question, it's best to just use a pea-size amount.

Haha considering that, you're probably right. I remember my first time applying thermal paste... would have been enough for 5 cpu's.