Drakon

I'm new to this, so please bear with me. Exactly what is the proper way to apply thermal paste to a chip with a heatspreader. articsilver's site says just a lil blob in the center is enough. so do I then spread this blob over the entire lenght and width of the heatspreader? thanks for any help...

dipstick

I put a tiny blob on the heatspreader and use a credit card to spread it into a fine and thin layer. Has always worked great for me

MIG-31

my method is to use some masking tape(as this is thin)to mark out the space for the paste to go directly over the cpu.small blob of pastes spread with something flat and quite flexible (credit card as mentioned above) once nice and flat peel away the tape and it should leave a neat patch in the middle.

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Vampyromaniac

What CPU is it? If it has a heatspreader, I'd just put a small amount in the center (like maybe a pea sliced in half). Then lower the heatsink onto it slowly and evenly. The paste will spread out by itself, and with no air pockets like you can get if you spread it yourself. That's how I did my A64.

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Lowfat

this is how artic silver says to do it also. that way it spreads out to where it needs to be.

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Drakon

i got an A64 3500+ 90nm. what confuses me is artic silver says to put in on the heatspreader in the middle, but thermalright says to put a thin even layer on both the CPU IHS and the HSF base (i got the xp-90). so whose directions do i follow: artic silver's or thermalright's?

The_Neon_Cowboy

well they are directions for noobs they try to make it simple / idiot proof
but neither way is the best way to do it..... thier ok will work fine but won't give you the best temps or contact

I posted a rough guide a while back but removed it after butting heads with No_Style about fallowing the "artic silver websites instuctions"... Vs. my own picked up from some the most experianced and hardcore overclockers in the field....I guess years of experiance and expertese in the field means nothing against a short lived humble retailer / maker of themal paste . It contuned even after removeing a disputed commonly used method of removeing old thermal paste. so i deleted the thread for the time being... becouse it make me look like a idot with some one posting a link the the artic silver site say BTW this is the "proper way" of applying it... none the less it was an experiance

Anyways..... to forgo the full ordeal.... it's allways best you lap your heatsink 1st if it's never been unless your sure it's flat... you check with a razor blade and a flash light...but thats a whole another story....

If you heat sink is not lapped / not flat DON'T use this method
or use it but make the tmi extra thick useing two layers of tape

As for applying TMI ... the best way to do it is to tape it off
I useally do the heat sink.... it's just easier to work with
but you can apply directly to the CPU the same way it's not
reccomended ...

this is for a AMD barton it's a slighly over sized contact zone to allow for mistakes.. just clean with alchol then put the 4 pinces of tape down YOUR
CONTACT AREA will be larger! With an amd 64...



You use the tape as a guide to keep from hitting the heatsink and to make sure you've got a thin even layer!




Pull the tape carefully......





nice neat clean even......

you can also put little on the cpu / or heat sink what ever that you didn't apply TMI to then spread it around with a pince of saran wrap on your finger then wipe it off with a lint free cloth.....

then put the heat sink on....
You can do the core or heatsink I prefer doing the heatsink less chance of botching things up...

But your useing an AMD 64 i'd think you could use the same method say...
but i've not got one to test and AMD64 heat sinks attach differently some i'm not sure out tight thier smashed down.... should be fine especally since AMD64's have threamal protection so no worry....

I reded this off were your core is located under the heat spreader



but you'd be wasteing the purpose of the heat spreader if the whole / most of it didn't make good contact.... many over clocker like removeing the heat spreader but that can land you with chiped and cracked cores etc...

So what id do is carry the same method over



8 pices of tape, 4 square then tape off the corners then apply your tmi
assumeing your heatsink is flat you should get the best temps this way....

the boarder will allow any extra tmi a place to go with out over spill...

A few notes TMI to thick traps heat actally add resistsnce to it
also air pockets again are heat traps tha why everything needs to be even a flat and the pressure with take care of the rest...

if you ever plan to remove the heatsink again make sure the heat sink is good a warm 1st... with a lapped heatsink and this methoid of applying tmi it's more them possable to pull you CPU out of socket! trying to remove the HSF. If you warm it up you'll have less of a problem just take care in removeing the heat sink... and you'll be fine

it's such a good bond becouse it's thin exact and no air pockets so it kinda like a metal suction cup holding the two pices to geather.... I useally wiggle the heat sink a little before I try to remove it again....

AS ALWAYS @ your own risk!

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Drakon

ah thanks, neon, but i'll stick to either the thermalright or artic silver directions. i may try ur directions when i'm more experienced...

Vampyromaniac

Heh, I didn't know my way was the AS way. I just picked it up from aforum somewhere.I wouldn't do it theThermalright way. I think there's a greater chance of air pockets thatway, and also a greater chance of having too much paste (you don't wantit oozing out the sides )

EDIT: I don't know why my words are coming out stuck together

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Dyre Straits

Hmmm....I didn't realize that this was such an exact science.

I've just always put a small dab in the middle, smooth it out with my finger and figured when I pressed two very smooth surfaces together, the rest would take care of itself.

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Drakon

well thanks for the info, guys. cross ur fingers that everything goes well today...

The_Neon_Cowboy

it's not.... any of the said methods work....

It just if you want the absolute best transfer of themal energy you need a airpocketless, even, no thicker then a sheet of paper layer of TMI

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INSTG8R

Thats kinda great that this topic came up as I am getting a new MoBo next week and a fresh tube of AS5.
Now I have a P4 Northwood and what I wondered(after reading AS's instructions was about the dab in the middleasthe P4's Diehas a small hole in 1 corner and I would have thoughyou would want that filled(Air pocket?). Now Im not sure asin the pastI had done the whole die making sure the hole was filled.Any Input on that?

INSTG8R

I also just noticed I have the same MoBo coming that Dyre Straitscurrently has. How is it?(I have read of many issues the Radeons and Imreplacing my GA-8IG1000MK for just those reasons)Im hopin my 9800PROwill be happier in it

CDsDontBurn

what i've done on my p4 is apply the AS5 onto my chip, and then spread it around w/my finger to get a nice even layer of AS5 on my CPU. Then after that, i would get a napkin or something roll it up like a string of spaghetti and clean out the little hole that p4 chips have.

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Dyre Straits

This board keeps suprising me. It's a very nice choice and has lots of features for the price. (Currently from $59 - $69 US)

It's received several special notices and nice overall scores from independent reviewers.

Due to the VIA chipset, you may need to tinker with the AGP Aperture settings in the BIOS and your Pagefile size in Windows. My system is stable with 512 MB Aperture and the Pagefile Max/Min set to the same thing.

My latest 3DMark2K3 score is 3968. That's high enough to put me on the first page when comparing like systems and video cards.

HL2, Doom3, Thief - Deadly Shadows, and, so far, any other game I've played is performing great.

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Rasta Monsta

Here is another interesting angle I heard way back when. You wantthesmallest amount of paste possible. . .so thin you can read theprint onthe CPU! I have tried this using a razor blade, and temps did go down.

rasta

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INSTG8R

All great info guys THANKS I am really looking forward to the new MoBo and the AS5 funs LOL

>GSXR<mrbusa

the best way is proven by artic silver guide and by somanyothers.especially on oced p4s and anything with a heatspreader.ifyouare going to use as5 then a bb sized or about a halfgrain of ricesized dab in the middle of the cpu then press the hs downas evenly aspossible.and if after the retension clips are fastened orwhateverholds down the hs is tight you can try to rotate just a littlebit toget rid of any air that might be trapped.i have tried a evenlayer andthe dab in the middle method.both produces about the same idletempsbut under load the dab method produced about a 3 to 5 degreelowerreading.i know my typeing skills suck butt.


the words are sticking toggether for some reason

Drakon

well i followed arctic silver's suggestion and i think everything went well. the pc booted and the install of windows was smooth. when i read the temp it is was 29C for case, and 39-40 for CPU, but i guess the as5 hasn't 'kicked' in as yet, plus i need to get a better heatsink fan. everything else went well i think. the XConnect wires are tough to bend especially the power cable... I do need to tweak my bios a bit cuz my memory isn't running at it's full potential i think. so thanks guys for the tips...