The more you know - thermal paste edition

I used to be on team "spread it thin with a credit card" but that was back in the naked die no heatspreader days.

Now I just put a rice sized dab in the center of the heatspreader and I haven't had any temp issues in years.

Might go over to X marks the spot though, just for thoroughness' sake.
 
I tried the X method on my 9800X3D and then removed it just to see the effect and it was more or less just like this video. I was honestly surprised, and bummed since I then had to clean and redo it again.
 
Back in the celeron days I lapped my heatspreaders/heatsinks and used a razor to spread the paste. I still lap my heatsinks, but leave the heatspreaders alone. Still use a razor, lol. I know it's overkill...it's just habit.
 
I used to use the razor method as well but after seeing the results in person from "x", I'm done with that. Also tried the putting it down in a spiral which was overkill for sure.
 
Peter_Brosdahl said:
I tried the X method on my 9800X3D and then removed it just to see the effect and it was more or less just like this video. I was honestly surprised, and bummed since I then had to clean and redo it again.
Click to expand...
Due to case compatibility and the way I decided to migrate/upgrade parts between two builds recently, I had to reapply the paste on my 9800X3D for 4 times at relatively short times intervals, twice under a Noctua NH-D9L and twice under the good old NH-D14.

When I was getting ready to apply the paste for the first time, I happened to glance at the Noctua leaflet and saw they recommend the pea method for AM4. I went ahead and tried it as I was sure I was going to do it again quite soon.

The result was very good and consistent coverage under both coolers. For Intel builds though Noctua also recommends a small vertical line, which makes sense because it ensures end-to-end coverage of the elongated Intel package.

That being said, I'm pretty sure the small difference between the examples in the video would be even smaller under actual heatsink pressure and thermal cycling.
 
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