Applying thermal compound on 1155 socket CPUs - dot, line, cross, or multi dot?

[artvscommerce]

Olin Coles did a great write up thermal compound application techniques a couple years ago. Check it out:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...ask=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=0

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

Olin Coles did a great write up thermal compound application techniques a couple years ago. Check it out:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...ask=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=0

I put way too much between my 212+ and 2500k. I'll do better when I get my new mobo next week. Not looking forward to cleaning it up.

 

[Blake7787]

Hi,

I just wonder what method you think is best for applying the thermal compound on 1155 socket CPUs?

According to the manufacturer of Arctic Silver 5, it should be applied in a single line as shown in this PDF (see page 5):
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

However, when looking at the Intel stock CPU cooler it has pre-applied thermal compound in three evenly thick "patches". It looks like this:
http://img.tomshardware.com/us/2008...ooler_charts_2008_part_iii___inel_box_tim.jpg

Then finally, this very interesting video shows how the thermal compound spreads under pressure, when different application methods are used:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=EyXLu1Ms-q4

According to that video, the "cross" method seems to be the best. But then how come e.g. Arctic Silver and Intel do not use that method?

Any opinions?

I recently had an issue with temps on my 3770k. I re-seat my H100 with AS5 and spread it thin with a credit card. The temps didnt change. I then re-seat again with MX-4 using the rice method and that made a night and day difference. Hope this helps.

 

[Fjodor2001]

I recently had an issue with temps on my 3770k. I re-seat my H100 with AS5 and spread it thin with a credit card. The temps didnt change. I then re-seat again with MX-4 using the rice method and that made a night and day difference. Hope this helps.

Thanks for confirming this! At least it seems quite clear that "spread using credit card" is one of the worst methods to use.

Still it is worrisome that when you search the web for info on how to apply the thermal compound, you get a lot of hits linking to websites and YouTube videos where amateurs are describing how to apply it using exactly that method (i.e. the credit card method)!

I guess "intuitively" is seems like a good method, since you think you'll get an evenly thick layer covering the complete area of the CPU heatspreader. The problem is it doesn't work well in practice...