TIM that's easy to work with?

[Zap]

I didn't want to come across as rude, but I was wondering what the issue with working with thermal paste really was myself. The only way to really mess it up is to put on far too much.

Actually some TIMs can indeed be difficult to work with. Not even talking about obscure and exotic stuff like Indigo Xtreme. For instance, Shin Etsu TIM (which comes in various flavors) can be difficult to work with because it is thick so it doesn't spread much from pressure (the dot or line method) and sometimes doesn't stick to surfaces which makes it tough to spread.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

MX-2 is great and cheap. I've been using it for years. I didn't notice a difference between it and MX-4 tbh.

Actually some TIMs can indeed be difficult to work with. Not even talking about obscure and exotic stuff like Indigo Xtreme. For instance, Shin Etsu TIM (which comes in various flavors) can be difficult to work with because it is thick so it doesn't spread much from pressure (the dot or line method) and sometimes doesn't stick to surfaces which makes it tough to spread.

I like Shin-etsu for a bare die like my GTX 670s. For anything with an IHS I stick with MX-2 since it spreads so easily.

 

[Jman13]

I'm curious about the 'size of a pea' thing that people always say. That's a LOT of thermal compound. When I've done the small dot method, the size is much closer to that of a BB than a pea, which is about 5x the amount paste I've ever used.

One thing to note here that hasn't been mentioned is the type of heatsink used. If you are using a direct contact heatpipe design for your heatsink, the 'pea/bb' method does not work well...it gets caught in the pipe grooves and doesn't spread. You need to fill in the grooves, then wipe off the excess, then put two half lines on the heatsink (either on the plates between lines for a three heatpipe setup or on two of the pipes for a four+ pipe heatsink without gaps.)

 

[SZLiao214]

I don't know anyone who actually uses the size of the pea thing. Its more like a grain of rice.

If you want one that is easy to work with than just look up the big round up they did and choose one with low viscosity.

Arctic silver 5 is pretty thick compared to mx-2.

 

[Phynaz]

If the thermal compound is difficult to apply, you're doing it wrong.

Thanks for your input. I highly value your opinion of my TIM application skill.

 

[Phynaz]

You've already noted that you'd give up some performance.

It is capacitive, not conductive (minor difference).

Kinda stepped in that one, didn't I 🙂