How to apply Thermal Compound

[sibot]

Hey all,

I'm going to be installing the OCZ Vendetta 2 on my C2D E4400 (775 Socket).

I cleaned the processor base with Isopropyl Alcohol/Rubbing alcohol applied on a fiber cloth.

I have to apply the thermal compound, I have the CoolerMaster HTK-002 (Syringe form), should I apply a grain of rice sized drop on the OCZ Vendetta 2 cooler base or on the processor straight?

Any help would be much appreciated

Regards,

Sibot

[lnmnky]

I put it straight on the processor. As yes, a grain of rice is perfect.

When I squash it down, I give it a tiny twist and back again. Literally a turn also the size of rice. Like 2-3 degree turn.

Don't squash it down, and lift it off to check.

Do it all in one go.

[Miuku.]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

It doesn't get much more detailed than that :-)

[Fish]

Interesting... Guess I'm "old school", but I always used to but a small blob onto the base of the heatsink, then spread it out with the edge of a credit card or similar. Clearly things have changed...

[vincent]

Pea size amount, squash, lift, check, squash, done.

[sibot]

Thanks for the replies mates!

Okay there are different schools of thought on the application:-

1. Center of the CPU

2. A line across the CPU

3. X mark on the CPU

AFAIK, for the Core2Duo, since the cores are in the center, a rice grain sized drop of thermal compound is good OR is it otherwise?

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

I put a rice grain sized blob in the centre, then clipped the heat sink on. The heat sink is clipped on very tight so it will spread it out nicely and probably more evenly than if I tried to use a credit card for it.

[HawkMan]

Interesting... Guess I'm "old school", but I always used to but a small blob onto the base of the heatsink, then spread it out with the edge of a credit card or similar. Clearly things have changed...

Actually it depends on the surface of the cpu/cooler. some are designed to spread the compound, and for thise who don't know how to do it right that's probably the best way way. but Generally applying a small amount of compound and then spreading it out with a credit card untill you have a thin barely visible layer is a much better way to do it. you get a better spread and you get a thinner layer of thermal compound wich means better heat transfer.

The reasonfor thermal compound isn't afteral to transfer heat, in fact metal on metal has better heat transfer, but due to uimpact surface you you usually have little metal on metal and a lot of tiny air pockets, and air is terrible for heat transfer. So a super thin layer of thermal compound (should be transparent) will fill out the air pockets with a better material, while steall leaving mostly metal on metal.

The rice grain in the middle method will probably much guarantee a layer of thermal compond all the way, and an air gap around the outer edges. but it's easier to do and better than nothing, so that's what they say you should do because most peopel are incompetent :p

Pea size amount, squash, lift, check, squash, done.

absolutely not, too much compound, and lifting before putting it back down wil trap loads of air pockets inside the compound.

terrible way to do it. you may as well not use any thermal compound.

[Max Veteran]

Thin layer over the entire processor core/heatblock. Clamp heatsink down with minimal movement. Easy.

[r41n]

AFAIK the more you ensure that the compound has only contact to the CPU and the heat sink the better.

This is because the compound is there to act as a bridge between the two components, and seal those microscopic spaces that contain air which hinders heat dissipation.

So anything that is not thermal compound and gets between the CPU and the heatsink is "bad", even a small build up of dust on the compound can hinder heat exchange, it would fill those microscopic spaces and prevent the compound from doing so.

[zeta_immersion]

so, after putting and spreading the thermal compound on the cpu and putting the heatsink on, it is not recommended to remove the heatsink for install, it all has to be done in 1 go

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

so, after putting and spreading the thermal compound on the cpu and putting the heatsink on, it is not recommended to remove the heatsink for install, it all has to be done in 1 go

Indeed.

I installed the CPU into the motherboard, then applied the paste, then clipped the heatsink on.

If you remove the heatsink, then clean and start from fresh; this is because of the air pockets and dust etc that could get on there and reduce the heat transfer from when you removed it. Remember, when you clip the heatsink on, it pushes down and leaves only a minimal gap, forcing the paste into the tiny holes and any extra gets, mostly, forced outwards.

If you are worried, then do a practice run - fit everything, then take it apart and see how the paste spread out, was there too much, too little, etc. That's what I had to do because I was terrified of getting it wrong :pinch:

[hdood]

AFAIK, for the Core2Duo, since the cores are in the center, a rice grain sized drop of thermal compound is good OR is it otherwise?

They are in the middle, but the whole metal surface is used to transfer heat away which means all of it should have the best possible contact with the heatsink. In other words, you want the heat transfer compound to even out the imperfections in the entire metal surface.

In reality you can get away with a line across the cores (not down the middle) which is then spread out when you push them together, but for the absolute best heat transfer possible it has to cover everything and be as thin as possible so that it doesn't do much other than even out the imperfections. The compound is not some sort of superconductor that you want a lot of, it only conducts better than air -- not metal on metal.

Really though, you can get away just fine with the line.

[Richard Hammond]

A line is better, if you run something like coretemp and you see all the cores are different temperatures that means you arent putting the paste on right, a small blob in the middle of the chip wont always get pushed out in the right consistency, having a line across the cores gives it more chance of spreading out evenly.

[sibot]

Thank you so much for all your help! I think I'm going to go ahead and put a few drops and spread them out evenly with the plastic card I got along with my Cooler Master HTK - 002 Thermal Compound, once I'm done, I'll post the temp's too! And as suggested, I will do a test run with the thermal compound.

I wanted to ask one more thing, how should I place the OCZ Cooler? Is there a specific way to place it or I can place it anyway, I'll let the pics do the talking..

This is how my Processor is:-

Should I place the cooler like:-

OR

OR it just doesn't matter, they're all the same.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Interesting... Guess I'm "old school", but I always used to but a small blob onto the base of the heatsink, then spread it out with the edge of a credit card or similar. Clearly things have changed...

i do what you do... and i'll keep doing it that way :p

[Richard Hammond]

Thank you so much for all your help! I think I'm going to go ahead and put a few drops and spread them out evenly with the plastic card I got along with my Cooler Master HTK - 002 Thermal Compound, once I'm done, I'll post the temp's too! And as suggested, I will do a test run with the thermal compound.

I wanted to ask one more thing, how should I place the OCZ Cooler? Is there a specific way to place it or I can place it anyway, I'll let the pics do the talking..

This is how my Processor is:-

Should I place the cooler like:-

OR it just doesn't matter, they're all the same.

The first way, ideally you should have a front case fan sucking air in and upwards towards the cpu then the cpu fan will channel the air out of the back of the case, if you do it the second way it will blow all the hot air into the PSU.

[sibot]

^^

Ah, thanks alot, never thought of it that way. I'll be installing a CM 92CFM fan at the back. Thank you, pure genius.

[Mapex]

Interesting... Guess I'm "old school", but I always used to but a small blob onto the base of the heatsink, then spread it out with the edge of a credit card or similar. Clearly things have changed...

Same. Safest way to ensure I cover every bit of the processor's core as well as not having any extra thermal compound spill out onto the rest of the components.

[+shift. MVC]

This might be of interest for those still using the standard thermal paste application method.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...mp;limitstart=5

This seems to be the optimal method for HDT (Heatpipe Direct Touch) coolers.

[HawkMan]

This might be of interest for those still using the standard thermal paste application method.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...mp;limitstart=5

This seems to be the optimal method for HDT (Heatpipe Direct Touch) coolers.

well that's a HORRIBLE design/construction to start with.

well the design may be good. but the engineer that thought it was a good idea to have a rought surface should be ****.

metal to metal contact will always be best, that's impossible to get with that design. you will need a boatload of thermal paste to filled the air gaps on that thing. and thermal past is not an optimal heat transfer medium, but it's better than air, but way inferior to metal on metal.

any good quality CPU cooler should have a close to mirror finish on the surface that connects with the cpu.

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

well that's a HORRIBLE design/construction to start with.

well the design may be good. but the engineer that thought it was a good idea to have a rought surface should be ****.

metal to metal contact will always be best, that's impossible to get with that design. you will need a boatload of thermal paste to filled the air gaps on that thing. and thermal past is not an optimal heat transfer medium, but it's better than air, but way inferior to metal on metal.

any good quality CPU cooler should have a close to mirror finish on the surface that connects with the cpu.

Yeah that's bizarre. My fianc? did some work to remove some of the imperfections on his heatsink and the heat plate over the cores, got a 3 Celsius improvement, not huge but quite significant.

Obviously that had to be done very carefully on a very flat and very hard surface so I'm not recommending people do it..especially not before trying a good heatsink (we found my cooler to knock another 9 Celsius over the stock).

[HawkMan]

yeah, a lot of the more hardcore tuners often "polish" the heatsinks. of course, they usually start out with a much flatter surface that that to begin with but :)

[The Rev]

Interesting... Guess I'm "old school", but I always used to but a small blob onto the base of the heatsink, then spread it out with the edge of a credit card or similar. Clearly things have changed...

Last time I did it, that was the standard instruction...... it scared the hell out of me too.... I was like, "please work, please work! Dont fry my processor!" Hehe..... All was well though. It worked fine.

[i_was_here]

A mirror finish is not as important a flat finish though.

As for TIM application, I just put a small amount in the center and squash it down with the heatsink.