[PCM0nk3y]

Ok I've been told 2 different things from two people who's opinions I respect very much.

1st guy - make a thin layer over the entire CPU then apply heatsink

2nd guy - put a small dab on the middle of the CPU then press down with the heatsink and that it doesn't have to cover the entire CPU.

Ok now which way should I do it? Both of them make sense to me

[zip22]

if your processor has an integrated heat spreader (metal thing over the die) use the dab in the middle. half a grain of rice sized dab

[samuraisam]

I use a pea sized dab in the middle. It workes the best IMO.

-Sam

[samuraisam]

Originally Posted by zip22

if your process has an integrated heat spreader (metal thing over the die) use the dab in the middle. half a grain of rice sized dab

Very different oppinions. He's probably right because I've never had AS5 . Only the cheap ghetto crap that comes and it says do not use over again after opening but I do anyway.

-Sam

[zip22]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm has the details

[t_biggs]

I just reapplied my AS5 yesterday. I had about 49 load before. I'm at 47 now. The last application was the grain of rice size in the middle of the IHS. This time, I spread a thin layer around the whole thing. I wasted a lot in the process, though. My temps have improved, and I even was able to up my OC a few mhz.

[zip22]

but you cant really say that the reason your temps went down was because of the application (i know you weren't necessarily saying that, but someone could take it that way). there are way to many variables.

if you have an IHS, the best method is the dot in the middle.

[PCM0nk3y]

I have the normal P4 550 3.4 GHz D0 stepping.

[zip22]

do the dot

[redwraith94]

I'd have to agree with the dot in the middle, then push the heat sink down and move it around a very little bit ~1/8th of an inch or so, for you metric minded people 1/2 cm or so this helps to force the paste into the tiny scratches on the core and the heatsink (even if it is mirror smooth, there are always scratches present.)

[Sneaky]

you only need to put a BB-sized drop of AS5 on the center of the processor

then set the HSF on top of it, wiggle slightly, and clamp it down

in about a week to two weeks AS5 will have "broken in" (optimal temperatures are reached 200-250 hours after first applying AS5)

[rseven]

Well, I will be diplomatic and say that both methods work, at least on CPU's with a heat spreader. The one thing you dun't want to do is use too much. If you spread it over the entire cpu use a hard flat object to spread it as thin as possible. (I use an old credit card and make the layer as thin as the card will allow.) And yes, there is a lot of curing time, so your temps will get better after a week or two.

[Susquehannock]

question :

Does anyone read the side of the tube?

All the ones I've seen clearly state :

"See instructions at : www.arcticsilver.com"


Just wondering as there seems to be the same thread every week or so.

[lenzo]

Concensus says BB sized goop drop, spread thin with folded buisness card. Keep off edges of CPU and mobo. None on heatsink. Apply heatsink and give slight rotation before seating.

[rseven]

Real men don't read directions! LOL

[cornbread]

I've tried it both ways and for "me", the thin layer worked best. Everybody gets different results though, just trial and error I guess.

[RoadWarrior]

Intel IHS particularly are designed to be very slightly domed, and to press into place when heatsink clamping force is applied. This means that if you spread the paste on these, with a straight edge, you'll get a thicker layer around the edges than over the core. Then when you initially mount it, you may actually get the HS getting held slightly off the center by the ring of paste around it, for a few days until it settles out, but then you will have a thinner layer in the middle than round the edges still and the IHS may not be depressed as it should, leading to a thick layer of intel thermal goop under the IHS, between it and the core.

Dolloping the middle, should mean that the IHS will receive enough pressure to ping into place, thereby ensuring a good thermal interface above AND BELOW the heatspreader. It will also ensure that if the IHS does pop into place, you won't get an air bubble over the center, with the heatsink sitting on a ring of thermal compound around the edges.

Possibly after several mountings and several months of use, the intel TIM will stiffen up and keep the IHS deflected flat after the heatsink is removed. At that point, spreading with a straightedge may work slightly better, if you are 100% sure that this has happened, but AS5 is designed such that it will settle in the same over a couple of weeks. So there would only be a temporary benefit in initial temps with spreading the AS5, no permanent benefit, since it should settle down to the same thickness as if you spread it. If the IHS still deflects though, a spread application will not settle as good as a dollop.

Nekkid cores do not have these issues, and for better initial temps a thin layer may be spread, and allows even pressure over the core that may avoid a crunch if the mounting pressure is great. It would be a rare case that a dollop would actually transmit enough pressure to a portion of the core for this to happen, but it's something to bear in mind if you have made your own mounting system or have modified a mounting system for a commecial block or sink. The main benefit of even spreading is getting more of your final temp benefit NOW instead of later. I don't think with a bare core there will be any difference in final temps after a couple of weeks and several thermal cycles, between dollop and spread. However with an IHS, the spread may well perform worse.

Therefore it is safe to say "if in doubt, dollop"

One caution about bare cores and dolloping though, is that if you decide to twist around the heatsink to try and spread it, you may catch a sharp corner of the core on the heatsink and damage it. Dollop and squish, don't dollop and grind the hell out of them.

regards,

Road Warrior

[Susquehannock]

Originally Posted by rseven

Real men don't read directions! LOL

Only if they're not professionals.

Or already have the procedure memorized.

[rseven]

I'm a professional.........screw up! After I mess it up, then I look at the directions in order to fix my mistake. Isn't that how you're supposed to do it? LOL

[crash013]

Thats how I do it.