4 ms·
Seems I have been doing it wrong So I really want just a tiny amount of thermal paste?
by steve19 8y ago
Seems I have been doing it wrong
So I really want just a tiny amount of thermal paste?
- brianpgordon 8y agoYes, you always want the minimum amount which will ensure good contact across the whole surface. You should be pressing (hard) to mate the surfaces and squeeze out excess thermal transfer medium anyway. Desktop/server CPU sockets typically have a mechanical lever action to do that for you and secure the package in place.
- jdietrich 8y agoThe maximum thickness of the paste layer is determined wholly by the clamping pressure and coplanarity of the thermal interface. You can only end up with an excess of paste between the CPU and heatsink if a) the heatsink contact plate or CPU package aren't flat or b) the clamping mechanism isn't properly pressing them together. Apply too much thermal paste and it'll just squeeze out of the edges, which is merely inconvenient as long as the paste is reasonably non-conductive. Apply too little paste and you'll get air gaps, which have terrible thermal conductivity. If in doubt, just spread the paste to ensure that it fully covers the contact area. https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3346-thermal-paste-application-benchmark-too-much-thermal-paste https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3346-thermal-paste-applic... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ
- dzhiurgis 8y agoTLDW: You can apply whichever you like, just don't put too little. Even putting way too much makes 0 difference. OP's problem was probably dust and ageing of paste. Plus interestingly there was less power used in test AFTER so I guess that contributed most.