How Much Pressure Do I Apply To The Heat Sink?

TomLam2

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Apr 3, 2015
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How much pressure or downward force am I supposed to press down on my heat sink to spread the thermal paste correctly?
Im using the pea method for applying thermal paste and also the Cooler Master Hyper Evo 212 for my aftermarket cpu cooler. I'm using Arctic Silver 5 for my thermal paste.
I'm worried that if I apply too much pressure/force that it will break the pins on my cpu and if I dont apply enough pressure that it won't spread out the thermal paste enough.
 

shag00

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Dec 29, 2010
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You just secure the heatsink in the normal way without adding any additional pressure. For standard Intel it's just those plastic lugs being pushed in, for aftermarket coolers its just tighten to a snug fit without using large force.
 


He's using the Hyper 212 EVO. You don't use the stock mounting backplate. Your methods don't apply here.
 

giantbucket

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I usually use the impact wrench with an 80 ft-lb torque stick. in cramped quarters, the butterfly with no torque stick does about the same since it tops out at around 70 to 75 ft-lbs. basically, if a 12-year-old girl can rip it off, it's not snug enough.
 


This is exactly how to do it. Make sure it's a harbor freight Earthquake 1/2" drive impact too. Keep going until it gets soft again, then bump it a couple more times just to be sure. Heh. Jesus you guys.
 


Hi,

Intel's LGA-1155 socket is specified to withstand 600N of uniform static loading force. Their other sockets are in a similar range. Don't worry, you won't damage the socket or the installed CPU by mounting the heat sink.

The heat sink should be mounted very firmly.