Which Thermal Paste?

[hasteveha]

I just got a Megahalems and it came with Thermal Paste, should I use that or the Arctic Silver that I currently have?

Thanks

 

[ausch30]

That is a beast of a cooler, almost as good as my TRUE

If you have AS5 then use that. It should make a couple degree difference.

 

[hasteveha]

Thanks. One more question. When I installed the arctic silver last time, I did the ziplock bag method. I put a small drop of arctic silver,and used my finger in a bag to spread the paste. Should I do that, or should I put the drop,and then just mount the heatsink and have it sandwhich the paste by itself

 

[jsc]

If you have the AS5, go ahead and use it.

I apply thermal compound a little differently than most, I think. I noticed that when I do the "grain of rice" in the center of the CPU, I do not get good coverage across the top of the heat spreader.

What I do now is to mentally divide the top of the CPU into four quarters and put a smaller drop into the center of each quarter. I seem to get better coverage.

 

[ausch30]

Quad
Dual
Their the guys that made it, I'm sure they've tried a bunch of different ways to apply it (probably not the plasic bag method. lol) I just go by their instructions.

 

[hasteveha]

Yeah I saw the instructions from the site, I just am afraid it doesn't get spread throughout the chip

 

[ausch30]

That's the way I've always done it and I've never had a problem. The actual processor is in the middle so that's where the heat is coming from, if it's not quite to the corners of the heat spreader it isn't really that big a deal. It is really more important to be sure you put the bare minimum on to ensure the best heat transfer. I do have a TRUE though so there is a little circular play in it after installation so I twist a couple times to make sure it's spread around.