Hyper 212plus - applying thermal paste

I have just been looking at the following article on the best way of applying paste to HDT coolers like mine.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index. [...] mitstart=5

However I want to clarify first about filling in the channels between the base and heat pipes. Can the thermal paste tubes apply a thin enough amount of paste to go directly into the channels? Or do you have to apply a layer over the channel and use something to fill the paste into the channels? I also assume there will be excess paste above the channels that needs to be removed once the channels are filled in. What would I use to remove this excess paste? I’m sure it shouldn’t be removed using my bare hands? Can I just use a cloth?

Sorry for the dumb sounding questions but adding a different cooler to a CPU is completely new to me

What I did was clean the base with alcohol then put some thermal paste in the channels and smooth it out with a razor blade which I also use to remove the excess.

Then I put two small strips of paste on the two divider channels between the heat pipes (don't go overboard) about 1/3 of the length of the base.

Now carefully install the heat sink.

That link gives you a good idea of the size of the beads anyway.

Dont' try and wipe the base down after filling the channels because you'll likely end up removing some of the paste in the channels and it won't be flat.

Running a razor blade across the top is just fine and if you use it to take off any excess whatever is left is simply filling voids anyway.


ETA: Oh I forgot to add don't use your fingers on a base ever unless you have plastic gloves on because our bodies have oils and acids in them which would transfer to the metal and cause unwanted results.

Another guide:

Some notes on applying thermal paste to the Xigmatek

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] e-xigmatek

I generally use cotton Q-Tips as I can get into tight spots with them.