How Do You Know If You Applied Thermal Paste Properly?

[noidis]

Questions in the title. Is there some way to know for sure?

Also, I have the paste supplied with my 212+ and some arctic silver 5, which one would yield the better results?

I've found so many posts about pea sized dots, and others about two lines... And it just puts me in this circle of thought of, "Did I do it right???"


Thanks!

-N

 

[scout_03]

pea sized is good as long that you did not apply to much

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

When people say a pea sized dot ...they dont mean just put the dot on...they mean put it on then spread it very thinly over the cpu surface...

Artic silver is fine...a good branded make....to give an example of how much to use an artic silver tube has enough in it for at least 20 uses...

All the best Brett

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Oops I forgot to add you never know if you applied it properly.....you ALWAYS know if you didnt...your temperatures rise like a rocket lol....

All the best Brett

 

[noidis]

Ah so I'm actually supposed to spread it over the heat sink? Guess that might be my problem.

 

[rwayne]

I normally use a dab that is half the size of a pea. To me it always seems like not enough at first but it always works out.

Using a business card or your finger with a plastic sandwich bag works really well for spreading the compound.

This video tutorial may help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

I second Brett928S2's vote for Arctic Silver. It is the best stuff I have ever used. Well worth the money.

 

[WTFO]

+1. That YouTube vid is a good visual aid. This is one of those simple things that you can over complicate by thinking too hard about it. As long as your paste(which is a good one) isn't spilling over to the underside of your CPU you will be fine just spread it in nice and evenly.

 

[noidis]

Best answer selected by Noidis.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey