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Hyper 212 EVO - how to apply thermal grease?

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I will soon be putting together all my components around an Intel Core i7 2600K with a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO heatsink. My question pertains specifically to applying the thermal grease (or paste or whatever you want to call it).

I've seen lots of videos and read lots of commentary about the proper method to apply the grease and how crucial it is to avoid small pockets of air between the CPU and the heatsink. It seems that the most commonly recommended method is to put a dot of the paste (about the size of a medium-to-large pea) on the CPU itself once its been secured to the mobo. Then firmly apply the heatsink, give it a small twist, and lock it in place.
However, when I read the manual for the Hyper 212 EVO, it said to apply a "thin layer" to the heatsink itself and then secure the heatsink to the dry CPU face. This seems to contradict all that I had researched, especially when it comes to spreading the paste around (which can cause air bubbles) to create a consistent layer, so I wanted to ask the community about it.

Keep in mind the 212 EVO has a flatter base than the 212 Plus because the heat pipes touch, leaving no small spaces between each pipe.

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bjsdtl said:
I will soon be putting together all my components around an Intel Core i7 2600K with a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO heatsink. My question pertains specifically to applying the thermal grease (or paste or whatever you want to call it).

I've seen lots of videos and read lots of commentary about the proper method to apply the grease and how crucial it is to avoid small pockets of air between the CPU and the heatsink. It seems that the most commonly recommended method is to put a dot of the paste (about the size of a medium-to-large pea) on the CPU itself once its been secured to the mobo. Then firmly apply the heatsink, give it a small twist, and lock it in place.
However, when I read the manual for the Hyper 212 EVO, it said to apply a "thin layer" to the heatsink itself and then secure the heatsink to the dry CPU face. This seems to contradict all that I had researched, especially when it comes to spreading the paste around (which can cause air bubbles) to create a consistent layer, so I wanted to ask the community about it.

Keep in mind the 212 EVO has a flatter base than the 212 Plus because the heat pipes touch, leaving no small spaces between each pipe.


Just put a dot in the middle. No need to spread it out. It will spread itself out when you are tightening it down.

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Due to the fact that no two thermal pastes are the same viscosity ( thinkness ) there is no single correct way to apply thermal paste. You should always follow the manufacturers directions. There can even be different ways to apply the same paste to different chips.

anort3 said:
Due to the fact that no two thermal pastes are the same viscosity ( thinkness ) there is no single correct way to apply thermal paste. You should always follow the manufacturers directions. There can even be different ways to apply the same paste to different chips.


Interesting. The paste is Cooler Master branded. It just struck me as odd because nowhere had I heard to apply the paste to the cooler, rather than the cpu face. But that is what the cooler's instructions said. I would still feel better hearing from a few others, but thank you very much to both of you guys for your input.
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On the evo the middle dot method will work fine as there is a solid contact pad on the bottom of the heat sink. Not like the 212+ where there are small gaps between the base and heatpipes that need to be filled in.

I had originally planned to do the middle dot method, as it seemed to be the most often recommended method. But in the end I went with spreading the paste out flatly on the cooler base (not the cpu) because that was what the manufacturer's manual recommended.

It seems to have been a success. I used the BIOS (ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 mobo), a utility provided by ASRock (eXtreme Tuner), and Core Temp to monitor the cpu temps under different circumstances. Although the readings were significantly different in the BIOS (nearly 8*C higher), I decided to consider Core Temp to be the most accurate, as I have used it in the past.

When idle, the temps were roughly ~35-42*C (depending on how long the system had been turned on)

Running at 100% load for several minutes, the temps never rose past 52*C in Core Temp. From what I understand that's pretty good!

I still thought the idle temps were a bit high, however. Then again my 212 evo only has one fan attached and the case is a sound dampening case (meaning it also retains more heat)
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