PMM
05-02-2009, 06:04 PM
How to gauge how much thermal paste to apply to a CPU.
This is a question asked by many people and you will get many differing responses depending on where you ask or who you ask, some of those responses are open to a very large degree of self interpretation so the following is to help guide those wondering with what most people like best.... Pictures :)
The Do's and Don'ts of applying Thermal Paste.
The Don't
Your not buttering your toast - so don't slap it on in large quantities
If your replacing/re-applying to your old heatsink - don't apply it on top of the paste that already exists.
Avoid coating all the ISH CPU heat shield Cap in paste (This causes pockets of air bubbles that does not help cooling).
The Do's
Clean the CPU IHS & Heatsink Base with a proper Cleaner e.g. http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ARC-CLEAN
Dual Core CPU - Apply about a 2mm circle by 1mm height of Thermal paste in the centre of the CPU but no more than 2mm by 2mm ((Do not spread out let the heatsink do that))
Quad Core (type 2) Inc i7 CPUs - Apply about a 2mm circle by 2mm height of Thermal paste in the centre of the CPU but no more than 2mm by 3mm ((Do not spread out let the heatsink do that))
Quad Core (Type 1) - Apply 2 times ( 2mm Circle by 1mm height ) spaced 10-15 mm apart.
Apply heat-sink directly on to CPU and attach securely.
Typical Dual Core / Quad core package = Socket LGA775 - 34mm -2.2 - 2.2 = (29.6) Centre.
Typical I7 = 36mm (die size = 14.3x18.8)
Typical AMD Phoenom = 18x18
Chips Generation Pictures..
http://www.brittech.co.uk/TIM/chips.jpg
* The aim of the game here is to demonstrate the spread of thermal compound
Ignore the the fact I am using a 1" round piece of copper in reality with the
exception of the old package 2 x 2 Quad core it more covers most Dual Core / i7 Intel CPU cores and all AMD cores in Phenom II.
Also note this is just a quick pressure test under room temperature - In reality given time & normal running conditions the heat output + heatsink pressure will expel more thermal paste giving a thinner layer still.
The end result will be just enough Thermal paste to fill the Micro scratches and allow a close heatsink to CPU bond rather than a thick layer that remains thick dry's/oxidises and then prevents the CPU passing heat to the heatsink in the optimum way.
The Pictures
//Set 1 - Too much- 2mm by 5mm sliver of paste about 1mm high - too much for dual & quad.
http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/5s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/5.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/4s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/4.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/7s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/7.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/6s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/6.jpg)
http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/3s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/3.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/2s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/2.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/1s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/1.jpg)
This is a question asked by many people and you will get many differing responses depending on where you ask or who you ask, some of those responses are open to a very large degree of self interpretation so the following is to help guide those wondering with what most people like best.... Pictures :)
The Do's and Don'ts of applying Thermal Paste.
The Don't
Your not buttering your toast - so don't slap it on in large quantities
If your replacing/re-applying to your old heatsink - don't apply it on top of the paste that already exists.
Avoid coating all the ISH CPU heat shield Cap in paste (This causes pockets of air bubbles that does not help cooling).
The Do's
Clean the CPU IHS & Heatsink Base with a proper Cleaner e.g. http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ARC-CLEAN
Dual Core CPU - Apply about a 2mm circle by 1mm height of Thermal paste in the centre of the CPU but no more than 2mm by 2mm ((Do not spread out let the heatsink do that))
Quad Core (type 2) Inc i7 CPUs - Apply about a 2mm circle by 2mm height of Thermal paste in the centre of the CPU but no more than 2mm by 3mm ((Do not spread out let the heatsink do that))
Quad Core (Type 1) - Apply 2 times ( 2mm Circle by 1mm height ) spaced 10-15 mm apart.
Apply heat-sink directly on to CPU and attach securely.
Typical Dual Core / Quad core package = Socket LGA775 - 34mm -2.2 - 2.2 = (29.6) Centre.
Typical I7 = 36mm (die size = 14.3x18.8)
Typical AMD Phoenom = 18x18
Chips Generation Pictures..
http://www.brittech.co.uk/TIM/chips.jpg
* The aim of the game here is to demonstrate the spread of thermal compound
Ignore the the fact I am using a 1" round piece of copper in reality with the
exception of the old package 2 x 2 Quad core it more covers most Dual Core / i7 Intel CPU cores and all AMD cores in Phenom II.
Also note this is just a quick pressure test under room temperature - In reality given time & normal running conditions the heat output + heatsink pressure will expel more thermal paste giving a thinner layer still.
The end result will be just enough Thermal paste to fill the Micro scratches and allow a close heatsink to CPU bond rather than a thick layer that remains thick dry's/oxidises and then prevents the CPU passing heat to the heatsink in the optimum way.
The Pictures
//Set 1 - Too much- 2mm by 5mm sliver of paste about 1mm high - too much for dual & quad.
http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/5s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/5.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/4s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/4.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/7s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/7.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/6s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/6.jpg)
http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/3s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/3.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/2s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/2.jpg)http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/1s.jpg (http://brittech.co.uk/TIM/1.jpg)