# Thermal Paste and How To Use It



## djbbenn (Nov 21, 2005)

Show article


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## TooFast (Feb 28, 2006)

will polishing the heatsink to a mirror shine make a difference???


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## Dynamic (Feb 28, 2006)

Great Work! Beautiful pictures and i love the way you designed your guide as well. Unfortunately, i've been using thermal compound and cleaning materials for over 3 years now on my processors, video card's core, and chipset. So this is just a review for me really, thanks!


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## djbbenn (Feb 28, 2006)

TooFast said:
			
		

> will polishing the heatsink to a mirror shine make a difference???



It can and it can't... With a mirror finish, it usually means you have lapped the heatsink very well and it's very flat. So it's extremly easy to put too much thermal paste on. It has it's advantages and disadvantages. Try checking the lapping article out.


Big thanks too Urlyin and W1zzard for most of the pictures.  

-Dan


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## Urlyin (Feb 28, 2006)

Nicely done Dan ...


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## wazzledoozle (Feb 28, 2006)

Heh I never though about the fact that the IHS covers a core when I covered my sempron in AS5. I spent like 15 minutes getting a perfect thin layer over the whole thing


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## djbbenn (Mar 1, 2006)

That's why it's called a heat _spreader_ Wazz... lol 

-Dan


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## Polaris573 (Mar 1, 2006)

I've always used 90% Isopropyl Alcohol for cleaning.  Now that I'm at college I have access to 100% Pure Methanol.  I've been wondering how well that would work.  Any thoughts?


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## djbbenn (Mar 1, 2006)

I'm not sure about methanol... never even had any before. As long as it completely evaporates and leaves no residue, it should be fine.

90% Isopropyl is great, I use 99%, but it's not very easy to get. If you clean a lot, the ArctiClean is the best.

-Dan


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## pentastar111 (Oct 31, 2006)

very nice job in this thread. Informative an precise. @ thumbs up!


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## DaMulta (Oct 31, 2006)

Finally someone makes a thread on how this is done. I had to learn the hard way, and **** up a card in the doing it

Edit:I see it was a while back, still good info in it.


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## DaMulta (Oct 31, 2006)

You need to add a GPU for your guide. I'm out of AS5 or I would do it.


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## djbbenn (Oct 31, 2006)

GPU is the same as a bare die. Just spread the paste as even as you can get it, and slap the sink on.

-Dan


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## DaMulta (Oct 31, 2006)

I know it is, but most people don't/


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## ARTOSOFT (Oct 31, 2006)

DaMulta said:


> I know it is, but most people don't/


I know  .

When you make a mistake applying thermal paste, you always can correct it by remove the heatsink, clean it, applied (the correct way) thermal paste.

Regards,
Arto.


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## strick94u (Nov 1, 2006)

Polaris573 said:


> I've always used 90% Isopropyl Alcohol for cleaning.  Now that I'm at college I have access to 100% Pure Methanol.  I've been wondering how well that would work.  Any thoughts?



methanol is corrosive I use 3m tape remover it totally drys leaveing nothing but clean, its used in the automotive field to remove tape and grease b4 painting.great artical as allways


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## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

Is pure whitish thermal paste ceramic?


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## djbbenn (Dec 23, 2006)

Hard to say... Arctic Lumière is almost pure white. Usually if it's a stock paste they are silicon based.

-Dan


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## Casheti (Dec 24, 2006)

When I put my CPU cooler on I put 10 times as much TIM on the CPU as in that picture up above lol. Ah well, as long as it doesn't explode, I'm good.


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## Ketxxx (Dec 24, 2006)

Its worth noting a HS lapped to a near mirror \ mirror finish is far superior to one that isnt. Depending on the HS, probably on average a good 5c superior. As I said though, depending on the HS, and what materials are used and how high quality the materials are used on the HS.


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## PyroInc (Dec 24, 2006)

nice.  I used to use the this

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/274/3

as a reference


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## Casheti (Dec 24, 2006)

This is just a mess 







and my


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## PyroInc (Dec 24, 2006)

yea I know.... lol that's why I used it as a reference


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## bassmasta (Aug 5, 2007)

holy crap, spent a week and $50 gas trying to find some 99% isopropryl, then while picking up some rubbing alchohol at the store, I see a rack of 99%, and they told me that they can order 100% if i need it that bad.... I feel like such a jackass.


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## grunt_408 (Jan 5, 2008)

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_dual_wcap.pdf


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## Irish_PXzyan (Jan 10, 2008)

Thanks. 

This will greatly help me when I get my new cooler


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## tek33 (Dec 31, 2008)

dont mean to sound stupid  but im guessing the hs stands for heatsink what does the i stand for ?and i seen the pictures of an amd proc. i am using a q6600 quad .it looks like when the paste spread it didnt cover the whole proc. doesnt that leave hot spots around the outside ?thanks


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## TDUEnthusiast (Feb 15, 2009)

Sorry if I'm not supposed to ask anything here, but...

Anyway, I just bought a new Zalman GV1000 cooler and installed it onto my ASUS 9800GT Hybrid Power. I applied the Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400 thermal paste that I bought too. The first few days, the idling temperature was at 44 Celcius, then it increased to 45 celcius a few days later. Now a week later, the temperature is idling at 47 Celcius, and if I add a fan to blow onto my graphics card, it increases the temp to 50 Celcius =(. 


What am I doing wrong here? Is it the way I applied the thermal paste? ( The thermal paste is rather like glue ). I used paint thinner to clean the surface of the GPU. Or is it because the thermal paste that I bought doesn't work well? I thought I applied the thermal paste wrongly, so I cleaned it just yesterday, and reapplied it and then put the HS back ( after cleaning it ). But the temp is still the same.

Or maybe that's supposed to happen? Please reply, thanks.


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## silkstone (Feb 15, 2009)

Sounds like you don't have very good airflow through your case and it's getting hotter the more you use it. How many front and rear fans do you have?
As a rule the temps should go down 24hrs after applying the thermal pastes as it melts and fills in any microscopic gaps


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## lemonadesoda (Feb 15, 2009)

TDUEnthusiast said:


> Sorry if I'm not supposed to ask anything here, but...
> 
> Anyway, I just bought a new Zalman GV1000 cooler and installed it onto my ASUS 9800GT Hybrid Power. I applied the Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400 thermal paste that I bought too. The first few days, the idling temperature was at 44 Celcius, then it increased to 45 celcius a few days later. Now a week later, the temperature is idling at 47 Celcius, and if I add a fan to blow onto my graphics card, it increases the temp to 50 Celcius =(.
> 
> ...



I think your GPU has TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED FAN SPEED. So this behaviour is OK. What is happening is that your fan speed is going up in steps. Probably SLOW until 50 degrees, then MEDIUM until 60 degrees, then FAST until 70 degrees, then SCREAM above 70 degrees.

So what happens if you IMPROVE your cooler? Or put new TIM on? Well, it is actually more efficient at cooling now. BUT, the fan speed is on SLOW. So when you read the temps, you get a reading not very different from before. However, when you are using the card in 3D games you might find that it doesnt have to go up to SCREAMING fan any more, just FAST is good enough to cool it. Win-Win. Lower temp and quieter operation.

There are various tools out there that let you monitor GPU fanspeed, temp, etc. even adjust how they work. One of those tools is rivatuner. Another is GPUZ. Look into these and see if they work with your GPU model.


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## TDUEnthusiast (Feb 16, 2009)

Well.. Zalman did include a Fan Mate 2 with it, so I use that to control the speed of the fan myself. The lowest speed the fan can go is 2K RPM ( for me, the box states it goes down to 1.6K, but it doesn't ). I put it to the lowest ( 2k RPM ) when I'm just surfing the net, but raise the fan speed to 2.8K - 3.1K RPM.
My casing has got 2 vents on the side for a 80 MM ( top ) and a 120MM ( bottom ). And a 80/90MM vent at the rear. I have a 80MM fan behind exhausting the hot air at 2.5K RPM, and a 80MM Fan at the side exhausting too. I put the side for exhaust cause if i made it intake, it'll increase the temps.


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## TDUEnthusiast (Feb 18, 2009)

Sorry for double posting, anyway..... Thanks for helping me, I just reduced the idling temp by 3 degrees by removing the tapes I used to seal up the pci slots at the back. *-*


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## HossHuge (Feb 21, 2009)

Your thread inspired me to change my crappy paste for AS5 and try the grain of rice method.  I was afriad of doing it that way but it seems to be working.  I applied it yesterday so I am hoping my temps decrease even further.  I was thinking about going to a PII but I am happy with my speed.

Thanks,

P.S.

With the money you saved me from buying the PII, Ill donate it to a local charity in your name!!


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## MohawkAngel (Feb 23, 2009)

Guys I love this tread but when i apply paste i dont only put a center spot. I apply a layer on the entire CPU surface. Just enough but not too much to have it coming on the sides of the processor when i install the heaatsink. In this way even with the stock AMD cooling fan+heat dissipator I never go higher than 38 celcius on my AM2 Brisbane 4600+ 2.4gigs that i overclocked to 3.0 gigs.


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## mav2000 (Feb 23, 2009)

So would you use the same method for the copper tube based heatsinks like the Sunbeam core contact or the OCZ vendetta 2? Or would I have to first put in a little paste into the edges of the copper tubes and then a drop on the cpu?

I have put like ten times that what you have shown in your example...


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## silkstone (Feb 24, 2009)

10x the amount is way too much and will either 1-bring your temps up 2- spead out and make a horrible mess on your motherboard or 3-both of the above. You just need a drop on the cpu.
put a blob in the middle and then run 2 fine lines going from corner t0 corner. you should et a good spread if you do it that way


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## MohawkAngel (Feb 24, 2009)

silkstone said:


> 10x the amount is way too much and will either 1-bring your temps up 2- spead out and make a horrible mess on your motherboard or 3-both of the above. You just need a drop on the cpu.
> put a blob in the middle and then run 2 fine lines going from corner t0 corner. you should et a good spread if you do it that way





Read what i wrote  It not happened so I think you surely talk about those jerks who put WAY TOO MUCH !!!!   What I do is the same effect as your technic when the heatsink compress the paste onto the CPU but im doin a really thin layer of the paste everywhere on the CPU to be sure theres no dead-spots afterward I put the heatsink in place. Same effect , no mess and better heat transfer. The proof is that i keep it never over 40 EVEN when i play games or do many programs at the same time.


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## silkstone (Feb 24, 2009)

MohawkAngel said:


> Read what i wrote  It not happened so I think you surely talk about those jerks who put WAY TOO MUCH !!!!   What I do is the same effect as your technic when the heatsink compress the paste onto the CPU but im doin a really thin layer of the paste everywhere on the CPU to be sure theres no dead-spots afterward I put the heatsink in place. Same effect , no mess and better heat transfer. The proof is that i keep it never over 40 EVEN when i play games or do many programs at the same time.



Sorry dude, my reply was for mav2000  he said he put about ten times as much on as shown


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## MohawkAngel (Feb 24, 2009)

np silkstone  lets not fight for a guy who cant even put paste correctly


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## RevengE (Mar 6, 2009)

Nice writeup, For all the new builders who have no idea how much to use.


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## silkstone (Mar 6, 2009)

Even for the old builders like myself. I just had a problem with applying TC. I put the right amount on, installed my V8 and the temps weren't too much different from my 90mm hsf. So i took it apart and put a smaller amount on and my temps skyrocketed! This is with a lapped cpu too so i shouldn't need much. took it apart again and put about 1 1/2 grains of rice worth on, a small line in the centre and then 4 dots near the corners. temps are back now. So be warned, putting too little TC on can also be a problem


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## Marineborn (Mar 6, 2009)

*eats some thermalpaste......*....wait this stuff was meant ..ah crap... Nah just kidding this guide will help out people with stuff they have a gut feeling about very good write up


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## Bokteelo (Mar 7, 2009)

There are a lot of ways to actually apply thermal paste, I've been told to do a diagonal line across the center. (Leave like 1/2 inch from the corner.)


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## Polaris573 (Mar 8, 2009)

Just so everyone knows this thread was written back in 2005.


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## silkstone (Mar 8, 2009)

The laws of thermal transfer haven't changed since then, have they?


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## Polaris573 (Mar 8, 2009)

Only in the twilight zone.


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## hat (Mar 9, 2009)

I have become a believer in the "let the pressure do it" meathod. It improved my gpu temps DRAMATICALLY. 30c difference, not kidding. Before, Furmark used to push my graphics card over 100c... now it rose to about 71c and flattened out there pretty much. Also it took a while to get to 71c. Before it would get there in like 5 seconds. I used to put thermal paste on the gpu die and spread it out with my finger and a sandwich bag but apparantly it was very imperfect. I still believe that the spreading meathod is best but you will never get a perfectly flat application this way. I tried reseating the cooler twice today: once with the sandwich bag meathod and once with the pressure meathod. F@H temp with the sandwich bag meathod: 72c+. Pressure meathod? 56c. 16c difference. after the thermal paste cures and spreads out a little more there's sure to be an even bigger temp difference


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## dovlatyan (Mar 23, 2011)

*first time, help?*

Alright, so i've got a core i5-750, so i figure it's safe to assume it's got IHS. I got it with the stock intel heatsink, which came with some rudimentary thermal compound already applied to it. I just popped it in, and it did its job quite well since August of 2010. I noticed it when I bluescreened an hour into playing Bad Company 2. I did a lot of hardware checks, and I came to the conclusion that I needed to reapply some thermal compound. I got Arctic Silver ceramic (they call it ceramique), and have spent the better part of my afternoon trying to get it properly applied. I've tried putting a tiny blob in the middle, both pea-sized, and then rice-grain sized. Then I tried doing the verticle line method suggested by AS's website. Every single time, i get around 35-45 idle and the second i even watch a youtube video, it jumps into the 50's. I then tried putting a little blob on the heatsink alone (to replicate the presence of the TIM when I had just purchased the cpu/heatsink), and i've got a whopping 70-80 with any stress on my system.  if anyone could help me, it would be amazing


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## brandonwh64 (Mar 23, 2011)

intel stock heatsinks suck as it is, i would recommend a better cooler. you can get a nice one cheap on newegg.com


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## dovlatyan (Mar 23, 2011)

brandonwh64 said:


> intel stock heatsinks suck as it is, i would recommend a better cooler. you can get a nice one cheap on newegg.com



thanks for the reply, but like I said, it served me very well since august of last year, I even cleaned out the dust, so I don't see why it would be wearing down now.


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## Techtu (Apr 23, 2011)

I'm curious once again, what do you guy's here think the best group of paste/silver.. or whatever is out on the market at the moment...


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