When applying TIM gets a little too personal...

evernessince · Sep 7, 2022

Lenne said:
Exactly. And spreading it can leave some air bubbles there.

I'm not sure the risk of air bubbles with this method is any higher than other methods.

lexluthermiester · Sep 20, 2022

evernessince said:
I'm not sure the risk of air bubbles with this method is any higher than other methods.

It's not. Spreading TIM smooth and thin is a tried and true method going back many decades before TIM was used on PC parts. Air-gaps and "bubbles" have never been a problem. The physics of kinetic pressure prevent such.

Lei · Sep 20, 2022

lexluthermiester said:
It's not. Spreading TIM smooth and thin is a tried and true method going back many decades before TIM was used on PC parts. Air-gaps and "bubbles" have never been a problem. The physics of kinetic pressure prevent such.

Hello luke (lexluthblahblah)

Just wanted to say @freeagent uses TF7 like me. Yeap, it's so cool that TF8 and TFX are overspending

Airgaps maybe, but bubbles?!!! If you don't spread well, there could be airgaps. I like TIMs that are rather dry out of the tube, and TF7 viscosity is really satisfying.

pavle · Sep 20, 2022

Just use a small but wide flat screwdriver and cover each part of the chip.

phill · Sep 20, 2022

freeagent said:
Was expecting someone to say they use their yoohoo to spread their paste by the thread title..

Pretty glad it wasn't!

That's the way I always do it... Was there another way????.....

The finger method I mean...

Waldorf · Sep 20, 2022

seems some ppl have not heard of something like gloves (latex/nitrile ..).

and as long as someone has data from more than 2000 (so its statisticly relevant) tim applications showing 7 out of 10 times it produces bubbles, its irrelevant.

boosted voltages using xmp on my ryzen setups had more impact on temps than me applying a thin layer with a finger wearing a glove.
seeing that my loop is below 30C on idle (5800x and 2080S), i dont see it being improper application..

qubit · Sep 20, 2022

Always wear a glove for sure. Prevents skin oil from contaminating the TIM and protects your finger from the TIM, which isn't healthy.

micropage7 · Sep 20, 2022

nope, still prefer small dabs than wasting TIM on your finger

Ruru · Sep 20, 2022

Just put a drop in the IHS and it's good to go.

phill · Sep 20, 2022

qubit said:
Always wear a glove for sure. Prevents skin oil from contaminating the TIM and protects your finger from the TIM, which isn't healthy.

So many other ways you could reply to this but I'll try and remain professional as always

........

I just go bare....

skizzo · Sep 20, 2022

freeagent said:
Was expecting someone to say they use their yoohoo to spread their paste by the thread title..

Pretty glad it wasn't!

I was expecting it to be the baby batter being applied as the TIM.........for science of course!

qubit · Sep 20, 2022

phill said:
So many other ways you could reply to this but I'll try and remain professional as always ........

I just go bare....

Oh dear!

lexluthermiester · Sep 20, 2022

Lei said:
Hello luke

I have to ask, is that a Star Wars reference? Or do you think I'm Luke from LTT?

phill · Sep 20, 2022

qubit said:
Oh dear!

My finger damn it, my finger!!

lexluthermiester said:
I have to ask, is that a Star Wars reference? Or do you think I'm Luke from LTT?

With that Avatar @lexluthermiester I'm not sure, could be a few.......

Count von Schwalbe · Sep 20, 2022

phill said:
My finger damn it, my finger!!

The new Ryzens are ribbed for your pleasure...

phill said:
With that Avatar @lexluthermiester I'm not sure, could be a few.......

That's cousin Nick, what are you talking about?

phill · Sep 20, 2022

Count von Schwalbe said:
The new Ryzens are ribbed for your pleasure...

That's cousin Nick, what are you talking about?

I did notice, rather unique in the design for sure!!

Not heard of cousin Nick.... :eek:

Count von Schwalbe · Sep 21, 2022

phill said:
Not heard of cousin Nick....

Tsar Nicholas II.

c2DDragon · Sep 21, 2022

Ahah, I never even thought about using a bare finger xD
I always use a credit card and I always got some thermal paste on my fingers xD It's a pain to remove.
People are crazy, right ? Right ?

lexluthermiester · Sep 21, 2022

c2DDragon said:
People are crazy, right ? Right ?

Not really. There aren't any TIM's on the market that are toxic(none that I know off). Using a finger isn't common or even the best way, but it's not going to hurt you or your equipment..

c2DDragon · Sep 21, 2022

lexluthermiester said:
Not really. There aren't any TIM's on the market that are toxic(none that I know off). Using a finger isn't common or even the best way, but it's not going to hurt you or your equipment..

I don't think it is toxic neither, it's just a massive pain to remove from your fingers xD
By the way, "we" now know that drinking in plastic bottles can lead to absorb plastic in some cases so...putting some metal composed thermal paste using bare fingers could lead to absorb nasty things through your skin heh

lexluthermiester · Sep 21, 2022

c2DDragon said:
I don't think it is toxic neither, it's just a massive pain to remove from your fingers xD

IPA(isopropyl alcohol). Works a fair treat to clean up any TIM on the market.

c2DDragon · Sep 21, 2022

lexluthermiester said:
ISA(isopropyl alcohol). Works a fair treat to clean up any TIM on the market.

AH I thought you were talking about this : https://isacleaningplus.com/

xD

I was like "I don't put thermal paste on walls and all !?" so I laughed xD

lexluthermiester · Sep 21, 2022

c2DDragon said:
AH I thought you were talking about this : https://isacleaningplus.com/

xD

I was like "I don't put thermal paste on walls and all !?" so I laughed xD

No, see edit. I was talking about rubbing alcohol. LOL! When you laughed, I thought for a moment you might think I meant an IPA beer...

Count von Schwalbe · Sep 21, 2022

lexluthermiester said:
No, see edit. I was talking about rubbing alcohol. LOL! When you laughed, I thought for a moment you might think I meant an IPA beer...

Cleaning fluid either way, but the isopropyl will work better for excess TIM.

R-T-B · Sep 22, 2022

c2DDragon said:
I don't put thermal paste on walls

You don't? How does your home stay cool in the summer then?

Processor	Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASRock X670E Taichi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 Chromax
Memory	32GB DDR5 6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 4090 Trio
Storage	Too much
Display(s)	Acer Predator XB3 27" 240 Hz
Case	Thermaltake Core X9
Audio Device(s)	Topping DX5, DCA Aeon II
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Titanium 850w
Mouse	G305
Keyboard	Wooting HE60
VR HMD	Valve Index
Software	Win 10

Processor	3900x - Bykski waterblock
Motherboard	MSI b450m mortar max BIOS Date 27 Apr 2023
Cooling	αcool 560 rad - 2xPhanteks F140XP
Memory	Micron 32gb 3200mhz ddr4
Video Card(s)	Colorful 3090 ADOC active backplate cooling
Storage	WD SN850 2tb ,HP EX950 1tb, WD UltraStar Helioseal 18tb+18tb
Display(s)	24“ HUION pro 4k 10bit
Case	aluminium extrusions copper panels, 60 deliveries for every piece down to screws
Audio Device(s)	sony stereo mic, logitech c930, Gulikit pro 2 + xbox Series S controller, moded bt headphone 1200mAh
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000x
Mouse	pen display, no mouse no click
Keyboard	Microsoft aio media embedded touchpad (moded lithium battery 1000mAh)
Software	Win 11 23h2 build 22631
Benchmark Scores	cine23 20000

System Name	Not so complete or overkill - There are others!! Just no room to put! :D
Processor	Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
Motherboard	Asus Zenith 2 Extreme Alpha
Cooling	Lots!! Dual GTX 560 rads with D5 pumps for each rad. One rad for each component
Memory	Viper Steel 4 x 16GB DDR4 3600MHz not sure on the timings... Probably still at 2667!! :(
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix 3090 with front and rear active full cover water blocks
Storage	I'm bound to forget something here - 250GB OS, 2 x 1TB NVME, 2 x 1TB SSD, 4TB SSD, 2 x 8TB HD etc...
Display(s)	3 x Dell 27" S2721DGFA @ 7680 x 1440P @ 144Hz or 165Hz - working on it!!
Case	The big Thermaltake that looks like a Case Mods
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1600W T2
Mouse	Corsair thingy
Keyboard	Razer something or other....
VR HMD	No headset yet
Software	Windows 11 OS... Not a fan!!
Benchmark Scores	I've actually never benched it!! Too busy with WCG and FAH and not gaming! :( :( Not OC'd it!! :(

System Name	Main
Processor	R7 5950x
Motherboard	MSI x570S Unify-X Max
Cooling	converted Eisbär 280, two F14 + three F12S intake, two P14S + two P14 + two F14 as exhaust
Memory	16 GB Corsair LPX bdie @3600/16 1.35v
Video Card(s)	GB 2080S WaterForce WB
Storage	six M.2 pcie gen 4
Display(s)	Sony 50X90J
Case	Tt Level 20 HT
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar AE, modded Sennheiser HD 558, Klipsch 2.1 THX
Power Supply	Corsair RMx 750w
Mouse	Logitech G903
Keyboard	GSKILL Ripjaws
VR HMD	NA
Software	win 10 pro x64
Benchmark Scores	TimeSpy score Fire Strike Ultra SuperPosition CB20

System Name	Quantumville™
Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

When applying TIM gets a little too personal...

evernessince

lexluthermiester

Lei

pavle

phill

Moderator

Waldorf

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

micropage7

Ruru

S.T.A.R.S.

phill

Moderator

skizzo

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

lexluthermiester

phill

Moderator

Count von Schwalbe

nocturnum moderatum

phill

Moderator

Count von Schwalbe

nocturnum moderatum

c2DDragon

lexluthermiester

c2DDragon

lexluthermiester

c2DDragon

lexluthermiester

Count von Schwalbe

nocturnum moderatum

R-T-B

System Name	4K-gaming / media-PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X / Intel Core i7-6700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero / Asus Z170-A
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 50 / Thermaltake Contac 21
Memory	32GB DDR4-3466 / 16GB DDR4-3000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3080 10GB / RX 6700 XT
Storage	3.3TB of SSDs / several small SSDs
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D AF White / DeepCool CC560 WH
Audio Device(s)	Creative Omni BT speaker
Power Supply	EVGA G2 750W / Fractal ION Gold 550W
Mouse	Logitech MX518 / Logitech G400s
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO / NOS C450 Mini Pro
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro / Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	They run Crysis

Processor	i9-9900K @ 5.1GHz (H2O Cooled)
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master
Cooling	CPU = EK Velocity / GPU = EK Vector
Memory	32GB - G-Skill Trident Z RGB @ 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	AMD RX 6900 XT (H2O Cooled)
Storage	Samsung 860 EVO - 970 EVO - 870 QVO
Display(s)	Samsung QN90A 50" 4K TV & LG 20" 1600x900
Case	Lian Li O11-D
Audio Device(s)	Presonus Studio 192
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 850W
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2S
Keyboard	Matias RGB Backlit Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 & macOS (Hackintosh)

System Name	Work Computer \| Unfinished Computer
Processor	Core i7-6700 \| Ryzen 5 5600X
Motherboard	Dell Q170 \| Gigabyte Aorus Elite Wi-Fi
Cooling	A fan? \| Truly Custom Loop
Memory	4x4GB Crucial 2133 C17 \| 4x8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB 3600 C26
Video Card(s)	Dell Radeon R7 450 \| RTX 2080 Ti FE
Storage	Crucial BX500 2TB \| TBD
Display(s)	3x LG QHD 32" GSM5B96 \| TBD
Case	Dell \| Heavily Modified Phanteks P400
Power Supply	Dell TFX Non-standard \| EVGA BQ 650W
Mouse	Monster No-Name $7 Gaming Mouse\| TBD

Processor	i7 12700K
Motherboard	MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR4
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB 4400Mhz CL19 1T
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 6700 XT
Storage	970 EVO 250GB\|Crucial m4 128GB\|MX300 525GB\|MX500 1TB\|PNY XLR8 2TB\|Kingston NV2 2TB\|14TB HDD\|4TB HDD
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU 27" 1440p 144Hz
Case	Fractal Design DEFINE R4 Black Pearl Window
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x
Mouse	Razer Naga Trinity
Keyboard	EVGA Z15 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64bit

System Name	Pioneer
Processor	Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard	GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory	64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage	Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s)	55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case	Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s)	TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard	WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software	Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024

System Name	micropage7
Processor	Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard	Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling	Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory	Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage	V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s)	Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case	Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply	Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software	Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Classified