Alpenföhn Intros Matterhorn Threadripper CPU Cooler

[HTC]

The best transfer is metal to metal. Whatever paste you put under there you put to work around metal imperfections. This is also why you use as thin a layer of paste possible.

If the metal in the cooler is absolutely polished and flat, won't the paste tend to get squeezed out, when tightening the cooler? From what i recall, the imperfections actually helped with that.

 

[bug]

If the metal in the cooler is absolutely polished and flat, won't the paste tend to get squeezed out, when tightening the cooler? From what i recall, the imperfections actually helped with that.

Man, you're on a roll...

 

[Athlonite]

If the metal in the cooler is absolutely polished and flat, won't the paste tend to get squeezed out, when tightening the cooler? From what i recall, the imperfections actually helped with that.

NOPE that is not how it works or did you not read what bug said in his reply the best solution is metal to metal with no thermal paste at all but because of minuscule imperfections in the metal surfaces or the IHS maybe concave or convex we need a very small amount of thermal paste to fill in those air gaps so that conduction can occur in an even manor across the entire surface

 

[hat]

Easy guys, not everyone read all the lapping guides in detail 10 years ago...

But yeah, that's it. No matter how flat, or how polished the surface is, it will never be truly, perfectly flat. Even if you lap both the CPU heatspreader and heatsink base all the way up to 3000 grit or higher, microscopic imperfections will exist... so you'll be getting more metal to metal contact than you did before, especially if at least one of your surfaces was really jacked up, but paste is still required to fill in what's left. Though you would use a much smaller amount of paste than you did before you lapped anything. Too much paste is actually a bad thing, because at some point you'll actually have paste getting in the way of your metal to metal contact. That's why you use less paste after lapping, because the surfaces are flat(er) and it doesn't take much to fill in what's left. Use the same amount you did before and it'll actually be detrimental.

 

[bug]

Easy guys, not everyone read all the lapping guides in detail 10 years ago...

But yeah, that's it. No matter how flat, or how polished the surface is, it will never be truly, perfectly flat. Even if you lap both the CPU heatspreader and heatsink base all the way up to 3000 grit or higher, microscopic imperfections will exist... so you'll be getting more metal to metal contact than you did before, especially if at least one of your surfaces was really jacked up, but paste is still required to fill in what's left. Though you would use a much smaller amount of paste than you did before you lapped anything. Too much paste is actually a bad thing, because at some point you'll actually have paste getting in the way of your metal to metal contact. That's why you use less paste after lapping, because the surfaces are flat(er) and it doesn't take much to fill in what's left. Use the same amount you did before and it'll actually be detrimental.

If I may add, the heat sink can have perfect finish, the CPU still doesn't. So we still need paste under there

 

[Athlonite]

If I may add, the heat sink can have perfect finish, the CPU still doesn't. So we still need paste under there

Considering that most if not all CPU IHS's have a much better surface than what's on this HSF then any better surface would lead to a reduction in the thermal paste needed which is a good thing ie: one slightly good surface + one totally crap surface = crap that requires more thermal paste and one slightly good surface + one really good surface = great and requires less thermal paste