Yup, about a quarter teaspoon of paste (about 1 mL) in the middle of the heat spreader then clamp down the heatsink.

gdjacobs wrote:

Yup, about a quarter teaspoon of paste (about 1 mL) in the middle of the heat spreader then clamp down the heatsink.

Not sure if you are joking or not... 1mL is definitely too much.

I guess my estimate was a bit off. The spot of thermal compound should be less than a dime in diameter prior to clamping down the heatsink.

The function og thermal paste, is to even out scratches and things like that. Don't use too much. A drop spreaded out is enough.

Thermal paste application is a universal and constant source of controversy.

If your CPU cooler has very good surface contact, and the heat spreader is metal (Not ceramic), then you can take a dab of Arctic Silver 5 or similar. apply to the heatsink, and rub it around a bit. It just needs to fill in the holes and uneven spaces like a spackle. If you're unsure, you can always just put a tiny tab of it in the center and use the CPU cooler to spread it around.

do NOT use 1ml or more of thermal paste. That guy is just bullshitting.

My estimate was off. Sue me. 😜

You don't need to use much. You don't need to use expensive paste. You don't need to spread it around unless it's one of the formulations with more of a putty consistency. Standard paste will flow over the die or IHS as the heat sink clamps down.

Here, watch this video demonstrating it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

If I know the heatsink will contact the chip tightly, I'll put a dab, press the heatsink surface down and wiggle it slightly to make sure its spread over the chip before I clamp it down (without removing the heatsink again)

However, some GPUs and stuff I've found the heatsinks only make light contact. I used this method for a Geforce 7800 and when I went to check temperatures afterwards it was off the charts. I took the heatsink back off and found it was only just touching the chip, and hadn't spread the paste around at all. If I'm dubious, I'll use a little plastic bag over my finger to spread the paste over the chip first. That sorted that one out. I also just used this method for a Socket 7 pentium build, as I didn't want to bet on that little metal tang being enough to spread the paste around. Chip is nice and cool so obviously it worked fine

Thermal paste application is a universal and constant source of controversy.

Yeap.

I just use a small pea sized dip on CPUs (except ones w/o heat spreaders like socket A ones) and all is well - chips seem to be completely covered with just a tiny bit of extra seeping over from the sides.

Many S7 CPUs will run happily even w/o thermal paste, so I would just put a drop in the center and forget about it.

i always tell people the size of a tic-tac

basically enough that it doesn't overflow and make a damn mess.

What I ended up doing was spreading a thin coating out over the CPU heat spreader, using some paper to "grade" the surface.

But now it seems I forgot the important step of upgrading my board to a beta BIOS needed to support the K6-3+ and I have to put the K6-2 back in again....🤣

Really hoping that does the trick.. right now it just posts at 16Mhz and freezes after memory test 🤣

Never spread TIM.

Put a small dab in the center on the cpu. Spreading TIM can leave pockets of air. A small dab in the cernter will push out the air as it spreads.

But a line of TIM should be used on the core 2 quad as it has two dies

I really don't think it matters on these socket 7 chips. These CPU coolers do -not- have a lot of downward force at all. in fact its quite easy to bump the heatsink and shift it around in some circumstances, easily twists sideways etc. Doubt its a retention clip issue both a new and old HSF do the same thing.

Watch the video I linked. The method for applying or spreading TIM doesn't practically matter as long as you use the right amount.

I don't recommend spreading the TIM prior to installing the heat sink simply because there's no benefit to it. Adding TIM in the center of the heat spreader then clamping down your cooling solution results in proper heat conduction as does applying an X, a line, a swirl, or knifing the stuff around with a credit card. So, why do all the extra work?

emosun wrote:

i always tell people the size of a tic-tac

basically enough that it doesn't overflow and make a damn mess.

This is what I basically do. I tend to use a very small drop (about the size of a grain of rice) placed in the middle (I never spread it!) and then clamp the heatsink onto the CPU. This will press the TIM down and it should spread a bit more after the CPU starts heating up.

Btw I really don't see the benefit of AS5 over something like Arctic MX-2 and AS5 is WAY harder to clean up, making it less then ideal for testing purposes.

And whenever removing the HSF (even when I remove it by accident or due to me messing up the install of the HSF) I clean it up and reapply.

Excess TIM will only spread across the edges of the die and sometimes even across the IHS, creating a harder to clean mess. Nothing like cleaning up TIM from the CPU socket and the areas of the motherboard...or even having to clean up cables that hung into the TIM.

I have always actually wiped it off almost completely. It fills in the gaps, and with even and good clamping pressure, it will be perfect.

A different approach (though unlikely on S7) may be needed with a HSF with gapped heatpipes - either preload the gaps and treat as flat, or treat each heatpipe seperately