Just realized I was using too much thermal paste after someone called me out on it

I posted a picture of my CPU build on a tech forum last month and this guy commented that my thermal paste looked like I was frosting a cake. He told me a pea-sized drop is all you need, not a whole line across the chip. I went back and reapplied with just a tiny dab in the center and my temps dropped by 8 degrees under load. Anyone else ever get called out on something simple like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_adams6629d ago

More is always better when it comes to thermal paste. These guys who preach the pea sized method are just repeating what they saw on YouTube. I've been building PCs since the Pentium 4 days and I always spread a thin even layer across the whole heat spreader. The point is to fill every microscopic gap between the CPU and the cooler, not just hope that pressure spreads it out for you. If your temps dropped by 8 degrees it probably means your first application was too thick and it squished out the sides, not that the method itself was wrong. A pea sized dab in the center is a gamble because it might not spread evenly if your cooler pressure is off balance. I'll take a guaranteed full coverage application over pinning my hopes on some tiny dot any day of the week.

morgan_ramirez28d ago

@joseph_adams66, but isn't thermal paste's job just to fill tiny scratches, not act as a whole layer of glue?