Question about (re)paste application

It seems people are saying to sort of do a globby line then just put the heatsink assembly back on and let it spread out.

To be fair the last time I applied my own paste was YEARS ago and I remember smudging it around with my finger through a ziplock bag. Is just putting a line on and pressing down good enough? How would that ensure the entire chip is even covered?

What did you guys find worked best for the repasting job?

 

You can practice with a piece of microscopy glass firstly, to get a visual impression of the paste spreading and how much is needed. Then apply a very small drop of the paste the first time, fix the heatsink and remove it, to see if the heatsink sits well and the paste spreads thinly and evenly. Finally you put the full grain or line of paste and fix.

 

Follow the manufacturer's instructions on applying thermal paste. Most of them will tell you to do grain(s)-of-rice or lines, depending on the specific thermal paste and CPU. This will be assuredly better than any other method.

And FYI, that idea of "spreading thermal paste" all over the top of the CPU isn't a good thing. How to apply thermal paste is a debate that's been going on for years. But as experiments have been by people run during those years, we find out that spreading thermal paste (with your finger or a credit card) onto a CPU heat spreader isn't a good idea:

1. It potentially introduces air bubbles, which inhibit thermal conductivity.
2. Using too much thermal paste actually decreases thermal conductivity. More is not always better.
3. Using too much thermal paste can cause the excess paste to get "squished" onto nearby electrical components or exposed contacts. If you're using a metallic-based thermal paste, it could create a short circuit somewhere, leading to system instability or parts damage.

 

As this is direct to die and not a huge heat spreader the grain of rice method works well, what I find works best is to put all the screws in a few turns then pressing a finger on each heatsink make small circular motions whilst pressing down then without lifting those fingers screw down to finish the deal.

 

Throw in a couple trial paste jobs to see how much paste you should have used...