Applying thermal paste to laptop CPU. How to?

I ask because laptop CPU's are generally quite a bit more rectangular.

Im aware that the best thing to really do is have a "pea" and let it spread by itself, when the heat sink is screwed on, however how would that work with a laptop CPU? I've seen people put on a very tiny line on the CPU of laptops. Is that the correct way? Or is the correct way just to do the "normal" pea method

Also, I intend to get the IC Diamond 7 TIM

 

Start at about 8:00 mark:

 

Thanks for that, but you put a line on the GPU too. I've seen people do just a "dot" on the GPU. Which really is correct? I dont have the thing yet!!

 

There is no real "correct" way. Just remember that here this is the exposed die, so every square mm needs to be covered. Not like a desktop CPU where the IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader - basically a metal plate) covers the die and distributes heat. So a little extra in this case is better to make sure the whole surface is covered when you clamp the heatsink down on the GPU or CPU.

 

If you really want to be "pedantic" about it you could lap the heatsink. I think the biggest problem with laptops is the fact that there are 2 connected heatsinks and therefore it is difficult to have them perfectly aligned to each other and to the surface of both CPU and GPU which could be at different levels, therefore you could have much bigger gap between the CPU/GPU and sink, so the safest way is to put more paste to make sure even larger gap is filled and heat is transferred out. If this was desktop CPU with single, bolted heatsink on top, the amount of paste shown in that video would be way too much. Just be careful, some thermal paste is electrically conductive and if such paste comes out on the sides, it could short and kill the computer.
The bottom line is simple: you check temperatures before and after, if the temps are lower you're done, if not you may need to do it over.

 

Why a line on gpu ? I always apply a cross on the gpu.

 

I tend to simply spread the thermal paste across the die in a very thin layer (using my finger) on both the CPU and GPU (I use a very small amount of paste).
Hadn't had a problem with this method to date.
Temperatures seem to be doing fine using this method, and for me, it is one of the most reliable ways.

Of course, it also depends on the type of thermal paste one uses.
If the paste is easily spreadable, then I'll probably spread it in a very thin layer... and if not, then another way (such as the dot, or line method) would probably be a better way to go about it.

The difference in laptops is that the GPU and CPU can sometimes share the same heatsink. Alternatively, even if they have separate heatsinks, the way those heatsinks are placed can be awkward and too much pressure is not advisable since we are talking about compressed area of space that has a lot of other components as well.

You can try experimenting with a few methods and see which one works best for you.

 

Don't use your finger! Skin cells and fat (which even the cleanest finger will shed) have much worse heat conducting ability than any paste

 

Not to mention formation of air bubbles. Don't ever manually spread the paste.

 

Ahh thanks for that!! After I asked this question I had a look at this:



At 1:05

and this:



at 1:00

and also at 04:10

Where the uploader used IC diamond and showed the results. That to me says that perhaps with IC diamond, use the line method, but with other thermal pastes you'd be OK with using the "dot" method. Though the uploader in the first video did use a bit more thermal paste in the centre I guess!

Nah, cba with lapping my heatsink tbf!! I just want it to cover the CPU/GPU and have no air bubbles, and keep temps down, but I dont really fancy doing too much work tbh!

Tbf, I think some pastes come supplied with a spreader, and some even come applied with a business card type thing,and some come as a brush.All reputable TP manufactures (Think Zalman has the brush method where someone painted their CPU,and Coolermaster had the business card) But definitely thought of it as a given to never ever use fingers (at least not naked fingers any way) because of oil and sweat, human bacteria etc...

 

Good luck spreading ICD...

Also did you bother to read this before making this thread?

 

Ah I didn't actually. That's really helpful!!!! I guess it's worth just putting a "pea sized" blob of ICD and yeah ICD is apparently a ***** to spread!

Huh, female dog is censored. Who knew?

 

I use a credit card to spread thermal paste. Give that a try. Clean the card, the CPU die and the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol first - the 90% stuff, easy to find in a grocery store (and handy to have around the house for cleaning/disinfecting other things as well).

 

I repasted my CPU and GPU with Gelid GC Extreme, and used the line method for the CPU, which worked pretty easily. For the GPU, I tried putting a dot in the center, but was having a hard time getting it to spread all the way to the edges, even though I was definitely using enough paste. I ended up using the spreader to push the paste into a (small) rectangular shape that vaguely resembled the shape of the die. I still let the heat sink do the majority of the spreading, but that seemed to help get paste all the way to the corners.

 

I use finger cleansed with vodka. I know it's probably bad, however it never let me down for years, so don't bother.

 

I use the vodka in the cup method. Major effect is that after 5 cups, I cant seem to remember my name.

 

One of the best ways to keep the cpu and the gpu cool is the put the laptop in the freezer. Not very practical but it works.

 

Another good way is by dipping it in water, it'll cool it much water than any freezer.

 

Ahhh I've got some arcti clean lying around so I'll use that. Also got some 99% isopropyl alcohol! Think tbf, I'll do what IC diamond SAY to do, (didnt see that first) and then do what Delta_V said, if that fails My issue is well just trying to get it spread nicely. Also I dont fancy wrecking a credit card

Hmmm... thanks for that. If it doesn't spread properly on the GPU, I'll put a line on that too

Tbh, Id rather use isopropyl alcohol, compared to vodka! Also, I don't drink, so Im not just going to have vodka lying around!

Lol perhaps! BRB, gonna go throw my laptop in a freezer!

 

ICD is really hard to spread unless you heat it quite a bit.))
Bubbles formation is a really rare event with most current thermal pastes, so it is totally OK to spread evenly most of the thermal compounds (cause they are pretty much fluid), actually most of the brands include spreaders with their compounds.
BTW "pea" application method will not cover the entire chip surface in ~30% of cases even on rectangular chips.

 

Yeah I've read about heating up ICD. Im meant to heat it up in hot water???

 

Yes... Just warm a cup of water up in a microwave and keep the paste tube in it for a while...

 

Don't spread the paste. Yikes, that will create air bubbles. Just let the heatsink do the work. Even on the GPU put a line to make sure it spreads to the edges. You will get some excess at the ends, but that doesn't matter really.

And you can put the IC Diamond in a baggie and then in some hot water for a while, but really, all you have to do is just squirt it out of the tube, twist off at the end, and put the heatsink on. Unless you have weak thumbs to push the paste out of the tube, it really isn't that bad.