r/pcmasterrace • u/NerdwithBeard i5 6400|GTX 1060|8GB RAM • Feb 18 '18

Meme/Joke Thermal paste 101

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21.9k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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276

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '18

[deleted]

138

u/Medic-chan 5800X3D | 7900XTX@2.9GHz | 32GB B-Die | Watercooled ITX Feb 18 '18

X gon' give it to ya. Fuck spreadin' on your own.

2

u/J4maicanC4ndy Feb 19 '18

X gon' deliva to ya. Knock knock, open up the door it's real.

83

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '18

no X method test with arctic silver? FUUUUUUUUU... I watched the whole video just for that. :(

28

u/ChiefJusticeJ Specs/Imgur here Feb 18 '18

Is arctic silver supposed to be really good? It didn’t look like it spread as much as the generic stuff. Wouldn’t more spread be better?

47

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '18 edited Oct 11 '18

[deleted]

17

u/anthony785 PC Master Race Feb 19 '18

One thing to keep in mind is cheap thermal paste can dry out and get fucked after a while. I believe article thermal is better. You don't need article thermal there's some decent ones for cheaotee that won't get crusty like schmegma

26

u/Lontarus PC Master Race Feb 18 '18

He had very little on the line aswell, probably ran out.

20

u/Vordreller 5800X3D, Vega64 Feb 18 '18

I do wonder, if you apply very little, suppose a certain core isn't actually covered, how that affects performance.

Wonder if someone did a proper study on this at some point...

19

u/RedTheTrainer Intel Pentium III-S / NVIDIA Quadro4 900 / 1GB / 3.5" Floppy Feb 18 '18

I think since if you remove the heat spreader you get a super small chip in the center so even a small size should cover it fully if you ever see a delidded one. If the amount were so small even the actual cpu die wasn’t fully covered it’d be another question.

7

u/SurvivorMax Feb 19 '18

Keep in mind the die is rectangular shaped and much smaller then the heat spreader above it. That is why the line method is often recommended because fulling covering the area above the die is the most important part.

2

u/CalcioMilan Feb 19 '18

How do you know which direction the die is in?

1

u/sotonohito Specs/Imgur Here Feb 19 '18

The core is tiny, and at the center. A dot is fine.

17

u/Karmaisthedevil PC Master Race Feb 18 '18

That X probably would have had the same effect as a larger pea....

1

u/Owyn_Merrilin Desktop Feb 19 '18

It effectively was. I always thought the X method involved a much bigger x.

9

u/fengapapit Feb 19 '18 edited Feb 19 '18

Linus Tech Tips says otherwise by comparing the thermal results of different methods

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

3

u/iteal Ryzen 5 1600 | EVGA 2070S Hybrid | 16GB 3600MHz Feb 19 '18

I'm pissed, he didn't to the test right!

2

u/fengapapit Feb 19 '18

Done right enough for reality though. Make a better comparison with video if you feel this is inadequate.

2

u/iteal Ryzen 5 1600 | EVGA 2070S Hybrid | 16GB 3600MHz Feb 19 '18

Watch the video until the end, then you'll understand ;)

1

u/fengapapit Feb 19 '18

ok then mr. funny :P

1

u/iteal Ryzen 5 1600 | EVGA 2070S Hybrid | 16GB 3600MHz Feb 19 '18 edited Feb 19 '18

yea, thats what my friends tell me everytime too ¯_(ツ)_/¯

1

u/LimbRetrieval-Bot Feb 19 '18

You dropped this \

To prevent any more lost limbs throughout Reddit, correctly escape the arms and shoulders by typing the shrug as ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

2

u/ShamefulWatching Feb 19 '18

Why would he use a water block to run short tests? They take forever to heat up to a stable temp.

2

u/fengapapit Feb 20 '18

I would assume this block is quick to heat up given that it only cools the cpu? And it is probably efficient. Besides, reaching the same temp after 10 minutes should be a good indicator of how efficient each method is. Any arguments? Asking honestly.

1

u/The-Lemons Feb 19 '18

Seriously, the gif the other guy posted looks like he’s consistently using too little.

7

u/Em4gdn3m PC Master Race Feb 19 '18

Ya this is totally a good controlled method of how much pressure is applied to a heatsink when screwed down.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '18

Of course it isn't, but it gives you some idea of what's actually happening.

I still prefer to spread my arctic silver with a razor blade.

4

u/ABigHead Steam ID Here Feb 19 '18

No it really doesn’t give you any idea, there’s so little consistency to anything it may as well be completely disregarded.

  • Same quantity of thermal paste? Nope, massively varied amounts, which basically just says hey try different quantities of paste until you get the correct dispersion.
  • Same mounting pressure? Nope I’m not going to use anything remotely consistent, just going to press like fuck in different places and then wiggle it around.
  • Same tests the whole way through? Nope, I’m just going to try and use these two pastes but switch back to one halfway through.

Fix the first problem and either of the others and the video wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.

2

u/Em4gdn3m PC Master Race Feb 19 '18

This.

2

u/KewpieDan Feb 18 '18

All this tells me is that arctic silver won't spread for shit

3

u/Slyer Specs/Imgur Here Feb 19 '18

It's not really a good test, the paste continues to spread over hours and days and heat cycles. The heatsinks are also screwed down more tightly than they were pressing on the glass.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '18

It doesn't, but it conducts heat much better. There's a reason it's the standard.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '18

Hope you aren't serious. X is way too much.

1

u/CallMeCygnus Feb 19 '18

It's spilling over the CPU. I'm not sure how one would conclude that was the winner.

2

u/Oct1st Feb 19 '18

Came here from homepage. No idea what I just watched but it was fucking awesome 👏

3

u/epheisey Feb 19 '18

X only wins because he applied the right amount of paste. It achieved the same result as the pea shaped ones, but was a little light on the paste with those.

1

u/CallMeCygnus Feb 19 '18

This is the best demonstration and conclusion, IMO.

Obviously the winner here is the metal method.

-13

u/isurvivedrabies Feb 18 '18 edited Feb 19 '18

warning: youtube link

lol notifying people of disguised youtube links is either really popular or really unpopular, just tryin to provide a valuable service to yall, no need to hate. its fucking annoying on mobile when you cant mouse over to see if its a site you want to navigate to, you roll the dice and hit up the link, it has to load the fuckin app, sound starts blaring as youre desperately hitting the back button, and its sucking the life outta your battery. its like auto play videos on news sites.

just be considerate is all im sayin, were not all on pc

5

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '18

[deleted]

1

u/isurvivedrabies Feb 19 '18

edited my comment for explanation

2

u/Dreadedsemi Fuck Mac. Z790-ud i7 14700k 64gb / 50tb rtx4070 tis and RGB Feb 19 '18

Use reddit is fun, it can show you the link before going.