Why I stopped using thermal paste spreaders after a job in Austin

I used to be all about those little plastic spreaders for thermal paste. Figured they made things more precise, you know? But last month I was doing a build for a guy in Austin who runs a small video editing shop. He wanted his Ryzen 5900X kept cool for rendering. I used my usual pea-sized drop and a spreader, and his temps were hitting 85C under load. He was not happy. So I re-did it with just a dot in the middle, no spreader, and temps dropped to 75C. The spreader was actually pushing the paste uneven, creating air pockets. Now I just let the pressure from the cooler do the work. Has anyone else ditched the spreaders for good?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_ross5d ago

Loads of people I know just squeeze it on and send it.

amy8582d ago

Loads of people I know just squeeze it on and send it" - yeah, that's what I used to think too. But I dunno, a few degrees here and there, is it really that big of a deal? I mean, 85C under load on a 5900X isn't terrible, that chip is built to run hot. Sounds like that guy was just being picky about his video rendering rig. I get that you want it to be perfect, but sometimes I think people overthink this stuff. A little air pocket here or there, your CPU's not gonna explode.