Best Way to Apply Thermal Paste? Does it Even Matter? 

You asked for it....NO THERMAL PASTE TEST ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VAh_p90y_DU.html Remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE! Thank you everyone for the continued support!

You didn't use enough paste. I can clearly still see motherboard. Cover the entire motherboard, including the RAM. It wouldn't be a bad idea to cover the USB ports as well.

I never thought that Johnny Sins is also a PC guy.

As someone who has never done this before, your conclusion has definitely eased my mind. Put some thermal paste on it, make sure it's enough, and everything will be fine. Definitely a load off. Thank you for the video.

Despite this video being two years old, it’s still comforting. I built my very first pc last week and forgot about all application methods for thermal paste… but I still used thermal paste!! And not just a tiny dot either! My heart is at ease knowing I did it right! 😂

You forgot the bukake method that the Verge used 🤣😂

This guy saying "It'll be fine" in that calming voice is very nice to hear as someone who's almost constantly afraid to break the whole computer with my sheer presence

I've always heard buttered toast was the best back in the day. Been doing it that way ever since the Pentium 4.

Not being a tech person, I'm very happy to find your video, and want to say: Finally! A thermal paste demo that actually clarifies the most important considerations and helps me understand what I'm doing! Thank you! :)

Funny thing, I've been doing this a long time but I still revisit the topic every couple years. GREAT video. Clear and concise. Good job sir.

Pfft! Everyone knows the best way to apply thermal paste is to swallow a dollop and then regurgitate it onto the CPU lid. I call it the "Feedin' my baby bird" method.

I'm someone else who has not done this and will need to on my new build very soon. Thank you for the experiment! This definitely puts my mind at ease. It seems like there is so much controversy about this topic that makes people nervous that have never done it. When in reality its a simple process and no need to worry so much, just do it!

Gotta admire your commitment in testing those thermal paste combos. I was just curious on how to put a thermal paste properly. Now that I watched your vid, I learned a lot. You exceeded my expectations.

Facts over theory, I like it.

This guy is amazing. He also happened to be a computer guy. Nice one, Johnny.

Thanks for this detailed video. Since I don't rebuild my computer often, I always have the apprehension of how to apply paste properly. You have settled that matter for me in a satisfying way, once and for all! Thank you for showing me!

Congratulations! The RU-vid algorithms worked for you today! I watched about 6 videos straight and then subscribed. I enjoyed your format.

If this guy really is Johny Sins, i starting to doubt that white liquid on CPU was A thermal paste

He deserves a like for removing and placing pump 7+ times

Subscribing just for the amount of effort it must've took to make this video. Mounting/ unmounting applying thermal paste/ removing it with alcohol. 20+ testing 4 to 5 times Sheesh!! 😬 you have my respect 💯

I have always went with the peanut spread method earlier, but have decided to go with the penta dot on my Ryzen 5X 5600X CPU. AIO Thermal Take TH 360 ARGB Liquid cooling is going to be doing a better job than the prism AMD stock cooler. Thank you for this video!

True. took your advise and worked on my G750 cause its been 8 years past since I bought it. I chose Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, did the spread on both CPU and GPU, cleaned out the fans and their heatsinks, and well running good as new. Temps dropped to 15C, and now I'm happy. Thank you again for a nice video as well with your advise.

Refreshing to see a nice calm paced to the point video, looking forward to checking out more videos later on :)

Thank you so much brother, this video has taught me a lot about applying thermal paste. I also have the same CPU. I used to hesitate to put more thermal paste, but now I can relax and use enough thermal paste. Not worrying even if it spill out a bit. Thanks ❤

Thanks for the vid. Getting ready to do a new build and was going to go with a spread (I've used the dot for years), but now I see it doesn't really matter. Excellent examples showing the after application spread.

The reassurance that "it'll be fine" made me confident enough to do it!

They keep the grooves to get direct contact with the heatpipes, rather than adding more distance with an additional flat plate, as the pipes move more heat, faster, than solid metal. Did you consider filling (buttering/scraping) the bottom of the cooler plate just to fill in the gaps before applying, or using a cooler with a flat plate?

Love your tests. I remember when I was little I cleaned by PC and took the heatsink off. I replaced it like nothing happened and ran the PC like normal. Didn't even know i did anything wrong.

i imagine how much work it is, thanks for taking the time to inform the people! a good video! unlike many stupid shorts on the topic you just got a new subscriber

New sub. Great vid, super impressed. Puget systems & cisco all recommend the 'X' method. Used that since about 2013. Long term (2-4y) is where differences will show in terms of temps. This is where using quality *paste* matters. Using 20% more than you think you need (EXCL liquid metal) is a good idea for business systems.

As long as you use enough paste to cover the cpu without the paste running down onto the motherboard it really doesn't matter what method you use. What does matter is the more even the pressure applied as you secure the cooler to the motherboard, the more even the thermal paste spread will be....

I really appreciate your video. I'm building myself a higher end gaming PC and it's sitting on my counter waiting for me to install the cooler. I wasn't sure which method to use so I've been searching for a while. I'm definitely more comfortable, I can go down and actually finish the build

This is best and most professional video i've seen regarding this topic, well done.

I just had to reapply some thermal paste for the first time in 4-5 years so thanks for the informative and well made video bro!

you underestimate how much I min max my shit in every video game I play and I will absolutely be using the Penta Dot method and I will stab people without warning in its defense

Just came across your video, thanks very much! Im gearing up to my first PC build and this was one of the areas I was just not clear about. Excellent presentation. Subbed!

I had never thought of or seen the buttered toast method before and like that one the best and use it with no worries on all my installs from now on. I don't use that much pressure with a card like you did to let the plate pressure work out the excess and it works very well.

it used to be much more important in the days of the original Athlon and Pentium 2/3 when you'd put the cooler directly in contact with the silicon - the risk of creating an air bubble and then have that area of the chip overheating were high. Ever since most chips started coming with a heat spreader, the risk has gone down.

I thought it didn't matter too much, thank you for confirming man!

that video actually will help me. Like, now I don't have any doubts on how to apply the thermal paste. Thanks for explanation.

Good job testing this. I'm about to do this for the first time, and this was very informative.

The only thing I find truly remarkable about this is the number of times you uninstall and reinstall your cooler without praying to god that the computer will turn back on

The issue here being long term when the thermal starts to dry up (especially with cheap/crappy thermal pastes). Penta Dot/Butter Toast method means more contact points so would probably be more reliable in the long term.

This video is just great.....I've seen some weird thermal paste masters who say you must do this way and must not on the other way. Your conclusion, it doesn't matter if pasted enough, relieved my mind. Thank you so much!

you deserve a way more followers/ subs, bro! Keep it upp you do what no one does! Amazing work, thank you for such experiment! ^^

"It doesn't really matter" *Guy who is .5c away from thermal throttling (sweats nervously) XDXDXD

love how you make the video and use the scientific the method to compare the different ways to apply the thermal paste. However I think that we should also consider the long term repercusion of each method. Maybe the thermal paste gets wasted earlier if you use the dot application rather than the 5 dots or something like that. Again, great video!

Really appreciate the time you took I was sorta stressing about getting full coverage.

This video is the answer of my questions...heap on my mind thanks brother your effort is highly commendable...

I used a pea on a 5600g. I was testing parts, and the spread was fantastic using older cooler with the copper slug. Given the 5600g is a monolithic die it had great coverage.

Very nice video, perfectly directed and edited. This guy has talent.

I watched 5 videos about this topic in a row and your video was the only on convincing. A lot of people, a lot of opinions, only one guy approving his methods. Good job 🙂

Interesting video. I don't want my rig running too high of a fever. Thanks for shedding light on the subject. ✌🏻

I do a % sign, a thin diagonal line with a dot in the 2 empty corners, pretty foolproof way to get a good result.

I'm an electrical engineer with over 25 years of experience (with power semiconductors). Simply put, use what you can control. In the case of a CPU, you can control what Nick calls (or perhaps someone else) "buttered toast" - this is the only way you can be reasonably certain (Schrödinger's paste?) is the cover the IHS and be certain the when you tighten down the water block/air cooler with *EVEN* pressure. PERIOD!

My question was for the first test of the big thermal dot and the pea-sized thermal dot at the last test. Thank you for answering it.

Thank you so much I did the spread method and at basic tasks, my fan speed at 70%, cpu was 100C, did the cross method and fan speed 30%, went down to 46C. Cross is the way

I prefer the "X" method on newer CPUs..... but i do remember the times i would thinly spread the thermal paste over entire IHS on P4 cpus. That method provided so much suction between the cpu and heatsink, the cpu would actually get pulled from its socket because it stuck to the heatsink.

This is how to do science, with great interpretation of results. Well done!

thanks for the post sir, I was concerned that I did not apply enough thermal paste on my machine. Even contemplating buying some more thermal paste and redoing it. My application looks like one of the methods you tested, and then I was convinced.

I personally do the corner dots with the center dot. I dont care if its better or not, but it does give me peace of mind

I been using a thin spread style since 360 RROD days, you had to apply it directly on the die. Just makes me sleep better at night knowing evey nano meter has some thermal paste crammed in there.

Ok I applaud you for taking the time to do this test. It certainly is a help. Personally I have been building PC since 98'. Been using the Butter Spread since 2003. The only diff is that I put masking tape around the edge of the CPU approx 1/8" overlap, all around, onto the die surface. Then apply a bit of paste onto the die. Spread with a credit card or plastic always keeping the edges of the card on the tape. Simply remove the masking tape when finished. In this way you can have a very uniform result without too much overkill on the paste. I have always had great results. Again, thank you for your time.

Really great video !! But like always, everyone forget to mention the best way to clean the stock paste that was on from factory. Another thing missing is that thicker pastes like the MX-6 have specific instructions for application, you put a big dot in the middle, then use a piece of glass to push it down, turn you install the heat sink

GREAT video thanks for sharing! I was wondering which method is better (thinking it might make big difference). I love when people DO & test not just imagine things and infinitely debate by just an opinion. SO now we can play and spread our thermal butter whatever way we feel like that day :)))

Just bought some thermal paste and was wondering about this. Very interesting to see that it makes almost zero difference how it's applied as long as you're using enough of it. Spreading in out across the entire CPU certainly seems like it would be the best way though as it's the most logical, although perhaps you'd want just a little bit more in the center for optimal effect if you're really obsessed with getting that extra less then one degree cooler, lol.

This is awesome man. Thanks. I subbed and followed your twitter 🥰

You just crushed thousands of videos regarding thermal past application. Great content!!

This video made me subscribe to you. Short, useful information, no blah, blah for 30 minutes. Practical.

Lord Johnny Sins with his thermal paste tips lmao !

You call yourself tech illiterate but your academic methodology skills are far better than most academic staff. Thank you for these perfectly scientific videos.

Great video, Nick thanks so much. Cleaned my PC and forgot to use thermal paste wanted to refresh myself on application method.

I'm working on first build and I needed to know this. Thanks!

I used to spread it out (and I've never bought thermal paste that didn't come with a spetula, so it made sense), but I switched to the dot because it's less work and makes no difference. However, given that I'm currently reinstalling the slightly bigger brother of your test CPU I might try the penta dot for a change.

Stumbled across this video right before first build. 5900x idles at 33-39c thanks for the video. Subbed and continued success man.

very informative. I do the butter toast method. Since I've been taught this way back in 1998.

Thank you very much for this insightful investigation. I helped a lot to disperse doubt how to properly apply thermal paste on my cpu.

I found it good to fill the gaps or grooves between the heatpipes on the cooler (GPU), then the the butter method on the GPU. Otherwise it probably wont fill the grooves, depending on the cooler if there actually are grooves...

You are to computers what Project Farm is to engines, glues and oils.

You've put my mind at ease. as long as there's something on there it'll be right

Great stuff man! I've been a Systems Engineer for just over 25 years and had to buy some new CPUs which required upgraded heatsinks for a server, and the thermal pads on one of the heatsinks actually had a fingerprint it! Clean it with 90% isopropyl and apply some new paste, right? Well, I've used "buttered toast" forever, I've always been curious as to what the best method is and you have laid that to rest. Thank you, sir!

I personally do my own method "The spread x dot combo". This way the entire heat spreader is covered and the extra dot will prevent any air bubbles from getting trapped from a potential concave in the heat spreader.

the best method is a thin layer specifically covering the die of the cpu, when you put the heat sink on it should spread almost to the edges of the cpu without seeping through

As someone kinda new to pc buidling, this helped me a lot. Thanks.

Great video, thank you. Before I had an AIO I had a Titan Fenrir which had heat pipes that directly in contact with the CPU much like your cooler. I noticed the small ridges in the surface so as well as buttering the CPU's toast I spread a thin layer on the cooler base plate; the idea being the paste would get in to the cracks and get rid of any air that may get trapped. No idea if it actually made any difference, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'll definitely be using the buttered toast with a blob of jam on top, as suggested in your other video.

My understanding is that the function of thermal compounds is to fill the tiny surface irregularities in the IHS, and NOT to create a thick thermally conductive layer between the cooler heatsink and the CPU. Arctic advises that a rice grain-sized dollop properly applied (to the smaller Intel die surface area) will spread out as CPU heating cycles cause it to migrate into an optimum thin layer. I'd like to see a test that puts the CPU through 20-30 heating/cooling cycles for each method. I bet the 'spread' would look quite different than after a single stress test.

I think the take away from this is that the plates are probably several sizes bigger than what they actually need to be so that they have a large enough area to accomodate the different amount of paste being applied to each model. Also the thermal conductivity of the paste is probably large enough for small variations in the cross section area to be negligible.

old school trick, you get a plastic baggy, use it as a glove, apply paste to baggy covered finger tip and dab the paste on the chip evenly with a very light coating. The goal is to fill in valleys and provide good contact and not cake it on to the point where it acts more like insulation. Great video by the way! I guess my method is more like the buttered toast method.

Thanks Nick, very thorough excellent production. 10/10

Very interesting! I was looking exactly for this. Having done thermodynamics courses, we learned the reasons and mathematics for thermal paste between heat sources and heat sink components. It would, in theory, be best to have the smallest layer possible spread out evenly. It was nice to see the results of a real-life test. I appreciate your commitment to this. -- Some explainations Well, we really just want the paste to fill the nanoscopic holes between our two metal planes. If the metal surfaces were perfectly smooth, there would be no paste needed, the paste is an awful heat conductor, it is just there to replace the pockets of air, which are even worse conductors. So the tiniest layer, spread out evenly will most likely work best, because the surface roughness on the processor top and a heatsink are very small, so a very thin layer will be sufficient to fill those holes. And you want it everywhere, so it fills the imperfection wherever it is. Moreover, What really matters, is the type of paste. There are multiple high thermal conductivity pastes, but they are very dangerous to work with, because they are electrically conductive, so watchout!

Probably also depends on the paste. Some pastes are more viscous than others and may not spread out as well under the pressure from the heatsink and may actually benefit from the "buttered toast" method.

Thank you for this service! You have saved current and will save future generations with just this one video. LOL Can you imagine all the anxiety and OCD on re-pasting the BEST YOU CAN only to find out that long as you hit the bare minimum of thermal paste for it to properly spread, it won't really matter?! KUDOS!

I did buttered toast... and a dot. It's good to see the comparisons. Looks like the most important thing is to have a good cooling system.

Wish you had done "no paste!". Thanks for calming me about the hardest part I've had in the one PC I built (destroyed first motherboard due to paste issues but that's between you and me). I think the takeaway is: "apply a reasonable amount of paste BUT don't let any get off the CPU cause that could cause issues".

Thanks for that, it was exactly what I was looking for!

I’ve been in the electronics industry for 45 years, now retired. I would go with the “buttered toast” every time. I’ve repaired every household appliances inc audio amps to computers. STK series of audio amplifiers chips get pretty hot.

I'm the "slim smaller rectangle" guy. The die is well covered and the excess paste is getting pushed to the sides, but not over the edge.

For beginners, I would probably reccomend the spread method, I feel as if that would help people get used to how much they actually need

Tu vídeo me quitó muchas dudas! Muchas gracias. Saludos desde Lima Perú

Great review and tests. I have always wondered for many years, how much or too little affected the CPU.