The BEST way to apply thermal paste?? 🤨  

I just paint mine. Perfect coverage every time.

I do the spread method like a real man

I use X pattern with 4 small dots in the open areas

If u tighten ur cooler down properly the pea size will spread over the whole chip.

"My go to is the balls and shaft" 🤣 had me dead

Dude, put the cooler on with the acrylic sheet and then test them. That’ll be the most accurate, and you’ll see that the results will be a lot closer, if not the same

or u put a thin layer using a spreader. guranteed full covered 👌

So the x and very small dots in between should get you near 100% coverage right?

The best way is to spread yourself, perfect coverage granted every time

You guys are the definition of “he’s probably out there cheating” and i absolutely love it lol

If I bought the whole tube, I use the whole tube

I use kryonaut and spread it. Highly recommend thermal grizzly ❄️🤝🏼

When you fully tighten a cooler it does much more pressure than your hand. Even with a smaller amount than the pea just from tightening it’ll eventually cover the full IHS

This was a brilliant way of testing and giving us a direct visual result. Thank you. I’ve been a one line two dot man but will now convert to an x man.

Mine is X with dots on each side. I think it's the best option that resolve all the problems with other patterns

I say that a X & dot combo would work really well

Dot is fine for an IHS that is perfectly square (same length and width), the reason why you are not getting good coverage is because you can’t archive the same pressure just pressing down on it with your hands, as a cooler would be able to. For intel’s oblong IHS a line from top to bottom will be fine.

3 horizontal lines work great

spread manually, you take 3 minutes max and you make sure it's enough, it's thin, it cover the entire ihs and if you live about half cm on every side even if you squeeze the cooler to the max it doesn't spill over on any side

center dot would be good, just install your hsf tightly, it would spread by itself nicely

do a square which is not in the edge or middle then do a dot in the middle

Ya line on left side then spread it out works perfectly always

Heat also helps it spread. Pea size, don’t tighten it down where you can’t back screws off, run it for a hour stress testing and then tighten cpu cooler completely down. You’ll find this method gives you complete coverage every time. The only time you need to alter than pattern is with larger IHS cpus such as threadripper, epyc, xeons

X with 4 little dots is 100percent coverage

Why not pre-apply a really thin layer to aid in the spread of the main lines and then do the x, for almost 100% coverage.

Dont use a pattern. Just spred it by hand… patterns are for systemintegrtors in a hurry Business

A square with a dot in the middle, absolute best for near 100% coverage with minimum spilling

X and 4 dots for full coverage

dot is the best 100% always coverage sometimes little more extra

If you’re really patient, you can also apply a decent amount on one side, then use the plastic spreader to coat it like jam on bread.

X + small dots between each side. Covers the whole thing without needing to paint it on, never comes out over the sides if you use the right amount.

Spread it out put the cooler down to get the tension on the cpu take the cooler off put slightly more on to make up for the air pockets

The asterisk gets you 100% coverage

What if you do a little square in the middle? The circle expands into a bigger circle so maybe the swuare will expand into a perfect square

its almost like adding more makes it have more spread

Make a squre in the mid area of the cpu and a snall dot in mid thats what i do to get the best coverage

Divide sign was better than expected

small x, 4 small dots centered at each 90 angle on the x. x with 4 dots around it basically, it covers my whole cpu without excess squeezing off

Amazing people dont realize how tight heatsinks are to the cpu heatspreader, they are literally screwed in for tightness. That pea sized ball is going to cover the entire heatsink without issue when the appropriate pressure is applied and the cpu heats up. Any more is going to be way to much, and when its too thick it doesnt give proper contact to the copper pipes

A center dot and a square gives about half to 3/4 of the way. It is the perfect coverage because if done correctly, there is no waste and everything is fully covered.

You don't actually need coverage to the very edge, there's nothing there. Good to know where the actual semiconductor dies sit under the lid and just achieve coverage there.

Use a spreader. Takes the guesswork right out of it and give perfect coverage 100% of the time

You start drawing edd sheeran album covers to get best results

The issue is it isn't just the coverage, but the thickness of application. You want a very thin layer.

X with dots on each side does wonders

Dude I was so confused on what was happening in the beginning

Why not two lines - about equidistant from the edge but with a space in between that is slighltly wider.

I use a pea dot get a thermal camera and check the heat on the die it doesn’t heat up evenly doesnt matter if the whole die isn’t covered

I use a dot. You don't need much. You want the cooler to make as close contact with the IHS as possible.

4 little dots to corners and 1 big to middle try it

Dot works fine for coverage just depends on how much you use.

You earned my like just from the end part😂😂

I smooth it on like some peanut butter with my fingie

I spead it with a little circle motion never had a problem always have full coverage

I like the single, diagonal line.

The pea in the middle works fine as the pressure is greater than you can apply by hand .

make the dot in the center Twice as big and it will cover the entire CPU.

Balls and shaft is also a fan fav

the actual cpu dye thats under that cpu cover is in the middle so the dot is fine its covering the spots that get the most heat

The X with 4 dots! Always works for me.😊

3 horizontal lines ⬅️. It works very well

Just use the normal pea size dot I the middle, the reason why it didn’t have much coverage was due to a lack of pressure. When you put a cooler on it puts more pressure and evens it all out perfectly

I just use a fat glob right in the middle 😂

My pattern? Full coverage using a circular motion with the tip. It fully covers the whole heatspreader with no "overflow"

Triangle method 😎 just to be different.

Watched a video about which method is best and it seems it doesn't matter as kong as you have enough to cover the center for the nost part

Apply a proper mounting pressure and the blob will spread wider

Can you try a target

I use an x and get the excess off with 4 lil dots in the spaces.

I use the pre-applied small triangles from corsair

The small drop at the beginning and then wrap cling film around your finger and spread. It is then perfectly applied and you don't have to worry about it.

What about a square in the middle of the CPU? Thats obviously the best

i keep taking the cooler on and off and adding more till the whole IHS is covered

5 small pea dots sounds pretty good

Thin X with 4 dots works best imo. All my builds have been the same, and no issues ever!

You also have to realize the part that heats up a CPU is directly in the middle of the CPU. Ideally yea you want to spread it all over but in the center of it will do just fine. (I recommend the X)

Bro the first seconds sounded like a schizofrenics dream

I spread mine thinly and put a x on it but just thin to cover the air bubbles. Works perfectly fine. I cinema bench it and monitored temps

What about a big circle like the first one in the vid with 4 dots on the sides

try a square 25% in from the edge w a dot in the middle

Highly recommend the smaller and more central X, gets pretty much 99% of the cpu with none spilling over

Do a + with a point in each corner. It's the best

Spread a small layer and then a tiny dot in the center

Best method is the cake or buttered toast method. I spread a nice coating, and it’s perfect

No because if you own a Ryzen with 2 CCD’s located on the bottom of the IHS that’s the part that gets hotter so spread it like butter thinly the buy a good cooler or an aio with a offset brackets as so to cover those CCD’s and it keeps the CPU even cooler.

6 dots, always perfect.

X with a dot in all slots. Maximal 100% covering

X is the best and I love the funny essence of the video lol

X and 4 small dots filling it in

Empty whole tube, covers everything. Boom.

i always do a target, like one dot and a circle around it

The dot is simply the best. I build 3 pc for my siblings and maintain them once every year. There are a noctua cooler, a bequiet cooler and arctic cooler. The dot spread till the edge on every systeme every year

I just do a bunch of smaller dots across, as it heats up itll spread out too so

Why wouldn't you just use a spatula and spread it over the whole course? Why does it have to be a pattern

X and 4 dots is perfect

I go with the play it safe and do it right the first time and not waste time and spread a thin layer using a plastic card..

i cover everything then smooth it flat with the mini spatula i've saved from thermal grizzly... never a line, dot, esc. Cover it all Do it right the 1st time

Parallel lines would probably work best

When your test cpu is better than my actual cpu.... I'll trade you my R5 3600 for that R7 3700x hehe.

Don’t use a pattern, literally spread it with a little plastic spatular all over the cpu for 100% coverage while keeping it really thin, works everytime, running a 13900k and max gaming temp I’ve seen is like 55°c