Don't make these thermal paste mistakes (how not to apply thermal paste)

In this video I'm showing you some of the basic mistakes to avoid making with your CPU thermal paste application. You might have made some errors when applying thermal paste without even knowing it. It's really easy to do frankly.

One thing is the traditional method of applying a "pea" sized amount of thermal paste to your CPU and then hoping your CPU cooler will squash the thermal paste out sufficiently doesn't work so well with modern CPUs which are more rectangular. As you'll see this can sometimes mean that the thermal paste doesn't entirely cover the CPU's integrated heat spreader and therefor you might find your CPU is runinng too hot in certain spots.

Many modern CPU coolers include pre-applied thermal paste, so you can just pop them on with the right mounting brackets and then happily get on with your life. But during the installation if you damage that thermal paste it can also cause problems.
The other thing to watch out for is accidentally ending up with a plastic sticker on the copper plate of the CPU cooler that could impede cooling. This is far too easy to do.

So I often recommend this...

- Download Cinebench and HWMonitor or HWInfo and run a benchmark with Cinebench
- Check benchmark score against "normal" ones to see if yours is significantly lower
- Check max temps to ensure CPU is not too hot (and GPU while you're there)

If you CPU is in the high 90s, then there might be a problem. A simple solution might just be checking the pump head thumbscrews are tight enough or checking the thermal paste has actually applied to the entirety of the top of the CPU.

Watch these videos:

Important downloads:

Specs of this build:
CPU - Intel Core i5-13600K
RAM - Crucial Pro 32GB Kit (2x16GB) DDR5-5600

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[Pork_eating_crusader]

A less messy way to spread the thermal paste is to use a nitrile glove and use your index finger to finger paint the thermal paste over the IHS.

[beanman]

After disavowing the method, yesterday I spread the paste over the top of my CPU. I used an old credit card and thermal grizzly. It seems to be working like a charm.

[csn]

Prawn! I have a big problem you NEED to fix!!! Your Channel profile picture is shifted to the left nooo!!!😭😭😭

[dauntae]

I built my first PC a few months ago and the things I was most concerned about were 1) dropping the CPU in correctly 2) cable management (ten fans and an LCD screen on my AIO pump, still working on this one) and 3) thermal paste application.

[techluvin]

OMG……..just apply thermal paste to the entire die and apply it as thinly as possible. This improves contact between the cold plate and die. The thermal paste only fills in the micro gaps. Overthinking this whole issue.

[doctorno]

Just re did a cpu earlier today. Noctua do a nice thermal paste package solution. Comes with thermal paste, cleaning wipes and a plastic cut out that fits am5 cpu for easy application.

[napoleon-skoc]

Got to change my thermal paste for the first time and looking for instructions

[Captain]

Seems to me you could use painters tape to cover up everything but the CPU so you don't have a giant mess to clean

[ungamer]

just putting pumpblock on cpu has much less pressure, so you got wrong thermal paste application, if you will screw bolts and get more pressure, the thermal paste will spread better and there will be a full coverage of thermal paste on cpu

[ATTACKMN]

I think it can also depend a lot on the paste. Something like Kryonaut that’s thicker benefits from getting manually spread but with something like Noctua’s solutions, I find I get better results using their recommended application method in their instructions. Difference is minor but still an improvement in my experience.

[jeremiahsimon]

I tried the existing compound on my NZXT AIO and it was overheating in the bios before even installing windows. I put aftermarket paste on it and it was fine after that.

[mrbp]

Got the h100i capellix xt and used the stock hexagonal shape thermal paste that they had on it. Gave it a nice little wiggle before screwing it in and had no problems at all with my temps..

[csn]

Also can you do a video on DDR5 Intel xmp/ AMD expo ? Like if expo works on Intel or xmp works on Amd? There are no videos explaining compatibility and how to change these things so i think it will help out a lot of people

[goorthiss]

I prefer to cut from the sheet and apply PTM7950 phase-change material.

[wolfwilkopter]

I never used the supposed "standard" method.
I'm always on the "spread that crap evenly over the entirety of the IHS" train and never use the crap things get delivered with.
Atleast for CPUs like my now 5800X3D.

GPUs is another Story, there a line in the middle at the longest extent and then screwing the cooler 1 side to the other and back and that with not to thin paste, usually gave me the best results.
I'm using MX-6 btw, especially on GPUs, but as it works a little better with everything above 100Watts+ compared to MX-4 for some reason, its also the Goto for powerhungry and hot CPUs now.^^

[Halda]

What's your view on original ILM bending 12th and 13th gen CPU's and causing worse thermal performence? Do you use derBauer bracket or stick to original ILM in your builds?

[Manic.miner]

Ok, just built an 13900k system with a 360 strix aio.

The thermal paste was already applied to the cooler by the manufacturer.

When I did my first tests using the software you suggested the cpu would consistently overheat 100’c, no overclock all standard settings.

I researched this and found quite a few people on reddit saying that there isn’t an aio that is capable of cooling this cpu and you should set the Asus multi core enhancements to “disable-enforce all limits” in the bios.

I did this and it worked I get a better cinebench score and stable temps.

My question being, is this true with the 13900k and am I restricting the performance by any noticeable amount, I feel I’m not but I’m not very experienced with this.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jaysvlog]

Can you recommend a mother board that fits an el gato and a 4080 card for amd I can’t seem to find good info

[diz]

My CPU started running hot last night and shut off, a few hours later and it was running in the high 90’s Fahrenheit from the start. should I try replacing the thermal paste? NZXT prebuilt with Ryzen 7 3700x & 3060ti

[AnotherAnonymousMan]

The spread method is elite. Come at me.