This is not even funny,because this is correct (not much heat transfers though)
Some chips use this,for example pmic(power management ic),switching chips etc...
he must have had one tube of paste for this testing and didnt want to run out. ive always dont the dot and when/if i pull the heatsink off it fully covered
there was a youtube channel that did dozens of tests, I can't remember the channel but in the end they basically said, for these sized chips there is no incorrect way.
It's not until you get to threadripper or larger that things like a dot weren't acceptable anymore.
Put it on how you want, there is no wrong way to apply.
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u/richajf9800X3D|32GB|4090 Suprim Liquid X|AW3426DW|48" LG C1|FrameJul 29 '26
They also forgot that thermal paste gets more liquid under heat and will often cover the whole thing after being under load. Pressure isn't a good measure of coverage without heat.
You jest, but the last PC I assembled, I decided to go full-autism mode and turned Children of the Omnissiah on a loop while I was working, and of course the thermal paste pattern I chose was a cog.
Owner of the PC is surface-level Warhammer enjoyer (aka, she's not too deep into the lore, but she gets most faction's memes), and was fully on board with my methods.
That CPU's never been much above room temperature since assembly. Granted, we chose an overkill radiator for the TDP required, but I chose to think the Holy Cog helped
As long as the correct amount of incense was burned and the tempered glass anointed by holy oils and the Chant for the Consecration of a New Machine performed properly
But they also measured each of them afterwards or where does the temp stats comes from? They surely didn't run it like this, it would be way hotter without a cooler.
Regardless, it kinda mimics GNs testing on paste application. X is still the superior method if you are lazy to spread things out. I just use thermal pads now
I have been using the X method for near 30 years, pulling the cooler blocks showed me a long time ago it's the superior method. Need overlap in the center though, helps to fill to the edges just perfect.
PTM7950 never look back TBH. no mess and has excellent thermals. My GPU loves it and runs several C cooler than stock. Not that 8t matters much with the low TDP that 3060ti has, but still great for longevity.
Sadly yes, there are plenty fakes out of the genuine Honeywell PTM7950. A good alternative is the stuff that ThermalGrizzly offers. Have it on the watercooled 9900k. Maybe a C hotter than the MX4 when new.
You can buy from LTT or Thermal Grizzly, both have the real PTM stuff (just repackaged). Honeywell doesn't sell to consumers, so that's why it's hard to get.
But according to those numbers, the max difference is 5°C. That's just barely enough to be significant, and we don't know if there are any other variables they didn't account for.
big IF, but if the test is proper, it would likely matter more for overclocks. reality is that we shouldn't overthink it, but the X patter is the most efficient if you are not willing to spread it
I always thought that this thing "what paste pattern should you use?" on the internet was and is stupid. Use a spatula to smear paste evenly and stop playing with your genitalia
Having laid plenty of tile in my time and knowing the reason that the thinset is applied using a notched trowel is to allow air a way to escape instead of forming a pocket, I would never do the 'spread evenly' method on the off chance a bubble might get trapped because of a low spot. X pattern every time for me.
The problem is not the dot itself but apparently they used less paste on the dot. Otherwise, it would have covered the whole area like the other methods. However, with not enough paste applied they only covered about half of the CPU's surface as seen in the video - this can easily lead to the 5°C difference.
I always like the Dot method, however if im gonna do that method im not gonna make a tiny little ball. I'm going to make a full sized pea that i am certain will squish with the cooler and make a good enough coverage
There can be a few situations that I can think of where that might happen:
A) Didn't use enough paste.
B) The cooler has a low pressure mounting system (and didn't do the obligatory wiggle).
C) The test was done right after mounting the cooler, without a few thermal cycles for the paste to settle.
D) Cranked one of the screws all the way before touching the others, pushing most of the paste to one side.
I've seen paste (on a direct die) migrate from the center dot to entirely outside of the die in a week, raising temperatures by over 10°C.
There is no way a properly applied center dot can't spread to the entire IHS.
(BTW I'm team center dot and then clean the tip of the syringe on the 4 corners)
If it was a reliable 5° difference then it would not be pointless, but the real heat-sink pushed every single one of these tests to the exact same state, as a single rice corn is enough since there is a lot of pressure.
Again same shit. The force applied with hands is nowhere near that of actually installing the cooler. Knowing that seeing them showing with hand ignoring "scientific" principles, the huge differences in temperatures are probably testing errors.
What a diagrams and pattern you making with paste, JUST COVER FULL CPU SURFACE WITH PASTE. Use finger cot or just piece of cellophane for beauty full covering.
Yes but the reason coolers are screwed down is to apply massively more mounting pressure than someone pushing down a glass slide.
So unless whoever made this did the patterns again and mounted whatever cooler without it being pressed down by a slide first, the results are kinda worthless.
That being said, cross is the best method now that we have cores and chiplets spread out across the entire CPU
I always do spread. I'm not gonna drop a random portion of paste on it and literally hope for the best. I cringe so hard when people just slap shit on chips randomly and not doing full coverage properly. Even with X I'd have doubts it covers entire IHS. And you want it fully covered so it makes most contact with the cold plate of the cooler.
The mounting pressure supplied by the use of fingers is nowhere near the amount of mounting pressure that your cooler will provide - there is a reason why Intel CPUs were suffering from the PCB/socket bowing under said pressure. The CPU paste application really doesn't matter as long as you have enough paste on there as the clamping pressure from the cooler will squish it all out across the IHS and squeeze any excess out.
Seems like the middle blob method would have worked with a bit more. I'm never trying to conserve the stuff and it's not difficult to clean up if you go a little overboard.
So thermal grizzly is on to something with that cool little shovel. You can screw onto their tubes. I buy them just for that little thing. It's so neat
None of those are accurate representation, the cooler puts much more pressure than what your fingers could ever achieve.
The goal is to spread the paste as thin as possible, you can put a lot, the excess will be pushed out anyways
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u/Ture-Skrotnisse Jul 29 '26
I use the whole tube. Can't even read my temps it's so cold. Checkmate