How to properly apply the thermal paste to the CPU and GPU?

Q:How to properly apply the thermal paste to the CPU and GPU

A:As the heart of the computer, CPU heat is quite amazing.          

General CPU through the thermal paste to heat into the radiator, so as to achieve the purpose of cooling. When CPU heat is too high, system will occur blue screen, crash, restart and so on. So the CPU heat conduction becomes particularly important. So, when installing the cooling fan, it is best to apply the thermal grease between the heat sink and the CPU. The role of thermal grease is not just making the CPU produced by the heat quickly and evenly passed to the heat sink. Many times, the thermal grease can also increase the heat sink is not flat on the lower surface and the thermal contact with the CPU. And the thermal grease has a certain viscosity. In the case of fixed heat sink metal shrapnel slightly aging loose, the heat sink will not be separated from the CPU surface. It maintains the effectiveness of cooling fan.

What is the effect of the thickness of the thermal grease on the heat dissipation?

In theory, in ensuring that the CPU / GPU and heat sink surface gap can be filled under the premise of the thermal layer is the thinner the better. After all, from the thermal performance speaking, the thicker the thermal material will increase its thermal resistance.

How to apply the thermal grease to have a better effect?

This question should not have a standard. But there are some tips: The key is to smear, to be uniform, no bubbles, no impurities, as thin as possible. There are two way to apply it now. One is squeezing the thermal grease in the CPU / GPU and the other is  surface center, and then rely on the pressure of the radiator, the thermal paste squeeze evenly. Another way is to even apply the thermal grease to the CPU / GPU and other surfaces. The first method is suitable for smaller surface area heat source. The second method is more suitable for large surface area of ​​the CPU / GPU. But the second method of smear is easy to get impurities, so it may produce bubbles.

The most correct stop is:

1.First, you need to use High purity solvent（For example: High purity acetone）and lint-free cloth（like lens cloth）to clean CPU surface and the bottom of heat sink. Be careful don't touch the core and heat sink surface.（If you don't have acetone, you can use Ethanol.）

2.To ensure the area where the heat sink is in contact with the CPU, In the bottom of the radiator squeeze a certain amount of thermal paste.

3. Put your finger into the plastic bag, and then press and apply the thermal conductivity cream at the bottom of the radiator with your finger back and forth until the thermal conductivity cream is evenly distributed in the CPU contact area.(don't rub it with your fingers.)

4. Erase the thermal conductivity paste at the bottom of the radiator with lint-free cloth. At this time, it can be seen that the color of the area where the thermal conductivity paste was applied at the bottom of the radiator is different from that of other areas, indicating that the silicone glue has filled the gap of the base evenly.

5. With a clean tool (such as a razor blade or a clean knife), take a small amount of heat-conducting paste and place it in the corner of the CPU core (like the bottom left corner).Just a small piece, mind you.

6. Using a razor blade or other clean tool, start at one corner of the CPU core and apply heat transfer paste evenly throughout the core.For an ordinary radiator underside, the thermal conductivity paste is about the thickness of a piece of ordinary paper. If the radiator underside is bright and flat, the thermal conductivity paste can be thin to translucent.

7. Make sure there is no foreign matter on the surface of the radiator base and CPU core. Put the radiator on the CPU.Thermal conductivity paste should not be too thick, should not be too thin, thermal conductivity and CPU between no foreign matter.

How long does the CPU thermal paste need to be changed?

Thermal grease (silicone) is a liquid, but not moisture and other volatile substances. Basically, metal powder and silicone oil and other fillers are mixed. Among them, the liquid component is mainly used for the first time when the smear, so that metal particles easier to fill into the metal inside the gap with. After the first smear, basically 2 to 3 years as long as there is no loosening phenomenon no need to fill again.