Why does nobody talk about the difference a proper thermal paste spread makes?

Had a gaming rig in the shop last week. Client complained about random shutdowns. Opened it up, saw the old paste job. Looked like someone put a tiny pea in the center and just slammed the cooler down. Temps were hitting 95C under load. Cleaned it off, used a spreader tool to get a thin, even layer across the whole IHS. After that, max temp was 72C. Night and day. What's the dumbest thermal paste application you've ever seen?

4 comments

4 Comments

ray3562mo agoProlific Poster

My first build I just did a single dot in the middle. Figured it was fine. Seeing a 20-degree drop after properly spreading it was a real eye-opener. I don't skip that step anymore.

elliot_gibson272mo ago

Yeah, I saw a video showing the same thing, crazy difference.

the_claire2mo ago

My buddy used toothpaste once, said it worked for a week.

torres.thea1mo ago

Oh man, I used to totally be in the "just a pea sized dab is fine" camp. I figured thermal paste was mostly marketing hype and a little bit would do the job. But then I swapped out my cooler and actually watched a few breakdowns, and it clicked. The difference with even coverage vs a dot is way bigger than I thought, especially on bigger chips. Now I spread it myself or at least do a cross pattern, and I actually check temps now. It makes me cringe remembering my old builds with that tiny dot.