question about putting thermal paste/grease on

[vapintiger]

when I apply Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut on my i7 9700k do I make it level?

and do I also need to put it on my all in one this is the one I have Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML360R

[Skiiwee29]

Liquid metal as a stand alone Thermal paste is not really a recommended application. Its best served for delidding applications. You would be best to get a proper grease like Kryonaut or MX-4 or similar compound over using Liquid metal as the paste. 

[mobilewall]

On 12/5/2018 at 9:50 PM, vapintiger said:

when I apply Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut on my i7 9700k do I make it level?

and do I also need to put it on my all in one this is the one I have Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML360R

Liquid metal needs to be applied to both surfaces, if you are delidding that would be the cpu die and the underside of the the IHS.

Spread it so it covers 100% of the die, and the area it would contact on the underside of the IHS.

I wouldn't bother putting it on the top side of the IHS between it and your water block.

You are more likely to remove it and regular paste is easier to clean.

[pstarlord]

To answer the OP, when you apply liquid metal, yes you want to spread it out evenly.  Put a dab on the middle of the die, and use one of the fancy black q-tips to spread it around to an even, thin film.  You then want to repeat the process on the heat sink.  

 

BUT, like has been explained by others, doing this to cool a desktop CPU isn't necessarily advisable, because if the conductonaut comes in contact with almost any part of your system other than the die and the heatsink...bye bye system. The best option is do delid the CPU, and use the liquid metal on the inside. 

[Skiiwee29]

2 hours ago, quakeguy81 said:

Many people just use the grain of rice method (you put a drop of thermal paste on the center of the CPU heat spreader the size of a grain of rice), and the thermal paste spreads as you attach the heatsink.  Some people use the cross-method to apply thermal paste.  Watch some YT on the subject if you need visual help.

Conductonaut is a liquid metal, so while your methods outlined would work for a normal paste, it will not work with a Liquid metal application.