Which thermal paste application method is best?

[Mahbub]

Ok i have i7 9700k with a noctua nh u 12 s. My volt is capped at 1.23 and under prime 95 test it reached 77degree with avx disabled. Now i was searching around on reddit about temps when i noticed a guy that sad his temps dropped by 11 degree when he switched to the cross alplication of thermal paste method. I am having a hard time believing it. But m tempted to try the cross application method. i have done the pea method on mine. Is it worth for me to open up and try the cross method? Or should i leave it as it is..

[jaslion]

Steve at gamersnexus did a nice piece on this. The consensus: it doesn't matter. Just have enough on there and don't dump an entire tube on it. Not because the thermal performance would be worse but because it would make a mess.

 

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Every test I've ever seen comes to the same conclusion: It doesn't matter. 

 

There's not even any harm in using too much in terms of thermals, though it will make a mess. 

[GuruMeditationError]

I started doing both: covering the whole IHS with a very very thin layer and then puttng a small pea sized dollop in the centre to guard against getting air bubbles in the most important spot.

I've always thought covering the whole IHS logically was just inherently more thermally efficient, because more surface area is more effectively interfaced, but while I'm sure that objectively must be the case (because physics), maybe the difference in temperatures either way is negligible. I've not looked at it for quite some time at this point so I couldn't give you what I think might be a definitive answer.

[jaslion]

29 minutes ago, GuruMeditationError said:

I started doing both: cover the whole IHS with a very very thin layer and then putitng a small pea sized dollop in the centre to guard against getting air bubbles in the most important spot.

I've always thought covering the whole IHS logically was just inherently more thermally efficient, because more surface area is more effectively interfaced, but while I'm sure that objectively must be the case (because physics), maybe the difference in temperatures either way is negligible. I've not looked at it for quite some time at this point so I couldn't give you what I think might be a definitive answer.

The only time it really matters that you cover everything in a layer beforehand is in lower pressure situations or fragile situations (for example cpu's without a heatspreader).

[Poplar]

No thermal paste is the best thermal paste.