Does spreading suck that much?

Well even in the world of MOSFET technology that was just starting when I was in college even transistors substrates that have a negative temperature co-efficient are feeling the heat in todays electronics. Personally and on suggestion I use nothing that doesn't have Arctic Silver in the name

for what intel charges for their chips youd think they could give you a better TIM, i wonder how AMD's measures up

On another note, i use a different application method, i find spreading does result in air pockets, but the dollop method doesnt end up covering the entire cpu, i perfer to make an X in the middle, if you get the size right youll end up covering 90+% of the cpu and no air pockets.

Arctic cooling recommends dollop followed by pressure from the heatsink and rotating 10degrees to both sides presumably to cover any empty spots.

An interesting thing I found out years ago with my athlon xp was that multiple small dollops worked better than spreading or one dollop in the middle.


I wonder how the Zalman's paste stacks up to AS5 or AC-MX2. I prefer AC-MX2 myself for the non-conductivity and the lack of a burn-in time. They perform close enough but the AC is easier to work with.