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#thermalpaste#cpucooling#benchmarking

“Too Much Thermal Paste” – Benchmark of Thermal Paste Quantity

Gamers Nexus

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Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

3.2M views8 years ago1 recommendation

HardwareCPUs and computer architectureElectronics

Gamers Nexus benchmarks different thermal paste application methods and quantities to see if excess paste negatively impacts CPU temperatures.

We've all seen people say "that's too much thermal paste." Most the time, it turns out, they're wrong. This test benchmarks thermal paste application methods. Ad: EVGA's 19th Anniversary Giveaway is here: geni.us/NZnUrfn Article: gamersnexus.net/guides/3346-thermal-paste-application-benchm… We used Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (buy on Amazon): geni.us/XlYbZlO Our testing today focuses on thermal paste application quantities -- not necessarily application methods -- and looks at pea-sized dots vs. thin spread vs. larger blobs. Thermal paste application is much debated among YouTube commenters, and we think a lot of that is because it's something everyone has experience with. Our Modmat still has application guidelines on it, but those conform to simply whatever covers the IHS most efficiently. As far as quantity, as long as it's enough to cover everything, you're good to go. We even referenced Luke's LinusTechTips video from ages ago, which also tested this same comment. Buy the new GN Beer Glass: store.gamersnexus.net/products/cobalt-blue-tear-down-logo-pi… Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us: patreon.com/gamersnexus TIMESTAMPS - The Best Shot We've Ever Taken - Testing Methodology - The Big Blob Test - The Thin Spread Test - The Pea-Sized Dot Test - The Too-Much Test - Average Core Temperatures - Temperature Over Time Comparison - Conclusions from These Tests - Recapping Previous Content ** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! ** Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates: t: twitter.com/gamersnexus f: facebook.com/gamersnexus w: gamersnexus.net/ Editorial, Testing: Patrick Lathan Editorial, Testing: Steve Burke Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage.

Why it's here

1 person recommends this

What people say. Engineers point to this benchmark to debunk the myth that applying too much thermal paste causes CPU overheating.

simoncionon Hacker News • Recommends

On “One Startup’s Cooling Chip May Surge Processor Power”

> ...use as little of it as possible, to avoid adding thickness. You might be interested in watching this: < link to this video > and maybe also this: < link >. Do note that the videos contain graphs which summarize the findings.

mbellon Hacker News • Mentions

On “How to Improve MacBook Pro Performance and Thermals”

This is mostly urban legend. You have to really get ridiculous to apply too much thermal paste but you can use too little, so no reason to err in that direction in mass manufacturing. link to this video

KennyBlankenon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Severe thermal throttling discovered in Apple's M2 MacBook Pro”

…top people from overreacting and declaring a corporation (one famous for obsessively controlling its production chain) to be idiots. It did not have "10x the thermal paste needed." GamersNexus has solidly disproven the "too much paste causes overheating" myth. Excess paste just squirts out the sides, which is not a problem unless it is conductive: link to this video What caused people to really lose their minds was a screengrab that was claimed (with no evidence whatsoever) to be from the repair manual showing wildly inappropriate levels of thermal paste being applied. The screenshot was never confirmed and given the source - again, SomethingAwful - it was almost certainly not the repair manual or fact…

willis936on Hacker News • Mentions

On “Better PC cooling with Python and Grafana”

>You want to use as little paste as possible while fully covering the heat spreader. The data disagrees. Too much paste is fine; too little is not. link to this video