How to Apply Heatsink Compound

I am not truly sure if I should even write this short article about how to apply heatsink compound to a CPU or chipset. It is a fairly simple process. You can find cheap thermal compound just about anywhere, but I prefer artic silver because it is simply the best at transferring heat using a thermal interface material.

The big issue is people putting too little or too much heat sink compound on the computer CPU or chipset. For a CPU, you should put about the size of the lead pointing out of a pencil worth of CPU grease. It is around the size of a big ant. You can vary the size on chipset in comparison with size. You just don’t want the heatsink compound to drip outside of the computer CPU or chipset area when you put the thermal grease on. The excess thermal compound could damage other components, but it rarely does if that happens. It didn’t hurt anything on mine when I built my first computer. I swear I did everything I could possibly do wrong the first time. Oddly enough, that computer lasted up till the time I wanted to buy a new one 3 years later!