Tried a new thermal paste method on a gaming rig and the temps dropped 15 degrees

I used the pea method on a Ryzen 7 for years, but last month I switched to the spread method with a plastic card on a similar build. The spread gave way better contact and the CPU now idles at 35C instead of 50C. Which paste method do you guys think is best for modern chips?

4 comments

4 Comments

john5061mo ago

You mentioned the spread method giving better contact and that's the key point. Modern chips have heat spreaders with tiny gaps that the pea method can miss. Spreading it thin with a card covers the whole surface evenly. I switched to spreading after seeing thermal images of bad coverage with the pea. It takes an extra minute but you get full contact every time. For any chip made in the last five years, spreading is just smarter.

andrew_shah1mo ago

Exactly, those thermal images don't lie. Saw the same thing and it convinced me. The pea method leaves dry spots on modern IHS designs. I spread it now every single time. Used to get weird temp spikes before. Now temps are even and solid. Just a thin layer with a card makes all the difference.

rivera.shane1mo ago

After seeing @john506's point, spreading with a card gave my rig much better temps too.

kimblack7d agoTop Commenter

Rivera, you're just enabling my bad habits here. Next thing I know I'll be using a thermal paste level to make sure it's perfectly flat. Guess I need to go buy some playing cards now since apparently my old credit cards aren't fancy enough for this job. At least it gives me an excuse to buy new thermal paste and redo my whole system for the third time this month.