The discussions about the correct and optimal application of thermal paste on CPU or GPU are as old as the pastes themselves. Whether blobs, sausages, circles, dots or whatever shape – the fear of applying too much or too little paste in the wrong place is huge, especially among first-time users and newcomers. Reason enough for our community to think about an application aid that is as foolproof as possible and to test and optimize it in advance. And that’s exactly why the X-Apply was created.
My thanks go to DigitalBlizzard, who came up with the whole thing and, with a little help from an industrial foil partner and a few suggestions from me, got it ready for series production. Important in this context: A utility model has already been applied for, which explicitly describes the details such as optimized surfaces, individual handling and presentation or adaptation. The principle of the templates is not new, just the actual implementation. That’s why I will (have to) leave out certain details for the time being. I’m not going to market it either, but have at most established contacts and provided free advice, as I usually do with community projects. Then I’m always out, because it’s not my business. At the end of the article you will of course find the source of supply and the provisional price, but first let’s get to testing!
The initial situation
In the first comparison, we see the still naked (and very warped) CPU in the form of a Core i9-13900K, which I have limited to a constant 200 watts for the tests.
In addition, a be quiet! Pure Loop 360 in its original condition, which has been used quite often in the meantime, is used for cooling. Advantage: The mounting is in the middle of the long side and pushes the hump downwards. This turns a supposed 2-screw disadvantage into an advantage. Let’s call it a free feature.
Paste as a blob, cross or something else? It’s all the same!
I’ve tested all sorts of things, from a blob, to a cross, to the full surface and as a sausage. The latter performed better than the blob (80 °C peak) and similarly to the other variants (75 to 78 °C). But because of a delta of around 1-3 Kelvin (except for the blob), there’s no need to argue, bend your fingers or even change your religion.
What looked too thin on the CPU looks almost like putty on the coldplate of the AiO. Only that one side (and I had the same with the blob) hardly got any paste on it because the CPU is so strongly curved. However, the total amount is ok.
Now it was time to clean again and test the X-Apply, because that was the working name for the new part.
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