When applying Tim

Using the card to force a bit of TIM into the imperfections is called tinting and is done more often than you may think, especially on coolers that have direct contact heat pipes. Those usually have a little crack between the pipe itself and the base the pipe is embedded in. Tinting fills in that crack (along with any other microscopic pits, etc.), eliminating any metal to air to metal interface.

One can avoid killing the CPU's warranty by lapping only the cooler. That is the surface that is usually the roughest (relatively speaking) and can usually benefit the most from lapping. Coolers are far less expensive than CPUs and voiding the warranty on the cooler will have much less of a financial impact if things should go pear shaped.

While most people will not benefit enough from all that, it could make the difference between a functional PC and a toaster in marginal cooling situations or when one thrashes the living snot out of the CPU.

That was one of the six things I do know. Now, what were the other five?

Lava King said:

Lady Fitzgerald said:

That was one of the six things I do know. Now, what were the other five?

May I help?

List of things you know:

1. Meaning of the word "tint."
2. The fact that you know six things.


Only four to go! :)

Thanks! I've been up all night wondering about the five. Now it's only four. Old age sucks!

The way I do it is, first I take the CPU itself and warm it up a bit by putting it on my lap. Well first I put ceran wrap around my lap then place the cpu *pins pointing up* and leave it there a good 5 mins, so my cpu is a nice warm room temperature. I then place it in the mobo and use the *2x rice sized dot in the middle* and wait about 1 minute for it to settle, then I apply the heatsink on top, twice once to the left and once to the right * very slight twist..like 10-15 degrees or so* and screw it on. I have never had temperature issues, and when I remove it eventually, the paste looks to have been spread evenly all around the cpu without any indication of air bubbles.