Thermal paste plays a vital role in proper cooling of the CPU as well as the GPU. This has a very simple explanation, namely that we are talking about a material that facilitates contact and heat transfer between two surfaces, and this eliminates problems that can be caused by small unevenness and imperfections between the two surfaces.

It’s easy to understand, think for example what would happen if we let the IHS directly contact the processor or the GPU package, without any material in betweenwith the base of the cooling system. Any surface irregularity, nick or damage, no matter how smallwould greatly reduce heat transfer and this direct contact would ultimately be ineffective in keeping the temperatures of both components under control as heat transfer would jerky and much slower.

We already know why thermal paste is so important, but we must also remember that this material has a limited life and that over time it degrades and dries to a pulp. Before that happens, we need to proceed with its replacement, otherwise we will have serious problems with the temperature. When it comes time to replace the thermal paste, we have to dismantle the cooling system, which can be quite laborious in the case of graphics cards.

Once disassembled, we need to clean the old thermal paste before applying the new, but how should we do both? for cleaning It is best to use isopropyl alcohol., and for its application, the ball-in-the-center method is ideal when talking about CPUs, a method that I also apply to GPUs. However, a new analysis by Igors Lab confirms that for relatively large GPUs the centered vertical line method is more effectivebecause it improves temperatures by almost three degrees.

It’s not a big difference, and Igor himself says that the ball-to-center method is still perfectly viable for most GPUs, but why is the line method better? According to Igor, because this method enables better distribution of the heat-conducting paste by pressing the contact base of the cooling system so that it finally optimally covers the entire surface of the GPU case, which improves heat transfer. Interestingly, the worst method is to spread thermal paste evenly over its entire surface, which could be done with a small spatula, due to the compaction problem after installing the cooling system.