Got the HP Z420 Water Liquid Cooling Fan Heatsink 647289-001 647289-002 647289-003

[Tony_atfpodcast]

What is the best method of the thermal paste with this and the Xeon e5-1620v2?

This is the cooler..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z420-Water-Liquid-Cooling-Fan-Heatsink-647289-001-647289-002-647289-003/...

Some say a single dot with enough to cover the cpu and somw say the spread method.

[Brian1965]

Hi Tony,

I would recommend a good quality thermal paste such as the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste. Most of the 'CPU grade' thermal pastes available on the likes of Amazon and eBay have a thermal conductivity of between 4 and 6W/m/K, (e.g. Cooler Master = 4.5W/m/K). And by 'most', I mean about 99.5% of the thermal pastes on the market. In comparison, the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste has a thermal conductivity of 12.5W/m/K, effectively removing heat from the CPU at a much faster rate, more than double the rate in fact. Ironically, the Grizzly thermal paste is not that expensive - less than half the price of some of the branded pastes that only have a 4W/m/K thermal rating.

With regards to applying the thermal paste to the CPU, ideally you want a thin and even coating across the entire CPU surface. Personally, I apply a line of paste, (or a couple of small dots of paste), to the back of the CPU and use a spreader before I install the heatsink.  If you only apply a single dot of paste to the CPU, and the heatsink surface is not perfectly parallel to the back of the CPU when installing, then there is a good chance that the paste won't spread evenly, or reach the edges. I have also seen quite a few people applying the paste in an 'X' pattern on the back of the CPU, which certainly helps the paste to spread more evenly when installing the heatsink. The CPU lid and CPU heatsink have very high thermal conductivities, e.g. >200W/m/K, so using too much thermal paste will not only hamper heat removal from the CPU, it also increases the risk of the conductive paste contaminating around the CPU socket, (possibly damaging the motherboard).

If your feeling a little cautious or apprehensive, then I would recommend watching a couple of youtube videos first.