I've tried the rice grain method and it doesn't work well. Like what our forumers has said, a lot of TIM will just go into the grooves. You'll find that it doesn't spread out nicely, and the side heatpipes don't get much TIM at all.

Furthermore, if you attempt to put more TIM in the middle, you'll end up with a thick paste in the middle, causing less contact....

For me, I just apply a thin line of TIM on all 3 heatpipes. Maybe a blob on the aluminium plat too. When I remove the HSF after a while, I noticed that it does cover the proc and based of the HSF evenly.....

This post has been edited by kmarc: Apr 7 2008, 07:41 AM

So sorry... didn't take any pics..... maybe next time...

Search for Arctic Cleaner in the CPU section....

So it is confirmed. The Xigmatek S1283 HDT is the best value air-cooler at the moment.....

Take a look at this. Tom's Hardware did an extensive review of many many MANY cooling solutions and gave the Xigmatek the "Recommended Buy" award. Performance-wise, it is almost as good as the king of air-coolers, the IFX-14....

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-co...ts,1967-12.html

This post has been edited by kmarc: Jul 11 2008, 10:31 PM