Macbook pro thermal paste application

wakkawa

So trying to fix an overheating macbook pro. Cleaned it, and am now ready to apply some artic silver5 to this thing.

But, how much? All these different guides either show a super tiny amount, or to glop that shit on:

Thin layer:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-Thermal-Paste/744/3
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=199840

Glopped on:
http://www.asktris.com/?p=774

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=298413

Naturally, I'm pretty sure those last two are wrong.

MegaMan001

Each thread describes the same problem - they have far too much thermal paste applied and the components are not pushed together tightly enough. The latter two articles are not instructing you to put on that much, but rather are scans of the official MacBook Pro Manual which tells you do to that (which is wrong). One thread even links to the Apple admission that it was an error in production.

Regardless, you do not glop it on. A thin layer either spread via you finger in saran wrap or a credit card is really all you need.

Echo

Incidentally, I reapplied some paste to my video card today. Used a blob about the size of a gain of rice, and even that was too much. Used a razor blade to spread it and get it smooth and thin.

illig

thermal compound must be applied in a very thin layer to be effective... its purpose is to fill in the microscopic (and some not to so microscopic) scratches only. There should be as much direct metal on metal contact between the CPU and heatsink as possible. For some reason people use it like butter, and slather it on which actually hurts performance.