How much TIM do you buy at a time?

[Kayin]

Simple question, if you were gonna buy TIM, how much would you buy, and why? Do you buy only a little, or do you look for buckets?

[slaveofconvention]

I usually pick up half a dozen 2cc syringes at a time - I don't use it often so that lasts me a LONG time - I also tend to just pick up anything - I don't go specific brands because I don't overclock and the cheap stuff works just fine for my uses generally

[nevermind1534]

so far, it's been the 3-5g syringes, but I've been considering getting one of the monster sized ones for a while. The small ones still last a long time, though.

[msmrx57]

I ordered a 15 gram tube with my cooler when Xoxide was selling off their invertory because it was the best deal, and it'll last me a loooong time.

[Trace]

I have a TON. A 40G bucket, and then of course our Arctic Lumiere tube.

Also, my bro buys the 12 or 20G Arctic Silvers

[blueonblack]

I buy the biggest I can find in my price range, but given that my price range is usually minimal I normally end up with 3-5 grams.

[SXRguyinMA]

I usually only get the small tubes when I need it. When it runs out, I get more. I don't use it all that often though

[Diamon]

Last TIM I bought was a 4g tube of Arctic Cooling MX-3. Don't really need more then that.

[dr.walrus]

I buy a little tube every year or two, my computer(s) are always in bits, I don't know how I would be using more?! One should be sparing with the stuff.

Actually, I change aftermarket coolers about once a year, and I don't usually bother using different paste than comes on them. The stuff on my H50 keeps my 1090T under 60 at 100% load even overclocked to just above 4Ghz, but I use new paste on each and every re-seat

[mDust]

Even when changing out HSs frequently I've never needed anything but the smallest of tubes. Don't most TIMs have an optimal shelf-life anyway?

[x88x]

Got a biga** tube of AS5 about 6-7 years ago and it's not even close to halfway gone.

[farlo]

12g tube of as5 lasts me a loooong time.

[DynamoNED]

When I do have to buy TIM, I usually just clean out my local Radioshack's supply of Arctic Silver 5, which usually amounts to 2 or 3 3.5g tubes. As I mostly use stock heatsinks on my builds (most of which are for family email/web-browsing), I usually only need it when upgrading my gaming rig every 3 or 4 years. I still have two tubes left from my last run, if that's any indication.

[mDust]

After reading some of the responses here I think a better poll would be "how much freaking TIM do you apply between your chip and HS?!?" I still have a 2 or 3 gram tube of AS5 from several years ago and I've swapped out several CPUs, GPUs, HSs and waterblocks in that time-frame.
Just a dot will do it! Aim for 1-2 grains of rice guys...:)

[Diamon]

More TIM=better cooling! Use as much as you possibly can! :D

[nevermind1534]

After reading some of the responses here I think a better poll would be "how much freaking TIM do you apply between your chip and HS?!?" I still have a 2 or 3 gram tube of AS5 from several years ago and I've swapped out several CPUs, GPUs, HSs and waterblocks in that time-frame.
Just a dot will do it! Aim for 1-2 grains of rice guys...:)

Barely any. But I've found that Nvidia's heat shields aren't at all flat, so in that case, I have to apply way more than I feel comfortable with.

For My CPU (Q6600) with a V8, I'll see temps at around 16-28 C (depending on ambient temp) with no load and never any more than 40 C with a 100% load (that's with f@home running with no breaks). I applied the thinnest coat that I was capable of doing (I use a plastic bag over my finger to spread it out).


More TIM=better cooling! Use as much as you possibly can! :D

lulz

[Lothair]

On the Phantom Build I just used a pea sized dot, then I used an old gift card to spread it over the entire processor. After it was coated I ran a clean edge of the card over the remaining amount several times, removing nearly all of what was there. There was such a thin layer that you could just barely make out the lettering on the processor.

Let the beast run for awhile running a few things, placed my hand directly on the HSF (Frio) and it wasn't even slightly warm. It was as cold as when I first took it out of the box.

Granted, there are 8 case fans total. Two of which are mounted directly to the Frio. Another one exhausting directly behind the Frio. Two 200mm top exhaust fans. A front 120mm intake and two 120mm side panel fans. I couldn't fit the third 200mm side panel fan as the Frio is too monstrously large. I almost couldn't fit the memory in. You couldn't even fit a piece of paper between the bottom of the Frio and the memory sticks. lol

Anyways, yeah, you really don't need much thermal solution at all. Once it's all mounted, you couldn't fit even the thinnest piece of paper between the two pieces. So even the thinnest coating fills in the space.

[Kayin]

Thanks to everyone who posted, there was a reason behind asking all this. Expect a post in a few days' time explaining all...

[diluzio91]

TIM? i thought it was computer glue. :D