Guide to applying Shin-Etsu G751

[Jah Warrior]

Applying Shin-Etsu G751

Ok, so many of us have expressed an interest in this G-751 thermal paste, some of us also know what a royal pain in the arse it is to apply.

After several botched attempts at getting this stuff applied I have finally managed to find a foolproof method of applying this and gaining consistent results.

I am aware that the most commonly used method for applying paste is to put it directly onto the core, however for G751 this method is problematic as we are dealing with a very delicate component and the method of application that I will show you require a little brute force and I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to be bending any pins on a cpu or damaging the core, which is why I apply directly to the base of the heatsink.

For best results and ease of application I put the tube of paste on top of the TV for 10 minutes, by which time it has become much easier to squeeze out of the tube. I’ve read a lot about putting the past in plastic bags and placing in a bowl of hot water which I expect would give the same effect, but that seems like a lot of messing around when you have a heatsource to hand.

Anyways down to business…


1:- Once the heatsink is removed and before I clean off the old paste I mark up the outer edges where the core has made contact with the base of the heatsink, this is best done with a marker pen as illustrated. I make the marks lengthways. I then clean off the old paste.
Marking up

2:- OK so I have a cleaned up heatsink with marks at either end. At this stage I apply tape to the base of the heatsink. The tape must be aligned with the markings on the base as shown. The tape makes it so that while applying the paste it will only leave a wafer thin layer.
Taping up

3:- Now for the application of the paste, I squeeze the tiniest bit out of the tube, just enough to give a little blob. I then dab the paste onto the area where the core will sit. I repeat this until the entire core area is covered with little blobs as shown;
Application

4:- The next stage is the make or break stage, but with practice I’ve got this down to a fine art. I take my credit card or discount card and basically press it down onto the blobs, this fills the gaps between the blobs and also presses the paste into the imperfections on the base. As I do this I draw the card across the paste applying very firm pressure to really press that paste down into the base. You should end up with a long strip of paste which is the same thickness as the tape.
Pressing down
Spreading

5:- Next I whip the tape off and get ready to clean up the application ready for install.
Pre-Cutting

6:- Using my credit card I scrape off the excess paste from the areas where the core will not be touching the heatsink.
Cleaning up

7:- All that remains to be done is to stick that heatsink back on and wait for those temps to plummet
The result


Here are my results using this method:-

Day 1:-
Room temperature 28.5c
Cpu temp @ load 50c Delta:- 21.5c
Cpu temp @ idle 41c Delta:- 12.5c

Day 2:-
Room temperature 31.5c
Cpu temp @ load 48c Delta:- 16.5c
Cpu temp @ idle 40c Delta:- 8.5c

Day 3:-
Room temperature 29.5c
Cpu temp @ load 45c Delta:- 14.5c
Cpu temp @ idle 37c Delta:- 8c

The room temps are only within 1-2 degrees of one another but a clear pattern is shown, in that on the second day depite being 3c hotter in my room the temps had still dropped 2 degrees, and then on the third day when temps were a little cooler an overall 5 degree drop was evident. Unfortunately these results were obtained during a freak spell of hot weather, so draw what conclusions you may.

Here are my temps as they currently stand in “normal” weather
Day 4:-
Room temperature 23.5c
Cpu temp @ load 37c Delta:- 13.5c
Cpu temp @ idle 30c Delta:- 6.5c

For your reference here are the specs of the rig that these tests were conducted on:-
Athlon XP2600+ @ 217 x 11 2.389Ghz (1.78v)
Abit NF7-S V2.0 bios 1.4
2 x 256Mb OCZ PC3500 EL DC @ 2-2-3-4 (2.93v)
Thermalright SLK900u (lapped to 1500grit)
Enermax 92mm Adjustable speed fan
And of course:- Shin-Etsu G751 thermal paste

If this little guide helps you then that’s cool, if it don’t then do feel free to ask questions.

btw the pics are just of an old heatsink not my slk, there was no need to remove my slk when i had another sink to hand.

also.... apologies for the image quality, I am far from being a pro photographer and the camera isnt the best with close ups either

[GBR]

I think that your guide is probably exactly where we should all start......this looks like an ideal result

Send me your mailing address and I'll send you a tube of the G751 from the group buy for posting this great guide!

[xX~EXCELSIOR~Xx]

looks awesome.. but PLEASE let the camera focus next time!!! my eyes hurt

[Jah Warrior]

hehe, yeah its only the second time i've used a digi-cam and frankly it was more complicated than overclocking my rig

also teh fuji camera i borrowed is a bit crap at close ups, but it served its purpose (just)

anyways, once GBR's shipment has arrived and you guys are happily applying your G751 and have the ability to get some decent pictures do let me know via PM and I'll arrange to get them swapped for the ones in the guide.

btw the temps are still dropping amazing stuff f'real!!!

[RavenTai]

nice Idea work with the heatsink side, it prolly sticks a lot better, I wish you had a better camera/focus


please copy and paste that into the sticky , Susquehannock same thing when you get yours done

I had been thinking about tryiny to warm my core for the next aplication but cant safely heat it very far now a heat sink is another matter, hair dryer on the fins for a few minutes to get it good and hot and make that 751 flow better

[Monge]

Jah Warrior: Excellent G-751 application guide
Very good idea to apply this stuff on the heatsink instead of the CPU core
Temps still dropping, amazing.
Thanx for making this guide

[eightcats]

thanks for the nice guide, looks good but ...

you said

Here are my temps as they currently stand in “normal” weather
Day 4:-
Room temperature 23.5c
Cpu temp @ load 37c Delta:- 13.5c
Cpu temp @ idle 30c Delta:- 6.5c

how can the CPU temp be _lower_ than the room temp ? if you are using air to cool, and it's 23.5C then the lowest one could hope for ir 23.5C ~ you may want to try another method to measure temps

[Jah]

the second figure is not the actual temp, but the difference between the room temp and the actual cpu temp (DELTA)...

[eightcats]

opps ! my bad ~ good temps

[animata]

I know this an AMD board...but...should you apply the thermal compound to the IHS on a P4 processor also? thanks!

[mlocher]

Hey, any preference on what sort of credit card we use? I was thinking about maybe using a grocery store club card instead.

[blowin' smoke]

Originally posted by mlocher
Hey, any preference on what sort of credit card we use? I was thinking about maybe using a grocery store club card instead.

[GBR]

Originally posted by mlocher
Hey, any preference on what sort of credit card we use? I was thinking about maybe using a grocery store club card instead.

LOL!

Actually I use the old grocery club card key ring bardcode cards that are perhaps 3/4 inch wide and I cut them down to roughly the size of the chip in width.

Any plastic card that has the physical quality you like best is fine

[Jah]

Originally posted by mlocher
Hey, any preference on what sort of credit card we use? I was thinking about maybe using a grocery store club card instead.

amex gives temps 10-20c less than any other card....

[GBR]

Originally posted by Jah
amex gives temps 10-20c less than any other card....

Really?

Thanks for the tip!

Who knew?