That $20 paste isn't going to make a big difference.

In this guide, we'll guide you through the wonderful world of thermal paste, or thermalinterface material (TIM). We'll show you how to apply thermal paste in its various different forms, using ...

Some PC debates will likely never end, such as Mac versus PC, which browser is the best, and which pattern to use when applying thermal paste to a CPU heat spreader. Though the "dot in the center" ...

Arguments about how you should apply thermal paste to your CPU have rolled on for decades, with variations on cross shapes, sausage shapes, grains of rice, small dots, and straight lines being touted ...

When you buy a new CPU cooler, you'll find that the thermal paste is either included in the box or pre-applied on the heatsink. Likewise, your graphics card also comes with thermal paste pre-applied ...

Deciding on which thermal paste pattern to use is one of the longest-running debates in the PC-building world. Some prefer a dot, an "x," or even a straight line (aka sausage). It's a bit of a ...

Noctua recommends a single dot at the middle, spanning 3 to 4 mm for proper coverage of the entire IHS. AMD's AM5 CPU requires a dot-sized paste application only. This is a drastic change from the ...

Gaming PCs One Redditor has 3D-printed a big yellow air duct to attach to their GPU, and the results are middling: It 'does nothing but it looks cool' Graphics Cards Best graphics cards in 2026: I've ...

Why it matters: Applying thermal paste is one of those PC building tasks that sounds simple in theory but can be a real pain in practice. You can try to be as careful as possible when spreading that ...

When assembling a desktop PC, applying thermal paste to the CPU is a crucial step that often causes confusion. Thermal paste, also known as thermal grease, thermal interface material, or thermal gel, ...