What's the best installation technique of thermal paste for i7 930s??

Hi All,

Well the other day I built myself a new computer and everything is running stable and I was ready to start overclocking when I Discovered a problem. The problem being that I have abnormally high CPU temps at Idle on my stock bios settings considering I’m using a Corsair H50 CPU Cooler. After reading around and talking to a few other people I have came to the conclusion I must have applied either too much or not enough thermal paste or applied it incorrectly when I installed the CPU.

After doing a bit of research I have worked out there’s only 3 different ways to install thermal paste. Which leads me to the problem of which installation technique is the best for Intel i7 930 CPUs?

THE DOT METHOD
you put a pea sized drop of thermal paste in the centre of the CPU and then install the Heat sink.

THE LINE METHOD
You put a thin line of thermal paste across the centre of the CPU and then install the Heat sink

THE DOT/SPREAD METHOD
You put a pea sized drop of thermal paste in the centre of the CPU and then use either your finger in a glove or business card to spread the thermal paste out evening across the top of the CPU and then install the Heat sink

Secondly which Thermal paste does everyone think does the best job? I’m currently using Arctic Silver 5

Here's a list of my current PC Specs aswell if need be

Case: Cooler Master HAF X (RC-942-KKN1)
PSU: Enermax Revolution 85+ (1250watt)
CPU: Intel i7 930 (2.8Ghz D0 Stepping)
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9
RAM: Corsair Dominator GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 (2GB x 3, PC16000, 2000MHz, 8-8-8-24 @ 1.65v)
RAM Cooler: Corsair Dominator GT Fan
HDDs: 2 x Western Digital 1TB Black drives in RAID 0 (WD1001FALS)
GPU: Asus ATi HD 5870
DVD: Asus DRW-22B2ST
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Cooler

I think I'm going to try this application style first and if it doesn't work move on to the others.

Hmmm at the moment I'm leaving lapping the CPU as a last resort but if all else fails... out comes the sand paper.

The H50 Cooler was already preivously installed on my Q9650 CPU so the thermal paste had to be reapplied.

Interesting info I knew that tiny air bubbles could cause problems. I think when I applied the thermal paste in this installation this is probably the main problem. Either that or used too much thermal paste.

One thing I know I did do properly was tightening the screws in the right order. I normally use this as a general rule of thumb when tightening anything to anything unless told otherwise.