The most important point to remember is that because heat transfer is inversely proportional to the thickness of the interface material layer, better heat transfer is achieved with a thinner layer of thermal interface material.

It is important to ensure that the proper amount of paste or grease is dispensed only to the top of the die lid prior to the installation of the heat sink. Too little thermal grease or thermal paste may leave gaps between the heat sink and processor; too much thermal grease or thermal paste may cause some of the material to leak outside the designated area, causing a mess and possibly contaminating other components on the processor.

Low quality compounds often harden and dry out too quickly. When they dry out, they are no longer adequate thermal conductors.

Low quality compounds can become fluid and leak at the operating temperatures of a system. We do not recommend using thermal compounds that are electrically conductive.

Electrically conductive thermal compounds include most silver and gold pastes. These types of thermal compounds can leak out and contact vulnerable elements of the processor or motherboard (such as capacitors, resistors, pins), which may cause short-circuits or damage the processor or other components.

1. Verify that the heat sink does not have a thermal pad attached.
2. Spread a thin layer of thermal compound on the processor die only.
3. Verify that the thermal grease covers the processor die or lid only, and no other components.
4. Mount the heat sink onto the processor.

Always follow the AMD-recommended procedures to install a heat sink onto a processor to avoid damaging the processor or motherboard. For lidless processors, thermal grease is recommended only for short-term use.