Thermal Compound: Goop vs. Drop
The Gospel according to Artic Silver:
Put a small amount of Arctic Silver onto the center of the heat spreader/CPU Cap.
Only a small amount of Arctic Silver is needed
P4: Slightly less then the size of an uncooked grain of short-grain white rice or 1/2 of a BB.
Athlon64: About the size of one and a quarter uncooked grains of short-grain white rice or 2/3 of a BB.
RECHECK to make sure no foreign contaminants are present on either the bottom of the heatsink or the top of the CPU core. Mount the heatsink on the CPU per the heatsink's instructions. Be sure to lower the heatsink straight down onto the CPU.
Once the heatsink is properly mounted, grasp the heatsink and very gently twist it slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each if possible. (Just one or two degrees or so.)
Please note that some heatsinks cannot be twisted once mounted.
DO NOT REMOVE THE HEATSINK FROM THE CPU TO LOOK AT THE COMPOUND ONCE YOU HAVE MOUNTED THE HEATSINK. This will introduce air into the interface layer and require a fresh application.
Our testing has shown that this method minimizes the possibility of air bubbles and voids in the thermal interface between the heat spreader and the heatsink. Since the vast majority of the heat from the core travels directly through the heat spreader, it is more important to have a good interface directly above the actual CPU core than it is to have the heat spreader covered with compound from corner to corner.
Instructions blatantly stolen from:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
Please post rebuttals below.